Hello, dear readers! It has been a WHILE. I have some content for you that feels best suited to a blog form.
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| My copy of To Ride a Silver Broomstick |
I am not completely copying pieces of the text here, so please view this as a companion to having the book in front of you. But I am summarizing the prompts in my own words, and some of them are things you could do without it having to be connected to the book, so I imagine some people might find this and use some of these prompts just because you want to explore these topics! And where I think that is most possible, I am writing this with that in mind. But for some of these, it is really connected to what she writes about in the book, so just know that not all of this will make sense outside the context of the book.
Broomstick is separated into four sections of varying lengths, and I've finished sections one and two at this point. I just posted a video to Patreon with my thoughts about these first two sections, and that's what I'm focusing on for this post. I'll be doing another Patreon video with my overall thoughts when I finish the whole book, and I'll also either make another post here with the prompts for sections three and four at that point, or I'll add them into this post so they're all together. Not sure about that yet, but we'll ride that broomstick when we get to it.
Notes:
- My copy of the book is a first edition. I'm including page numbers, but I'm not sure that holds up to the newer printed editions of this text. From what I've been told, the text itself has not been updated, but since the formatting has, the page numbers may not match. I'm also noting the chapter these are from so you can find it that way.
- Some of these are definite journal prompts, like "write about your thoughts on the word 'Witch' at this time", while others are things to copy down into your notes. Others are "do an activity and then write about your experience with it". There are other things in the book that you definitely could make notes about even though she doesn't specifically say to, and I'm noting some of them here for the chapters that don't have explicit "get out your notebook and do this..." prompts. But if you like to journal, I'm sure you could read this and find even more things to write about! So this is not an exhaustive list.
- The summary of the subject for each chapter here is not necessarily the actual title of the chapter. I just wanted to give you some idea of the content of each as it relates to the writing pieces.
- As I read and work through the book, I am doing some of these exercises and not others. I'm reading this 20 years into my own practice, so some of these don't feel necessary for me to write down at this time. In addition to noting what the exercises are, I'm also noting here whether I've done them or not and why!
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To Ride a Silver Broomstick
"stuff to write in your notebook" prompts!
Section One
Ch. 1: getting started
(all the prompts from this chapter can easily be done without the book itself)
- pg. 5 - write an imaginary letter to Silver with a few paragraphs: your current definition of "Witch", your current description of the word "Witchcraft", "your general knowledge on how you feel society in general accepts the practice of Witchcraft, and why this is so", and close with a goal you'd like to complete by the time you finish the book. Sign & date.
- I did this one from the perspective of where my definitions and goals are now, and had a lot of fun doing it! It's definitely different from how I would have answered these questions at the start of my path, around age 12.
- My friend Stella, with whom I am embarking on a journey with To Stir a Magick Cauldron (the next book in this series) over the next few months, also did this prompt and put it on their blog! You can read Stella's version of this imaginary letter to Silver here. Currently, mine is private, but if I decide to share it in the future, I'll let you know!
- pg. 8 - read the Principles of Belief from the American Council of Witches from 1974 (reproduced in the book on pages 6 & 7, but I also linked the version from Sacred Texts so you can read it even without the book). Make note of the ones you don't understand or don't agree with, and why. Revisit your notes over time to see how your views may change as you learn more along your path.
- I did this in pencil in the book itself, circling the ones I don't agree with, and making notes about what language would need to change about it for me to agree with it.
- pg. 8-9 - journal about how you came to this point in your life, current needs, expectations for what you'll gain by studying the Craft, any fears you have about this path. She urges readers to be honest with themselves about where they're coming from with this, and to examine why. Another piece of this she suggests is to write your own statement of purpose and revisit it, along with your other notes, one year later.
- I did this, again, from my perspective now. So I don't have the same fears as I may have when I was first starting this path, but I spent some time thinking about any that are associated with my current work and next steps along my own path. And I wrote about what has brought me to this point in my path where I'm reading this book now, 30 years after it was published!
Ch. 2 - info on various Witchcraft Traditions known to the author at the time
- pg. 15 - copy down the names of traditions described in this chapter and a short version of their descriptions, leaving space to add more info about each, and add more, as you continue to learn.
- I didn't do this right now, because I've done it in the past! I have so many notebook pages and index cards and book marginalia with notes about this type of thing. So for me, I don't currently need to make notes about this again. But for a beginner, it might not be necessary to copy ALL of them, but you could make notes about which sound appealing to you right now, based on her brief descriptions.
Ch. 3 - a glossary of terms
- pg. 25 - copy down the words and definitions given in this chapter, leaving room to add more as you learn.
- Same as above, I already have notes on stuff like this so I didn't do it again. I did, however, make pencil notes in the margins about any definitions she gives that I disagree with, or terms that I've just never really come across in my 20 years as a Pagan Witch. Some of these terms might have been more common years ago, but I don't really hear people using them much now.
- Also, I have a question for anyone reading this book as a beginner at any point -- I'm wondering, does having a glossary chapter like this one so early in the book feel helpful to you, or confusing? I could see knowing some words' meanings before they come up in the book being helpful, but I also feel like this glossary goes into a bunch of stuff that I didn't need to know early on, myself, so I could see it being potentially overwhelming to beginners. Let me know how it felt to you, since everyone will have different experiences as they learn!
Ch. 4 - Religion and "Science"
- pg. 29 - use three pages of your notebook to write about your feelings on the subjects of "Science", "Religion", and "Religion vs. Science." The way Silver is using these words is contextualized in the book, so I do think this prompt would be understood differently when removed from the text and her discussion of it.
- From my own reading of it, she seems to be using the term "science" here to refer to magical practices, what I might call the "ritual tech" and actionable "stuff we do", compared to the religious belief aspects. I did this in a short paragraph in the book itself (in pencil), because these are topics I have developed my views on over years, so I didn't feel the need to take three pages to expand at this time.
Ch. 5 - magical timing, special days, Sun & Moon based dates
- pg. 38 - write down the eight major sabbats, a brief description, their dates, and what day of the week they fall on this year.
- I do have general notes about the sabbats among my own learning notes from over the years, and I do note where they fall each year on my calendars.
- pg. 41 - write down the major moon phases and a description of each. make a list of the things you'd like to improve in your life, and then make a note of which moon phase(s) would be appropriate to do a working for those things. Refer to the list over time, checking things off with the date as you complete them, or crossing off ones that no longer apply.
- I didn't do this, but I love it! I've been working with the Moon phases as magical timing for my work for years now, and I think this is a great exercise for learning to incorporate them into your workings. 10/10 recommend people try this, and note that you can be new to Moon magick at ANY point in your path. Someone could have been practicing other aspects for many years but still be new to working with the Moon phases.
Ch. 6 - Deities & learning about them
- pg. 45 - make note of your current ideas about what the Goddess and God might look like in humanized form. Consider their physical appearance, what they are wearing (or not), their personalities, anything else about them. This leads into an exercise where you close your eyes and imagine what it would be like to meet each of them, and how that conversation would go, making notes about this imagined journey in your book. (She doesn't call it a meditation or trance in the text, but it basically is; daydreaming and imagining is part of those skill sets.)
- I have done exercises like these in the past, and I think they're good ones. Even if you're not super into working with deity concepts, it can be an interesting exercise to see what your brain does when you ask it to imagine various things, and look back at those notes over time as your perceptions on various concepts evolve over time and with different life experience.
- pg. 47 - Silver not only encourages keeping all deity and pantheon research in your notebook, with separate pages for each so there is room to add as you go. She also lists a number of questions to keep in mind while researching pantheons and deities you may want to work with. Since I'm not reproducing an entire page of her book here, this one is definitely specific to the text. (eBook and audio book versions can be checked out from the library system via apps, at least in the US! so if you don't have the book you may be able to look at or listen to a copy for free.)
- I think the questions are awesome, so while they are not given as a thing to copy into your notes directly, I wanted to mention them here because I think they could be really helpful! Had I had these at the time when I was starting this path, I think I would have absolutely copied them down and used them for my research, and hey, I might just do that for the future, too. I will say that I DO have pages in my old notebooks that were just for deity and pantheon research, as prompted by other books I read. And now I keep some of those notes digitally.
Section Two
Ch. 7 - magic(k)al names
- pg. 59 - on a new notebook page, make notes about the strengths you want your magickal name to stand for. A little further down, make a space for noting the various deities, plants, animals, elements, and other characteristics you may want to incorporate into a name. Use this page to add, remove, refine, and play with ideas for a magical name over time. Then when you have chosen one, write a "statement of affirmation" about why you chose the name and how you chose it. Sign and date.
- I have a few magical names at this point, some known only to me and the Universe / my godds, some used only with certain people or in certain contexts. I wrote a few paragraphs about how each of those names came to me. It's a fun one!
Ch. 8 - meditation, visualization, dreams
- there are no specific things given in this chapter to write down, but it covers basics of meditation, creative visualization, and dream work, so there is definitely a lot one COULD make notes about. She does encourage record-keeping as you engage with these practices, and gives some tips on how to do that, there just aren't any specific prompts in the text. There are, however, a basic meditation format and visualization exercises, so you could make notes about those things (like write down the meditation steps for reference later) or journal about your experiences with doing the activities given.
Ch. 9 - personal spiritual space, altars
- pg. 79 - make notes, draw diagrams, etc. of your ideas for how you would create a personal magical working space. She mostly writes about this from the perspective of how to transform an existing room in your house (consider whether you'd paint the walls, install shelves, change out lighting fixtures, utilize curtains and blinds), but for visioning exercise purposes, I think you could start from an imaginary "anything goes" space and just design your own indoor and/or outdoor magical spaces from your dream version of them at this time. Then you can see what things you may be able to incorporate into your real, physical spaces. Refer to these notes/vision boards over time to see what still appeals to you, what tastes have changed, and so on.
- Have I done this? Kind of, over time... Not as formally as this. And perhaps I should! Though I also play The Sims 4 (when I can, which isn't often lately, boooo) and I have built altars in the game before lol. So I think doing this now, I would build my ideal altar room / outdoor spaces in The Sims 4 as a fun start!
- pg. 83 - questions to consider (and answer in your notes) about your altar! What kind of altar do you want, and where will you put it? Will you use altar cloths? What will you use for lighting? What things will go on the altar (tools, representations of the Elements, or deity, or other things)? Also, she reminds readers that the things you use do not have to be expensive. You can use things you already own, make things, utilize natural objects (the most basic wand is a stick you can collect on a walk outdoors!), or... as I have done... find a LOT of things inexpensively at thrift stores, dollar stores, and so on.
- I've absolutely done this before, and I've given similar prompts to beginners who asked me for advice on where to start. I need to make a new blog post about it, because I had done one on tumblr years ago but that's all long gone for me now. I think that designing an altar space guides you to ask yourself a lot of useful questions about your beliefs in that moment and your intentions for your path.
Ch. 10 - tools and things to use and store
- there are no specific "write this down" prompts in this chapter, either, but it's all about the THINGS you might want to use, and the types of things that could be found in Silver's magical cabinet. So you could, if desired, use this chapter to prompt journaling and list-making about the types of items you may be interested in working with, ideas for where to obtain or how to make them, how you'll store them*, and what you plan to use them for**.
Right now, I think the most I've spent on a "traditional tool" up to this point is maybe $30... I think one was $20 and another was $25. But I got those items after 20 years of practice, having worked with simpler versions for years, or mostly not using those things at all. Most recently, I got a matching set of two metal goblets for $10 for the pair, at a resale shop that donates all proceeds to an animal shelter. Probably my most obviously "Witchy" looking tool, a small cast iron cauldron with a handle, I got for $15 at a resale shop in the country, where things like iron cooking pots are a lot more common than in the city. I also used to work at a Witchcraft shop so I'm pretty familiar with what reasonable retail pricing is these days, and I can tell when a shop is REALLY over-charging their customers. Make note of the area the shop is in, as wealthier and more tourist-driven areas will tend to have higher prices in general. (I'll probably make another post about this topic in the future.)
Ch. 11 - cleanse, consecrate, charge
- this chapter again has no specific prompts to write about, but it talks about how to cleanse, consecrate, and charge/empower tools and other items, so notes about that could be useful. This chapter also provides pages that are templates for record-keeping about spells and rituals, so readers may want to copy those down if they seem helpful.
- I also recorded a video about Cleansing, Consecrating, and Charging back in 2022 that hasn't been posted yet. I plan on posting it soon, and just want to note that I made it before I read this chapter, so it doesn't incorporate anything learned from this book in particular! But I am sure that Silver's book Solitary Witch, which I read years ago, also had definitions of these terms that greatly influenced how I learned them. So I'm not saying Silver didn't have anything to do with how I see these concepts, just that the upcoming video is not based on THIS chapter, which I hadn't read yet lol.
Ch. 12 - record-keeping
- pg. 115 - write or find a book blessing to add into your notebook. She doesn't provide one in this book, just says to take some time to think about how you would word your own blessing that both protects your book and dedicates it to a specific purpose.
- This is definitely something that was also in Solitary Witch, because I copied a book blessing given by Silver into my own Book of Shadows back then.
- pg. 116 - review the table of contents for Silver's own book, and make notes on what kinds of things you might want to research for yourself. Add your own topics, and note how you might go about doing this research.
- I have notebooks full of notes on many of these subjects, so I didn't do this exercise right now. As for how I would go about doing the research, for me, public library books are always a big one, as well as now, of course, the internet!
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Recommended Reading
Speaking of ways to do more research, Silver also provides recommended reading lists at the end of some chapters! So she already gives some options of other books that existed at the time that could be good places to look for more info on various topics covered here.
With those, I make a note on each list of what I've already read, what I own a copy of but haven't read yet, and what books are on my list to find a copy of somewhere (including library apps to check out eBooks and audio books). Those left unmarked are ones that I'm not currently interested in looking into. But that may change in the future.
If you were a student like me who loved being given reading lists so you could check off titles and know some others to look for in the future, you will love the recommended reading sections.
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Thanks for reading!
Those are my notes on the writing prompts from the first two sections of Broomstick! Given how long this was... I may indeed be putting the ones from sections three and four in a separate blog post, depending on how many there end up being! The later sections cover a lot more exercises to DO and practice, so it'll be interesting to see if the number of things to WRITE about changes at all. Though, of course, with any of those, a built in prompt is "write about your experiences doing this exercise." =)
EDIT! Check-in from July 2023 here.I have now finished reading the whole book (and posted the second video with the rest of my thoughts on my Patreon), and it turns out there are a LOT fewer journaling prompts like this in sections 3 and 4 of the book! So I will not be doing an entirely separate blog post, I'll just add the few there are to this post later. And yes, as I suspected, there are mainly a lot of notes to write about our experiences while doing the work, keep records, etc. But not as many specific prompts like those above.
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Other Suggestions + Content from Me...
If you're really into stuff like this -- that is, working through Witchcraft books with exercises and things to practice -- you might also like The Spiral Dance by Starhawk, which is a book that eventually lead to my tradition, the Reclaiming Tradition of Witchcraft, and I have a playlist of videos going over discussion prompts for Spiral Dance! I recommend the most updated version (20th Anniversary edition) and that you also read the notes in the back where Starhawk gives thoughts on the original text from ten and twenty years later. A LOT has changed about that text and the tradition since it was published in 1979, and I find that when people assume the tradition today looks exactly like it did then, they are not at all getting an accurate image! But my videos also address that a bit.
There is also another book from Reclaiming with a lot of stuff to do, called The Twelve Wild Swans, which I've also talked about on my channel in the past, and will be working on a similar playlist of discussion prompts for this year, as I'm planning to work through the book again (for the third time!) next month. =)
Also, this is a post on a local community blog that I wrote about the three books that existed at the time (I would now add a fourth) that I consider introductory books to Reclaiming Tradition.
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Thanks for reading, I'll see you around the internet!
Blessings~
-C-
-C-
P.S. I am leaving comments on for this post so people may respond to my questions, or ask their own. Please just note that I do not check comments sections frequently, so it may be a while before you get any response, if one is forthcoming. But I will eventually read everything that is written, even if I don't reply. =)
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