Demonic Chaote

“Make your own Bible. Select and collect all the words and sentences that in all your readings have been to you like the blast of a trumpet.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

Holy books have been a part of various world religions for a long ass time. The Christian Bible, Jewish Torah, Islamic Koran, Mormon Book of Mormon, etc.. These books give it’s respective followers a daily dose of motivation, inspiration, and guidance for living their lives in accordance with their faith. I have to admit, while I don’t miss most of my fundamentalist upbringing, I have found myself wishing that occult and pagan faiths had two things: church (community gatherings) and a holy book.

I have seen a lot of occultists and witches designate themselves a holy text. Some use pre-existing ones and re-interpret them for their own purposes, such as the Bible. Others take a favorite text of theirs and turn it into their own personal holy text. I’ve seen Alice in Wonderland and The Chronicles of Narnia used personally, but I’m sure any meaningful work would serve just as well. These are both excellent ideas that I myself have implemented at one point or another and had great results, but they just never sat right with me. Then I came across the above quote and something clicked. While I don’t truly believe in completely prescriptive statements of what anyone “should” do, I am tempted to make an exception for this practice and say that every occultist should make their own Bible.

What you’ll need:

• A notebook
• A writing utensil
• Your preferred means of cleansing and purification

How To Do It:

Cleanse and purify your notebook. I have found it helpful to get a notebook that I find visually pleasing for this project as it adds to the feeling of it being a holy book. If a fancy notebook is out of your budget, try using stickers or pasting photos of meaningful artwork onto the cover of a plain notebook for the same feeling. A specific pen or pencil you use only for writing in your bible isn’t strictly necessary, but does add some extra oomph to the process. If physical writing is out of the question for you, a digital one in the form of a dedicated file or app works just as well.

Then, simply inscribe into your book any and all words, sentences, and passages that have meaning and power to you. If you wish, you could create a guide that helps you quickly organize the topic of each passage (look up “commonplace books” if this interests you) but it’s not necessary. This is a long-haul project, but having a text dedicated solely to words that motivate, inspire, and guide you is an invaluable resource for daily practice, creation of rituals, and general power. It is also an excellent way to practice bibliomancy.

Because this is going to be your personal holy text, don’t be afraid to put in anything that has meaning to you, even if it seems weird or embarrassing. I have quotes not just from books, but also from cartoons, kids shows, and even comments from Reddit and Tumblr. You’re also not restricted just to words of inspiration – you might try keeping photos and artwork, or sigils charged to inspire and uplift you whenever you see them. You could put in impactful lessons that you’ve learned from spirits you work with or real-life teachers. If you choose to keep your bible digitally you could imbed songs and video clips that speak to you.

Keep in mind that this is an ongoing process, and every time you add a new verse you are strengthening the texts use as a magical instrument, so be picky about what you put in it, but at the same time don’t be afraid to fill it up.

As always, I hope someone else out there found this to be helpful in some way. Feel free to leave a comment if you have other thoughts, want to continue the conversation, or disagree with me completely. Or don’t, it’s up to you. Either way, have a wonderful day.

– J