Something I think we have to be willing to talk about is how deeply most of the grimoires that survived history were influenced by Christianity. Angels, biblical names, psalms, Christian cosmology and ceremonial systems eventually influenced by Freemasonry and the Golden Dawn became woven into what we now recognize as Western magic. And for me, part of reclaiming myself as a witch has been asking: What was here before all of that? And what do I want to carry forward? We lost so much. Centuries of persecution, conversion, colonization and the witch trials fractured our relationship with older practices. And somewhere along the way, the people accused of witchcraft became synonymous with the witches themselves, even though most of those who were persecuted never identified as witches at all. So I don’t believe our work is simply to recreate everything from the past. Not everything ancient was beautiful. Not everything pagan deserves resurrection. And not everything called witchcraft today belongs in my witchcraft. My path is about reaching deeper into the land, the ancestors, the old goddesses, folk practices, pre-Christian traditions and the relationship humans once had with the natural and unseen worlds, and listening for what still has a heartbeat. And then I bring that forward. My Book of Shadows is where I preserve what I discover and what I create in this lifetime. My spells. My rituals. My experiences. My failures. My ceremonies. My relationship with spirit. The magick that has actually lived in my hands. The grimoire came first and was highly influenced by Christianity. Long before we called our personal magickal books a Book of Shadows, grimoires were being written and passed down, books of spells, spirits, correspondences, planetary magic, ritual and ceremonial practice. Magickal practices yes, worth exploring, but is it witchcraft..? I’m gonna say no but also yes because I can see some of what I believe the craft once was before the conversion that we have zero history of woven within them. Remnants left of what was appropriated. And I also see opinions of men, lots of men influenced by Christianity woven within them. Perhaps someday, long after I’m gone, another witch will open something I’ve written and find a thread that leads her home. Because we are not only inheritors of the craft. We are ancestors of the witches still to come. 🖤 I teach witches witches to come home to themselves in my fully online witch school! Check it out! #witchesoftiktok #witch #witchschool #witchcraft #grimoire - @mysticwitchharmony