Welcome to the Book Club. Throughout August, the Literary Coven is reading V. E. Schwab’s Bury Her Bones in the Midnight Soil, an enchanting, sapphic novel about three women and a hunger uniting them across distant timelines. Read on for a collection of bewitching prompts and spells to begin your literary quest.
If you’re new to August’s Book Club, start with week 1, Hunger is a Garden.
Here at Pointy Hat Press and Little Witch Books, we're tapping into magical worlds through books, scripted spells, and literary spellcraft. Perhaps you call it word witchery or intuitive writing, but literary spells are vehicles built from your words. Poetry, storytelling, dream journaling, bibliomancy, or putting pen to paper for ten minutes a day can be a spell when paired with an intention. Sometimes, literary magick involves naming our spectral muses and crafting odes from their memory. Word spells can be solo endeavors, but also collaborative.
Magickal practitioners have relied on bibliomancy (divination with books) for thousands of years. In the ancient Roman world, they called it ‘sortes,’ and although the art has evolved, much of the practice remains the same:
In place of tarot cards, pendulums, or a scrying mirror, a book is your oracle.
Step 1: Establish a question. Do you have a question about the past, present, or future? Are you looking for guidance in matters of love, learning, or magick? There is no question too taboo or tricky – speak from the heart.
Step 2: Choose a book. Or better yet, let the book choose you. In the past, bibliomancers used holy books like the Bible, Torah, Quran, the Vedas, or the Falnama: The Book of Omens. In place of a religious text, we can also look to poetry, storybooks, or writings that deal with mythology, nature, esoteric knowledge, or another aspect that relates to your question.
Step 3: Let your finger lead. While focusing on your question, intuitively open the book and let your finger slide over the pages until you feel called to stop. Read the first sentence and paragraph where your finger lands – this is the answer to your question.
Step 4: Reflect and record. Occasionally, what the oracle shares is straightforward, but sometimes, we need a moment (or several) to mull over the response. Reflect on the message and record your first impressions in a journal or grimoire.
Like all divinatory methods, there are many ways to approach bibliomancy. As we incorporate more readings into our craft, we’ll begin to see patterns and ideas calling from the pages of our favorite books.
For the second week of August’s Book Club, let’s do some bibliomancy. Using only the pages you have read (to avoid spoilers), intuitively flip through the book until you feel called to stop. Run your finger down the page, and wherever your finger stops is your message. Use those first few words as a starter or anchor phrase for a poem, essay, or piece of channeled writing.
Share your bibliomancy message in the comments below or in the Literary Coven chat!
If you see a thing you want…
"All you have to do is ask," whispers the widow.
My bibliomancy result ^
Good topic, thank you. Yes, it works well. And books do call us. I've also had books send energy if I hold them in my hands and ask if this is a book I need now. Lately, I have used Pleiadian channel Barbara Marciniak's Family of Light (written 1999) and a description of what we're experiencing in the world now is right there.