The Book of Shadows

The Book of Shadows.

The very phrase conjures up a plethora of images...mainly large, fat tomes that are falling apart at the seams, containing the recipes for a thousand and one delicious spells ranging from physical transformation, to mystical, bubbling potions. But these are but fantasy images. The Book of Shadows never existed pre-1950's.

Now, don't get me wrong...there is a strong possibility that there were some sort of notebooks out there that contained pertinent information for various "Pagan" spiritualities, but none of them were ever called "The Book of Shadows". Gerald B. Gardner, the founder of Wicca, was the first to call his informational notebook a Book of Shadows. It is theorized that he found the name in an article, referring to an ancient Sanskrit book or scrolls. From then the name stuck.




So, What IS a Book of Shadows?

A Book of Shadows in a tiny nutshell is a book of stored information. Very romantic, no? The whole point of a Book of Shadows is to put information into it for all the various things you will be doing in the future. Imbolc or Samhain ritual? It's in there. Esbat ceremony? It's in there. Correspondences for these Sabbats or Esbats...or even for a spell you may want to do during your rituals/ceremonies?? It's in there. Prayers to your Gods? It's in there. Liturgical readings? It's in there.

My first handmade book

There are so many things you can put into your book, but understand that not everyone has the same information in these books. Not everyone believes in Hecate or Cernunnos, so deity references for these Gods might not be in one person's book, but could be in another's. Not everyone agrees on what RED corresponds to, so the information may be different. Some may even omit half the Sabbats and only have one or two rituals. The point is, there are as many Books of Shadows as there are practitioners in the world (if not more). There's the common misconception that the Book of Shadows is a universally used book, not unlike a bible. Sure there are books out there called "The Wiccan (or Witches) Bible" but there really is no such thing...they're essentially just guide books, not unlike the books I recommend in the above tab. There is no universal book all Witches and/or Wiccans use. As I said, the Book of Shadows is as diverse as the practitioners who use it.

How do I make one?
ONE...of the many, many questions asked over and over again is how to make a Book of Shadows. And that's ok! This is the creative, individual process that makes being Pagan fun. There are as many ways to make a BoS as there are stars in the sky. All it takes is your imagination. To start, **I** recommend you use a binder. Hard bound books and journals are all well and good, but you have a hard time organizing your book. Every page would have something different and it'd be a jumbled mess. The only constant I recommend is organization. Once you have enough information, you can place things in a hardbound book, but in the beginning, you don't really know what you'll want or need, nor how to organize it for your needs, so using a binder will be a HUGE help.

Other suggestions in the beginning can include your very own computer (or tablet if you have one...seeing as they're getting cheaper and more accessible these days). Create a file on your computer/tablet and organize the sub-files into the categories you want, and save word files into them. You can even create PowerPoint slide shows in which you can decorate and fancy up your pages and create themes. Some people, though don't like the idea of people using computers during rituals because of the energy transfer from the mechanical device, but it's all based on preference. Sometimes all you have is your computer (generally for privacy reasons as you can add a password to these devices).

Simpler suggestions include cheap spiral bound notebooks found at your local dollar store. Believe it or not you CAN re-arrange pages in a spiral notebook, just don't do it too often or you'll warp the spiral wire. All you have to do is take a pair of pliers, pry open the bottom of the spiral that latches to the loop above it and twist away until all the pages are released. MY suggestion would be to wait until your book is filled before deciding to re-arrange the pages.

Later on you can go out and purchase more elaborate books if you like. Personally I love the idea of post-bound books. Usually found in scrapbooks, I found a post-bound book that accommodates standard 8 1/2 x 11 paper (unlike the 12 x 12 scrapbooks out there, which I find to be TOO big for my tastes and creates wasted space, especially if I only have something small to put on the page).

Once you've grown and experienced using Books of Shadows, tailoring it to your specific tastes is merely a matter of decoration. I have created a page linked above that details actually building a book from scratch, and even offers suggestions as to what to put into it. Feel free to give it a once over. I know book-making seems overwhelming, but I PROMISE anyone can do this (and I mean ANYONE). Feel free to message me if you want to prove me wrong :D :D :D.