The Grimoire

Notes from the shop on crystals, ritual and the turning year. Written by hand, like everything else here.

A dark wooden table set for a Halloween evening with a fan of tarot cards face down, a crystal pendulum on its chain, a scatter of rune stones, a bowl of red apples and hazelnuts, all lit by candles
Halloween Party Games for Adults: tarot, talking boards and the old fortune games
What to do with people round on the 31st: the old British and Irish fortune games, three card tarot, pendulums, runes and boards, with house rules. Read more...
A dark mantelpiece styled for Halloween with black taper candles in ornate black candlesticks, small squashes, dried orange slices, beech leaves and an old mirror, lit only by candlelight
A Halloween You Keep: Plastic Free Halloween Decorations, Room by Room
Halloween decorations you light, use and bring out again next year. A room by room guide to a plastic free Halloween, with honest notes on cost. Read more...
A single white candle burning on a dark wooden table beside a red apple, a folded slip of paper and a small photo frame turned away from the camera, with a dark October window behind
How to Celebrate Samhain at Home: a simple evening for the 31st
A candle, a quiet half hour and an extra place at the table. A followable Samhain evening for beginners, with honest notes on what is old and what is new. Read more...
A carved turnip lantern glowing beside russet apples, hazelnuts and a single lit candle on a dark wooden table
What Samhain Actually Is, and How It Became Halloween
What Samhain is, how to say it, what the old Irish texts really record, and the long road through All Hallows and turnip lanterns to trick or treat. Read more...
An autumn equinox altar shelf with apples, wheat, a lit beeswax candle and an open journal on a fringed cloth
The Wheel of the Year: A Simple Guide to the Eight Sabbats
The eight sabbats, what each one marks, the next UK date for all of them, and simple ways to mark a turn of the wheel without making a project of... Read more...
An open hand holding a rose quartz palm stone above a spread of amethyst, clear quartz and black tourmaline on dark timber
Which Crystal Should I Start With? A Beginner's Guide
Choose by intention, not by name. Ten starting points, the three stone starter set, and how to pick the actual piece once you know the type. Read more...
Crystals resting on a carved charging plate beside a lit candle and a smouldering smudge bundle on a dark altar table
How to Cleanse and Charge Your Crystals (6 Simple Methods)
Six simple ways to cleanse and charge a crystal, how often to bother, and the stones that must never go anywhere near water or strong sun. Read more...