The Red Book (of Shadows)
painted the 30th of September, 1989
by Thomas Spanos

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No offense to Hecate intended. I was yet in high school when I began this book. I first found myself -- who I was and what I was meant to stand for -- in these years. I feel that, like myself, many of my peers were scared to death of finding out who they were. Some joined groups to establish their identity, by being a part of something bigger. Some claimed membership to gangs for purposes of anonymity and reprisal. I encountered individuals with cryptic writings and strange pendants who claimed to be witches and/or devil worshippers. These people threatened to curse those who crossed them. Scary stuff for a teenager to face. While I could understand sports fans, cliques, and gang mentality, the dark arts troubled me. I had no idea what threat this meant to me. So I read. I gathered books, I read and researched. I even befriended a self proclaimed witch who was some fifty years my senior. This book, with the lofty title of The Red Book (of Shadows,) was about, among other things, my coming to terms with the supposed witchcraft practiced around me. In the end I saw I had nothing to fear, at least not from the punks claiming to be witches.