Grimoire Tour - 2021 Flip Through
Now that it is fall, it is time for me to reflect on what I have learned this year! Welcome to my Grimoire in all its glory. This is the junk journal style grimoire I have been using for the last 2 years. In the video below I flip through all my grimoire pages.
This grimoire I think of as a declaration to myself, that this is how I live my life, In a state of reflection and conscious awareness. Constantly bringing light to the darkness within myself, reverberating that awareness through the world. This can be seen on the first page of my grimoire in the video above.
The Cover
The Kundalini snake slithering up the the front of my grimoire
Why the Kundalini Snake?
I originally wanted to make an oroboris as the design for the front of this grimoire as a reminder of the ebbs and flows of different phases of the life cycle. But upon further research, I found that the hindu/indian interpretation of the oroboris is that it is the unawakened kundalini snake sitting at the base of the spine. Upon hearing this I knew that an awakening Kundalini snake was meant to be on my grimoire.
How?
This snake was made by sketching out a design on basic printer paper. Then I used a fountain pen with really dark black ink to fill in the whole snake. On top of that black base, I used a silver paint pen as a paint donor so that I could use a super fine paint brush to paint the detailed silver skin pattern on the snake. After it was fully dried I glued the snake in place.
I decided to use printer paper to begin with because I wanted to keep the cover of this grimoire rather flat. I like to work in journals that have flat covers because it makes it easier to flatten the pages I am working on with bulldog clips.
The Pages
There are 4 signatures in this journal made from an assortment of tea dyed paper and wrapping paper, craft paper, tracing paper… Really, its any type of paper I can get my hands on that has some blank space on it!
As you can see I really like to use different colored papers in my bases for spreads. Some of the papers are from huge watercolor paintings I did when I was in elementary school ( all the blue pages). I was able to use these since my lovely mother kept all of them! Thanks Mom! Using your childhood art in a grimoire is a great way to reconnect with you inner child and your inner creative energy!
I love the texture of crumpled papers, its almost like they have more knowledge in them because they have been touched so many times.
As I have worked in this grimoire it has gotten thicker, and more lived in. I love the uneven and imperfectness of the pages.
I have been glue-ing so much into this journal that I a had to remove a whole signature to prevent the book from alligator mouthing (becoming larger than 90 degrees full). The signature I removed didnt have anything in it thankfully, and now I still have some room to collage and decorate!
Junk Journal Who?.. What?
I made this junk journal grimoire using the guidance of the magnificent Pam at the Paper Outpost on Youtube. She has a three part series on how to make hard backed junk journals and I followed that as closely as I could. I changed a couple of things but she was my inspiration and man oh man, is she an inspiration!
How was it made?
I used a black cotton fabric as the cover and I added brass corners that I picked up from the thrift store. I make it a point only to use second hand items in the things I create to help nurture our mother gaia, Thanking her for all she has done to nurture us. This thought has been applied to this grimoire as well. I have bookmarks all made with scrap ribbons, wire and charm. I do use glue, and I am in the process of learning how to make glue so that what I am using it isn’t a petroleum by-product. There are wheat based glues, but I would love something that doesn’t mold. More research is necessary.
I have left the back of the journal blank as most books are, but since I haven’t started writing in the last signature yet I can still flip the grimoire over and write in it upside down! That could be a great way to divide a grimoire up into different sections!Why the Kundalini Snake?
Thank you so much for allowing me to share my own personal spiritual growth with you in the form of this grimoire! While I cannot provide photos of all of the pages, I hope this video is inspiration enough. Maybe this art Grimoire flip through helps to inspire some of your own spreads! I would love to see what you come up with!
And so it is!
With much love,
Grimoire Tour 2021
