Collaging a book from other books

[ravengraey 23]

I realize this may ultimately be an idiotic question and maybe I’m just looking for permission to do it but I have So. Many. Books. Can I just rip the pages out that I want/use most and then put them all in one book/binder? I’m not gonna throw the rest out but then I can have one go-to book instead of pulling out a bunch every time I want to do research (I also feel like I will be much more comfortable writing notes/thoughts in them instead of writing inside nice new books).

 

I dunno, I feel like that’s cheating or being disrespectful somehow but the more I think about it the more I think I really wanna do it.....

[Onyx 905]

As a book lover, I gasp!  I clutch at my chest!  Sacrilege!  If it is a passage you want to put in your Grimoire, write it out , you will remember it better than just reading.

Then again, it is your book so "Do as you wilt"!

[Gyreleaf 88]

Personally I would just photocopy the relevant pages, then you can use them however you want. It's usually a good idea to keep books intact if you can help it. You might want to share or gift the book to someone else in the future. Also you might come across a shop you could sell it too or trade it in for different books. But they are your books, so you should feel free to do whatever you want. Just remember you can't undo it once it's done.

 

Which kind of books are you thinking of doing this with? Some books I know are purported to have talismanic effects of a sort. The book itself can act as a gateway into working with the currents and systems within.

[WitchVillage 255]

I put tabs in and write in my books all the time. if space is the issue, actually I'd scan so I could keep the replica in a digital file.

Edited June 11, 2020 by WitchVillage

[Phagos 666]

Like Gyreleaf says, just photocopy the pages you want and make a binder out of them. Or like Onyx said, which I also do, write it out, especially if you do want to keep a grimoire now or in future. Also if you were to refer to the books after you've ripped pages out, it may get confusing when you're trying to look something up.

[ravengraey 23]

Thanks to everyone- after reading replies and thinking about it, I realize it’s not a smart thing to do so I won’t be doing it.

@onyx Let your heart be at peace! ????

[Onyx 905]

Thanks to everyone- after reading replies and thinking about it, I realize it’s not a smart thing to do so I won’t be doing it.

@onyx Let your heart be at peace!

 

Onyx is resting comfortably now!  Chest pains have gone...

[BlackbirdSong 95]

For me, it depends on the book, though I do feel you Onyx! For example, a book I’ve had to scrimp and save for that was magically bound I wouldn’t tear out the pages, whereas I might in a cheaper copy of a bogstandard book. I’m a huge book lover, but I also appreciate using old or broken copies as art which isn’t so different. However, for a reference book I’d always copy because psychologically the process of writing helps with remembering. Also, for speedy reference I wouldn’t want huge amounts of info as such, so I’d be likely to write by area eg. Expelling spirits, then herb, then a short note on the herb and best uses (eg. Types of spirit, strength, smoke/scatter etc) then add a title and page number underneath to refer to other books for easy reference. For a book I’m working on to pass to my son (if he wants it), I’m adding more information including my own - but that’s written up clearly and any methods from others are tried and tested by myself, often altered slightly, then the info itself drafted a few times before inclusion. That way all the information comes together coherently. I have another for personal working, but that’s more about recording my own tests and so on than as a speedy reference.

 

Oh and I highlight and note in lots of books, but not the ones I scrimped and saved for. You could also add post-it’s, tabs or bookmarks if you don’t want to annotate the actual text. I’ve been known to slip pages of notes inside the page it relates to to avoid ruining a truly beautiful book.

Edited February 26, 2020 by BlackbirdSong

[Onyx 905]

My Thoth Tarot book is filled with my handwritten notes, it is an ever evolving manuscript.

[AliacenisAF9 11]

I write a lot of notes in my books too, even the scrimped and saved for cherished ones - I think it just adds my personal energies to them (like marking them as my territory).

I also have a book of magazine/newspaper clippings that I have found interesting and wanted to keep.

[Onyx 905]

All the cheristed memories!  They must be saved.

[ravengraey 23]

13 hours ago, AliacenisAF9 said:

I write a lot of notes in my books too, even the scrimped and saved for cherished ones - I think it just adds my personal energies to them (like marking them as my territory).

I also have a book of magazine/newspaper clippings that I have found interesting and wanted to keep.

Like a scrapbook!

[AliacenisAF9 11]

Yes, it's my Witchy Scrap Book. It's mostly just cuttings of spells or pathworking ideas that I find interesting.

Astrological charts, palm reading, hexes and curses, auras, anything that I think I might find useful or I can adapt to suit my needs.

[Bronach 1]

I second photocopying the pages or handwriting them neatly. 
I love collaging so I don’t want to say don’t do it... but I also love books. 
The idea made me think of a form of poetry I learned in college called a Cento poem. It’s made of lines rearranged from other authors poetry. A collage of lines so to speak. i just don’t know I would justify destroying the book to make it! 

[Hunter 53]

On 1/27/2020 at 10:58 PM, Onyx said:

As a book lover, I gasp!  I clutch at my chest!  Sacrilege!  If it is a passage you want to put in your Grimoire, write it out , you will remember it better than just reading.

Then again, it is your book so "Do as you wilt"!

I know that feeling. 😏

Remember the old religious "burn the books!" to destroy the old knowledge? 😲

I think the bible burnings were a revenge for that. 😂 What goes around, comes around.

Destroying any book is not a good idea... Books are often just people's views printed on paper, however, they gift you with a broader perspective of life & the collective beliefs / knowledge of this physical dimension.

The trick with life is to learn about it, but not absorb the information as absolute truth. 

[Onyx 905]

Burn the Books!  Burn the Witch!  Burn the World!

[Onyx 905]

I feel like burning the World!  I'm starting to go insane!

[Michele 1,475]

I don't see why you can't! Get those plastic page savers and a 3 ring binder. Rip out the pages you want to keep and put them into the page savers in the 3RB, and voila!!