Bell, Book & Candle

You may not know this, but Llewellyn has one of the most extensive on-line metaphysical encyclopedias around. You can reach its home page by clicking on this link. This encyclopedia is absolutely free to the community. And I have the honor of being its editor.

I just entered over 120 new terms. That’s in addition to the thousands of terms that were already there. One of the terms I researched and just entered was Bell, Book, and Candle. Here is the entry that explains it:

Originally a form of excommunication from the Catholic Church instituted in the late ninth century c.e. It included the ringing of a bell, the closing of the Bible, and the snuffing of a candle. In 1950, a romantic comedy play by this name was produced. It was made into a movie in 1958. Part of the plot is that if a Witch falls in love she loses her supernatural powers. Curiously, some modern Witches have used the phrase to indicate the closing of a ritual.

Until I researched it, I didn’t know all of that information. Did you? Do you know the meanings of berdache, bodkin, cantrip, or cephalonomancy? They’re all part of my most recent entries along with over 100 other new terms.

So look through the encyclopedia. If there’s a term that’s missing let me know. You’ll get credit when it’s posted. Thanks!