rhythmloid:

I don’t know how to organize my own witch encyclopedia and recipes like, I’m so overwhelmed help

Originally posted by watermelongifs

Ah the age-old struggle! Allow me to offer some tips.

If you’re wrangling with a large book with lots of sections or a broad Table of Contents, pick up a pack of index tabs. You can find these at pretty much any office supply store. Flip through the book and mark each section you want for quick reference with a clearly-labeled tab. I had to do this for a few of my books and it definitely made them easier to navigate. You can totally do it with smaller books as well.

If you’re trying to organize your own study materials, start by sorting the information into broad categories. I would suggest things like the following:

• General Craft Theory (the overall ideas that govern your craft)
• Instructions (how-to’s and tutorials, plus your personal rules)
• Resources (lists of info sources, i.e. books, blogs, websites, etc.)
• Calendar (important dates and any celebrations
• Religious Matters (info on deities, offerings, and related lore)
• Celestial Matters (astronomical and astrological components)
• Correspondences (lists of magical associations for herbs, crystals, etc.)
• Signs and Sigils (symbols and signs important to your craft)
• Recipes (component lists for potions, incense, herb blends, meals, etc)
• Spellcraft (records of spells you’ve archived or written yourself)
• Magical Practices (any notes on the different types of magic and how to employ them, i.e. protection, divination, hexing, etc.)
• Magical Theory (any notes on the ideas behind how magic works)
• Personal Craft (your own views and experiences as a witch)
• Rituals (detailed records of any rituals you perform, with illustrations where needed)

From there, you can break things down further in each section, either by subject or by article, depending on which ones is appropriate. Make sure you label each list or article with the source you got it from, in case you need to revisit the subject later. If it’s just from personal observation, you can mark that down too. If something is related to other entries in your notes, you may want to mark it with a little “See Also: X Correspondences, Y Calendar Page, Z Spell” for good measure.

These are just suggested categories. If you have additional topics that you focus on, make a section for them. It’s all down to what matters to you in your craft. And if you’re using a physical book or a 3-ring binder, you can use those index tabs again to help you find things more easily.

You can also examine existing grimoires and books on the craft to see how they’re organized. That might give you some additional ideas.

Hope this helps!