To Bless a Black Book or Grimoire

Perform this rite at a place of power, at your working altar, or within a conjured Crossroads at night. If working indoors, open the windows (if possible) to allow the spirits to move freely through the space. Prepare the altar or ritual area with: a cloth of natural fibers (which you will wrap your grimoire in when not in use), a quill and ink (or other writing utensil), a candle, incense of mugwort and rosemary (or other herbs/resins/scents of your choosing), and wine or some sort of dark fruit juice.

Light the candle, saying:

In shadow and silence, by moon and mire,
I summon the cunning, the will, the fire.

By blood and bone, by tongue and breath,
This book shall live beyond my death.

Hold the book aloft or place your hand upon it and call to your familiars and other spirits:

Spirits of inspiration, ink, and page,
Come to me now from root and from grave.
Whispered spells and hidden names,
Fill this book with witch’s flame.
By hex and howl, by tithe of teat,
By fire’s light and shadow’s seat—
Let this be no idle tome,
But spirit’s vessel, hearth, and home.

Open the book and anoint a corner of the cover page with the wine or juice as an offering to the spirit of the book. Using a clean finger, touch the tip of your tongue, collecting a small amount of saliva. Anoint the same corner with the saliva to create a bond between yourself and the book. (If you prefer, you may choose a drop of blood obtained using a sterile lancet.) Say:

I bind this book to hand and name,
To craft and will, to ash and flame.
No priest shall claim it, no law defile it.
No eye that’s false shall e’er beguile it.

If desired, sign your name or make your seal within with the quill and ink. You may also draw a charm or seal to represent the book’s spirit. Light the incense and pass the book through the smoke. Say:

By leaf and line, by smoke and sign,
Awake, O book, thou art now mine.
To speak when bid, to sing when told,
To hold the secrets dark and old.

Not by psalm, nor holy creed,
But by nightshade’s root and devil’s seed.
I christen thee in witch’s lore,
My grimoire bound forevermore.

               Wrap the book in its cloth and keep it in a safe place.