Book of Shawdows

What is a Book of Shadows??

 

It is a book put together by a witch to record their journey in the religion.
Witches can accurately record all of their Magickal information, important dates, research, recipes, and other information and have this information in one place. The Book is unique to each Witch.

There is no one true Book of Shadows. Most Witches have one and Covens may have a main book but coven members usually keep individual copies that are similar to the Coven Book of Shadows but individualised by each Coven member.

The Book of Shadows is an ongoing and never ending creative work. This will continue through your entire Wiccan life. As you continue to grow during your study of the Craft, the Book will reflect this and grow with you. The Book of Shadows shows your history and progress of a Solitary Witch or Coven.

HISTORY

There are many theories on the history. I will cover a couple of theories here.

It has been believed that Egypt was the origin of many of the earliest texts. It’s been discovered that there were Magickal books

in Egypt as far back as five thousand years ago, although Magick or ‘Wisdom’ books have been discovered in other areas.

Earlier witches practiced an oral tradition passed down by word of mouth. As persecutions took place, rituals were written down so they wouldn’t be lost. Covens met for rituals ‘in the shadows’. Thus their book became the ‘Book of Shadows. Unfortunately, most of these books were later destroyed because others didn’t understand what they were. Or, more likely because they did understand and wanted the books destroyed.

 

Many of the rituals were written down in a hieroglyphic or runic type of writing. This coded handwriting could have been from lack of education or as a Magickal Alphabet so that others couldn’t read what was in the book for the Coven’s protection. An ‘outsider’ would not know what was written, therefore wouldn’t know that it was a Witches book.

There was usually only one book for a Coven. Paper was expensive, photocopiers and printing presses weren’t even heard of and the time it would take to copy each page of a huge book by hand was insurmountable.

It was usually kept by the one in charge of the record keeping or the High Priestess. This was the one item taken out of the house upon the Coven member passing onto Summerland. Another coven member would enter and take the book, thus assuring that it was passed on to the next coven member in charge of recordkeeping.

 

 

 

MAKING YOUR OWN

With the onset of computers came the High Tech Witch. You can keep your Book of Shadows on your computer. There is also software designed to keep your personal Book of Shadows organised.

The big thing to remember with all this technology is to back up your Book of Shadows on disk or burn it on a CD. All it takes is one nasty virus or a failed hard drive to wipe out all of your hard work.

You can also use  a ring binder and paper. This can be the lined loose leaf paper used in school or unlined. An advantage to a ring binder is adding paper and also moving sections around as your book grows.

 

A majority of Witches prefer the black Book of Shadows as black

repels negativity. However, some Covens choose a certain color and require the color be used by each member for their own Book of Shadows.

or of course you can make create your own Book of Shadows, using posters, ictures, ribbons etc to decorate it. Making your own in this fashion can be lots of fun. Plus you can make it any size you want and also have the satisfaction of truly making a Book of Shadows from scratch with your own two hands.

 

 

DECORATING

This is an art in itself. This will personalize your book and also place some of your energy in each book you create. (You didn’t think you’d only be filling up only one book, did you??)

You can use artwork, markers, paints, glitters or purchase stencil kits. Fabrics, such as silk can be used to create a new cover, too. If you want to use your computer, fonts are wonderful. Fancy fonts for cover lettering or calligraphy would really be a nice touch.

One can also attach stones, gems etc to the cover as well. Remember, however, with any gem stone attachments you will need to be careful when storing them. They could come off so allow for extra room on your bookshelf etc.

Making each book individual is what will make each one special. Perhaps your book on Rituals and Ritual work could have a cover of the moon phases. The book on your First Degree study notes could have artwork of your vision of the Goddess or of a bookshelf of Wicca books.

The possibilities are endless.

 

CHAPTERS

Below is a list of possible chapters for your Book of Shadows. This list is not complete nor is it a list of topics that are required for your Book of Shadows.

Affirmations
Altar Diagrams
Artwork
Astrology
Astral Projection

Candle Magick
Chakra Research
Chants
Charge of the God
Charge of the Goddess
Circle Casting
Color Magick

Book Blessing

Definitions/Jargon
Divination
Dowsing

Dream Work

 

Earth Magick
Elemental Magick
Esbat Ritual

Gem Magick
Ghost Work
God Research
Goddess Research

Graphology

Herb Magick

 

Invocations

Magickal Alphabets
Meditations
Miscellaneous (Rules, things to remember)

Poetry

 

Prayers

Quotes

Ritual Work
Rune Research

 

Sabbats
Songs
Spells
Spellwork

 

Tarot Research
Telepathy
Tools of the Craft

Vision Questing

Wiccan Rede

 

 

 

CONTENTS

For content, the only thing I will say, other than the content is up to you, is to please note your source. There really aren’t any copyrights on Book of Shadows and much of any Book is taken from various sources.  If you create a ritual or spell, would you want to see is it being copied around on the internet without proper credit?? Perhaps it wouldn’t matter to you, perhaps it would.

One item I like to see in a Book of Shadows is a Book Blessing. This should be the first item you see as you open your Book of Shadows.

Each time I open my Book of Shadows, I read the Blessing and remember the love and devotion I put into the Book and the connection and energy to the Goddess and God the Book has.

 

 

BOOK BLESSING

Here is a Book Blessing I found years ago and the author is unknown. This will get you started.

 

Book of Shadows Blessing
by unknown

Beautiful Goddess of many faces…
Bless this book that it may enhance
All who choose to read its pages.

Bless this book as my relationship
With You may continue to grow.
I pray to You that You will grace me
With Your love and Your Blessing.

The main thing to remember is the Book is to be YOU. Use the colors, covers, papers, and writing utensils that YOU want. This booklet is to give you ideas but the final decision is yours alone!