Book Blessing Card
In the last post, I showed an easy way to add pockets to any notebook or journal. In this post, I'll discuss how to make a book blessing card to put in the front pocket of your journal.
A book blessing is used to dedicate a journal for a particular purpose, usually spiritual or magickal in nature. Whether you're eclectic pagan like me or believe differently, you can write your own blessing that incorporates your spirituality. A book blessing could be a prayer, a poem, a charm or spell, or some prose that describes your feelings regarding the purpose of this journal and how its contents are to be protected.
This is the first time I've ever really felt the need to create a book blessing or dedication. I personally think it's necessary, since any kind of transformative work involves some vulnerability. I looked up book blessings online and while most of the websites that came up in the search were pagan or Wiccan, there were some common themes that could be interpreted into any faith.
A book blessing is used to dedicate a journal for a particular purpose, usually spiritual or magickal in nature. Whether you're eclectic pagan like me or believe differently, you can write your own blessing that incorporates your spirituality. A book blessing could be a prayer, a poem, a charm or spell, or some prose that describes your feelings regarding the purpose of this journal and how its contents are to be protected.
This is the first time I've ever really felt the need to create a book blessing or dedication. I personally think it's necessary, since any kind of transformative work involves some vulnerability. I looked up book blessings online and while most of the websites that came up in the search were pagan or Wiccan, there were some common themes that could be interpreted into any faith.
- Reference to the elements and/or directions: East/Air, South/Fire, West/Water, North/Earth, and Spirit. The attributes of the various elements may be included as well.
- Reverence for the Divine/Source/Cosmos and reference to a particular deity or deities.
- Description of what the journal is for and what it is meant to contain. If you're in the process of learning something and it's going to be documented in your journal, you may also want to include information on what you're learning and why.
- Some kind of protection from prying eyes and those who won't understand its contents. Depending on how strong a protection you're putting on the journal, you may want to include something that says it will harm none and not mess with anyone's free will. I tend to opt for just making the book indecipherable in the wrong hands. I work with a lot of symbols, so unless it's a page with text, most of the time only I know what it means anyway.
- References to your spiritual path and personal growth.
- Include what feels right to you. It's your journal
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| My Journal Blessing Card |
Materials:
1) Mixed media paper, watercolor paper, cardstock, Bristol paper or a heavier weight paper. I usually use 90-140 lb. paper.
2) 2 markers, preferably alcohol markers with a brush or fine nib.
3) Black Uni Posca paint marker or any fine tip black permanent marker.
4) White Sakura gelly roll pen or any other opaque white pen or marker.
5) Matte gel medium or a similar adhesive.
6) Palette knife, old credit card or a piece of chipboard.
7) Ruler.
8) Scissors or paper cutter.
9) Paintbrush.
10) Watercolors or any other paints you'd like to use in 2-3 colors that mix well.
11) Corner rounder or corner punch (optional).
Book Blessing Steps:
1. Write your book blessing or prayer. Read it out loud. Make sure it sounds right and feels right to you. Tweak the wording until it does.
This is the blessing I wrote: "By Earth, Sea, and Sky, I devote this book to be a place of unfolding, awakening, transformation and empowerment of my truest self as I continue my path of magick, wonder, infinite possibilities, and the community of my tribe during the next full cycle of the wheel of the year. By iridescent indigo light, I surround this talisman with protection, so that those whose eyes do not truly have the ability to see and whose hearts do not have the ability to comprehend are unable to perceive its contents or existence."~Wendy M. Juhl
2. Measure your front pocket with the ruler. Subtract one inch (approx. 2.5 cm) from the width. Subtract a half inch (approx. 1.3 cm) from the height. Cut out a piece of mixed media paper or other 90-140 lb. paper in that size with scissors or a paper cutter. I used a corner rounder punch (optional) on my card.
3. Place some wax paper or scrap paper on your work surface. For this step, I would suggest using only 2-3 colors of paint and no complimentary colors (i.e. green and red/magenta; blue and orange; and purple and yellow). I would also suggest using only cool colors (blue, green, and violet/purple) or only warm colors (red, orange and yellow), because if a warm and cool color mix, you get mud. Wet the paper you just cut with quite a bit of water. Dip the paintbrush into your cup of water then dip it into your paint and lightly touch it here and there to the wet paper. This should cause the paint to spread in concentrated spots, but the paper must remain wet, so work fast. Dip the paintbrush in your cup of water and repeat the process until the paper is full of color. Allow the paint and paper to dry thoroughly.
4. Get out your two markers. I used a Zig Kurecolor Manga alcohol marker in Cornflower blue and a Prismacolor Premier alcohol marker in Aquamarine. I drew random horizontal lines all over the card with the brush tip of the Zig marker. I was inspired by something I saw in "The Art of Whimsical Lettering" by Joanne Sharpe. Although, I didn't carefully lay out the lines. In fact, I was pretty haphazard about my line placement, thickness and shapes. I used the bullet tip of the Prismacolor marker to write my blessing in cursive on the card, changing the size of my letters to fill the space between the lines. Use whichever marker is darker to draw whatever shape lines you want then letter your blessing or prayer with the other marker. Allow the ink to dry before going on to the next step.
5. I used a black Uni Posca paint marker for this step, but any fine point permanent marker will work for this. Go over what you wrote with the black marker. Use very thin lines and write each word a little to the left of what you wrote in the previous step so that the words overlap but not exactly. It's very important that you let the ink or paint dry completely.
6. Using a palette knife, old credit card or scrap of chipboard, smooth a thin layer of gel medium, collage podge or mod podge over the whole blessing card. It will probably take awhile to dry. Mine took over an hour.
7. Fill in any loops in your writing with an opaque white pen, such as a gel pen. I've seen Effy Wild and other artists do this before, and this project provided the perfect opportunity to try it. I filled in the loops of these letters: a, b, d, e, f, g, k, l, o, p, and s. Once the ink dries, the card is done.
Place whichever hand you write with on your journal or notebook and hold the card with your other hand. Read the card aloud. Place the card in the front pocket of your journal. Congratulations! The journal is ready to be used for a sacred and spiritual purpose.
I really hope you enjoyed this project. It was so fun for me. I'm currently studying "The Art of Whimsical Lettering" by Joanne Sharpe. I haven't gotten to do any exercises in the book yet, mostly because the artsy eye candy is distracting, but at least this project allowed me to experiment with my own handwriting. I would love to see pictures of your journal blessing cards, so please leave a comment below with the link to the photo of your card.
Blessed Samhain!
© Wendy M. Juhl
1) Mixed media paper, watercolor paper, cardstock, Bristol paper or a heavier weight paper. I usually use 90-140 lb. paper.
2) 2 markers, preferably alcohol markers with a brush or fine nib.
3) Black Uni Posca paint marker or any fine tip black permanent marker.
4) White Sakura gelly roll pen or any other opaque white pen or marker.
5) Matte gel medium or a similar adhesive.
6) Palette knife, old credit card or a piece of chipboard.
7) Ruler.
8) Scissors or paper cutter.
9) Paintbrush.
10) Watercolors or any other paints you'd like to use in 2-3 colors that mix well.
11) Corner rounder or corner punch (optional).
Book Blessing Steps:
1. Write your book blessing or prayer. Read it out loud. Make sure it sounds right and feels right to you. Tweak the wording until it does.
This is the blessing I wrote: "By Earth, Sea, and Sky, I devote this book to be a place of unfolding, awakening, transformation and empowerment of my truest self as I continue my path of magick, wonder, infinite possibilities, and the community of my tribe during the next full cycle of the wheel of the year. By iridescent indigo light, I surround this talisman with protection, so that those whose eyes do not truly have the ability to see and whose hearts do not have the ability to comprehend are unable to perceive its contents or existence."~Wendy M. Juhl
2. Measure your front pocket with the ruler. Subtract one inch (approx. 2.5 cm) from the width. Subtract a half inch (approx. 1.3 cm) from the height. Cut out a piece of mixed media paper or other 90-140 lb. paper in that size with scissors or a paper cutter. I used a corner rounder punch (optional) on my card.
3. Place some wax paper or scrap paper on your work surface. For this step, I would suggest using only 2-3 colors of paint and no complimentary colors (i.e. green and red/magenta; blue and orange; and purple and yellow). I would also suggest using only cool colors (blue, green, and violet/purple) or only warm colors (red, orange and yellow), because if a warm and cool color mix, you get mud. Wet the paper you just cut with quite a bit of water. Dip the paintbrush into your cup of water then dip it into your paint and lightly touch it here and there to the wet paper. This should cause the paint to spread in concentrated spots, but the paper must remain wet, so work fast. Dip the paintbrush in your cup of water and repeat the process until the paper is full of color. Allow the paint and paper to dry thoroughly.
4. Get out your two markers. I used a Zig Kurecolor Manga alcohol marker in Cornflower blue and a Prismacolor Premier alcohol marker in Aquamarine. I drew random horizontal lines all over the card with the brush tip of the Zig marker. I was inspired by something I saw in "The Art of Whimsical Lettering" by Joanne Sharpe. Although, I didn't carefully lay out the lines. In fact, I was pretty haphazard about my line placement, thickness and shapes. I used the bullet tip of the Prismacolor marker to write my blessing in cursive on the card, changing the size of my letters to fill the space between the lines. Use whichever marker is darker to draw whatever shape lines you want then letter your blessing or prayer with the other marker. Allow the ink to dry before going on to the next step.
5. I used a black Uni Posca paint marker for this step, but any fine point permanent marker will work for this. Go over what you wrote with the black marker. Use very thin lines and write each word a little to the left of what you wrote in the previous step so that the words overlap but not exactly. It's very important that you let the ink or paint dry completely.
6. Using a palette knife, old credit card or scrap of chipboard, smooth a thin layer of gel medium, collage podge or mod podge over the whole blessing card. It will probably take awhile to dry. Mine took over an hour.
7. Fill in any loops in your writing with an opaque white pen, such as a gel pen. I've seen Effy Wild and other artists do this before, and this project provided the perfect opportunity to try it. I filled in the loops of these letters: a, b, d, e, f, g, k, l, o, p, and s. Once the ink dries, the card is done.
Place whichever hand you write with on your journal or notebook and hold the card with your other hand. Read the card aloud. Place the card in the front pocket of your journal. Congratulations! The journal is ready to be used for a sacred and spiritual purpose.
I really hope you enjoyed this project. It was so fun for me. I'm currently studying "The Art of Whimsical Lettering" by Joanne Sharpe. I haven't gotten to do any exercises in the book yet, mostly because the artsy eye candy is distracting, but at least this project allowed me to experiment with my own handwriting. I would love to see pictures of your journal blessing cards, so please leave a comment below with the link to the photo of your card.
Blessed Samhain!
© Wendy M. Juhl
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