The Book of Shadows

This is my working book.

It is not a book I bought and copied out. These are workings I keep, written in my own words, the way I actually do them — at the Caldwell house with real life coming through the door all day, and up in Warren, where the cabin sits quiet in the trees and the first job when we arrive is always to open up and sweep.

Prayer belongs in here too. I was raised in the Catholic Church, and that never really left me. It just made room. Saints and feast days sit in these pages right alongside the moon and the seasons, because that is honestly how I live it.

Take what helps you. Make it yours. That is what a working book is for.

How the cards work

Each working in this book is a card, like a recipe card. It tells you what the working is for, what you need, whether the timing matters, and the steps in order. The last part of every card is a note from me — where I do it, what I have learned doing it, why it stayed in the book.

Cards are added as they are ready. A card does not go on this page until I would hand it to a friend as-is.

A word on sense and safety

Candles never burn unattended here. Simmer pots never sit on a stove forgotten. Herbs in this book are described the old way — “traditionally used for” — because tradition is not the same thing as medicine, and I am not a doctor. Use your head, know your own allergies and your own house, and skip anything that does not sit right with you.

In the book so far

The Hearth (Spell Card No. 1, For a Quiet Threshold)

Coming as they are ready: Prayers and Saints · The Garden and the Green Shelf · The Warren Pages

1. The Hearth — home, threshold, and kitchen work

BELLADONNA GROVE — Spell Card No. 1

For a Quiet Threshold

WHAT IT'S FOR

For settling a house after people have come and gone, or after a hard stretch. It is housekeeping with a prayer in it — the door swept clean, and the home asked to be calm again.

YOU'LL NEED

- A broom you actually use

- A small pinch of plain salt

- A candle, if you want one, where it can be watched

- A glass of water by the door

TIMING

No special timing. Most people do this on a cleaning day, or the morning after a house has emptied out again.

THE WORK

1. Sweep the front step and the doorway, sweeping outward, away from the house. Take your time. This part is the work, not the warm-up to it.

2. Shake the broom out away from the door. Leave the swept pile outside the threshold, not inside it.

3. Sprinkle the pinch of salt across the threshold in a thin line. Say a short prayer in your own words — for peace in the house, and for everyone who crosses that door to be safe coming and going.

4. Set the glass of water just inside the door while you finish tidying the entry. When you are done, pour the water out outside, past the step.

5. If you lit a candle, let it burn while you finish the room, then put it out. Never leave it on its own.

A NOTE FROM THE GROVE

Up in Warren the cabin sits empty between trips, and the first thing I do when we get there is open the door and sweep. Caldwell is different — people, packages, dogs, real life coming through all day. The sweeping works in both places because it is really about paying attention to the door your life walks through.

What's swept up goes out with the trash, with a thank you. The salt line gets swept away at the next cleaning and done fresh when it's needed again.