Book of Shadows
“A book used by modern witches for recording spells and rituals, recipes or anything associated with their craft. Also known as a Book of Spells.”
Although you can buy a Book of Shadows on e-bay quite easily, there is a certain connection achieved by creating your own. Not only is it a great way to study and learn the craft, it is a great way to narrow it down to exactly what you need to achieve out of it.
Putting together your Book of Shadows can be a fairly daunting task. It can be difficult to map out where you should begin and end. A lot of pages with instructions for creating your Book of Shadows are very in-depth and might be overwhelming for the new witch. I decided to narrow it down a little bit.
I do not claim to know all there is about creating your Book of Shadows but I do like to think that I have done my time and done enough research to know that although there are general standards, there is no wrong or right way to go about doing it. I will only be giving advice on how to simplify the process.
FORMATS
There are so many ways to go about storing the information for your Book of Shadows. You can pick whichever suits you best. Some witches might prefer a blank notebook in which they can write information and draw diagrams, while others use a three ring binder with dividers so that they can add and remove as they please. You might even prefer a digital Book of Shadows on your Google Drive or even your Pinterest page. Not one of these is better than the other. It simply boils down to personal preference.
ORGANISATION
This is going to be a very important part of your Book of Shadows. Considering how much information goes into it, it is very important to keep it organized so that you can find what you need as quickly as possible. There is no set order in which you should keep it organized but I can suggest a few guidelines.
You should have a title page that includes your name. It does not need to be beautiful and fancy, it can simply say “This is the Book of Shadow belonging to ……”. Some witches like to add a warning as well. A Book of Shadows can be seen as a very personal item and often they have warnings against using it if you are not a witch.
Then you need a way to divide it into the different categories. For this you can use tab dividers, an index at the back of the book or even a table of contents at the front. You might want to use colours to divide the sections, or even different kinds of paper. Of course if yours is digital it becomes easier to organize.
It is a good idea to have a section where you reference the books that you have read and your personal reviews of them. Or possibly reference other witches that you look up to. The more organized your Book of Shadows is, the easier it will be to work your way through it when the need arises.
WHAT TO INCLUDE
This is where the tricky part was for me. There are so many tutorials that claim that there are very specific ways to put together your Book of Shadows. I disagree. The content of a Book of Shadows will differ depending on the witch. This is only natural. A Book of Shadows belonging to a coven witch will be different to that of a solitary witch. A Book of Shadows belonging to a kitchen witch will look different to that of a hedge witch. It will also be different depending on which of the traditions you follow. You get my point. I have narrowed it down to a few items that would be most useful in your Book of Shadows. You are of course welcome to add and remove as you wish.
Rules
Somewhere towards the front of your book you should write the laws of your tradition or coven. You might be an eclectic witch, in which case you write down the laws that you follow personally. Even a solitary witch abides by a certain set of rules and laws. These need to be written down somewhere. It just makes more sense to have them towards the front of the book.
Dedication
If you are part of a coven then you should write down a copy of your initiation here. Solitary witches often go through their own dedication rituals, in which case you need to write down who you are dedicating yourself to and why. This is an excellent way to further personalize your Book of Shadows. If you have not yet gone through a dedication or an initiation then you should be sure to add it in when it is done. Or perhaps, it is an excellent way to start the process of putting together your Book of Shadows.
Correspondence Tables
These will be unimaginably useful for you. This is a section of your book dedicated to everything from the phases of the moon to the colour chart. Include as many of these as possible. Include candles, stones, herbs and any correspondence table that you already use or that you find useful. Put them all in there. These act well as a quick reference. It will also be remarkably useful for creating your own spells and rituals.
Sabbats, Esbats and All Other Rituals
At the very least add The Wheel of The Year to your Book of Shadows. There are 8 holidays in the year. Not all of them are celebrated by all traditions, so again your wheel depends on your traditions. In this section you might want to include some rituals for each Sabbat. You could include a brief explanation of each day. Whichever information feels important to you, add it. Another important thing you need to keep in mind is that the Wheel of the Year is different depending on whether you practice in the Southern Hemisphere or the Northern Hemisphere. Make sure you have the right one.
This could be added to the “correspondence tables” section of your Book of Shadows but this all depends on how much information you are adding.
Spell Crafting
This is a section that should be further organized depending on the purpose. These could be “protection”, “luck”, “wealth” and “love” to give you a few examples. You get the point. It is a good idea to make a note on the spells that you created yourself and to reference a source on those that you found by other means. You will also want to leave room for notes of any changes you want to make, what you thought of the spell, the strength of it etc. These will come in handy should you revisit it.
Divination
If you are learning a form of divination like tarot or astrology, this will be a good place to keep all your notes and your findings. This would need to be in as much detail as possible. This might be a nice addition to your Book of Shadows but I know of many witches that keep a separate journal for this.
Basics
There are a few basics that anyone’s Book of Shadows cannot be without. These are:
How to cast a circle
Creating an altar, or information on your personal altar
Full moon rituals
Recipes for oils, incense and herb blends
Recipes for making ingredients (moon water, black salt etc)
Now that we have covered some of the basic sections that you Book of Shadows should cover I can suggest more that might be useful depending on the way you operate as a witch. You might want to add a chapter for chants, prayers or songs. You might want to add a chapter for symbols and sigils and their corresponding information. You might want to add an index for herbs and spices and their uses. Basically, any information that you feel you need by your side throughout your journey as a witch will be an important addition to your Book of Shadows.
Some witches will write in sacred languages. Although this looks impressive, it might make things complicated if you are not yet capable of quickly translating that language. I would suggest against it. Stick to whichever language you read and interpret best.
Once you have put together the basics of your Book of Shadows you need to cleanse it and consecrate it. There is no specific method for cleansing your Book of Shadows, this can be any method that you prefer. It is important to consecrate it, to declare its purpose. Once this is done you can continue to add and remove from your Book of Shadows as you wish. It is yours, do with it what you will but remember…harm none.
As witches we get flooded with so much information and knowledge on a daily basis. It can become overwhelming. A Book of Shadows might turn out to be your most important tool. It will become your go-to reference book whenever you need help. Take care of it. It can become an heirloom. Also keep in mind that it is your responsibility to ensure that it never lands in the hands of those who intend to misuse it. The most important piece of advice I can give you is to make sure you make your Book of Shadows yours. If you are a painter then you should paint on the pages. The pages of this book are for you and you alone so do not allow anyone to tell you how you should and should not be doing it.
