Creating Book of Shadows

What exactly should be in a Book of Shadows?

Is it wrong or seen as offensive to use a notebook as your first ever Book of Shadows?

Can you truly put whatever you want within the contents of one?

Please let me know…all your opinions matter to me!!

14 Likes

I would say no. Especially your first one. It is a work in progress. You can always organize it into another one later.

This is a Link to the Spells8 post about the book is shadows.

11 Likes

My Book of shadow and grimoire are one and the same, it consists of several standard notebooks held together in a tatty well worn sleeve :rofl:, chaos doesn’t allow me to organise it, though I’ve tried and failed repeatedly, it’s what’s inside that counts and the vibe you get from it. It’s yours :green_heart:

10 Likes

Nope! It’s not wrong or offensive! Many people use a three ring binder so you can move stuff around and take things out.

Mine is on my computer! My writing isn’t good and I’m too cheap to print everything out so it’s all on my computer and backed up on a USB stick! It’s all good!

And whatever you want to put in it goes. Recipes, poems, pictures, spells. It’s all up to you. Have fun!

12 Likes

Your book of shadows can be anything you want it to be organized any way you want it. Each practitioner is unique and so is their practice and beliefs. You can use whatever you want to make it and put whatever feels good to you to put in it. My first one (or 3 lol) are in notebooks. I have lots of notes from studies in every field of witchcraft along with spells, sigils, and recipes.

So, lol, just do what feels good to you. :grinning:

12 Likes

Unless you’re in a coven, the Book of Shadows can be whatever you want it to be. The point of it is to create a catalog, so to speak, of information that is useful and important to you. There’s a new post on the Spells8 blog that has information on what you might want to include in a Book of Shadows.

Not at all! If that’s what works for you then that’s what you should do. My grimoire is actually digital :joy: I don’t have a physical book nor do I plan on creating one (as of right now, anyway) – having a digital grimoire works for me so that’s what I do!

10 Likes

@MeganB

Curious :thinking:, how would being in a coven change how we make our book of shadows? :person_shrugging::green_heart:

10 Likes

Usually, a traditional coven has a coven Book of Shadows that the initiate would need to copy for themselves. The coven’s Book of Shadows contains information specific to their tradition and the initiate is required to have a copy of their Book of Shadows so everyone has the same information. That’s not to say a witch couldn’t have their own Book of Shadows, but usually the information matches anyway :woman_shrugging:

11 Likes

Ah that makes sense, thankyou, I don’t think they’d want me, too messy and non compliant, probably why there aren’t any Loki or Chaos covens, it would be a disaster. :rofl:

10 Likes

You’re welcome! :heart: I couldn’t imagine trying to create a Book of Shadows for a coven centered around Loki or Chaos Magic :joy:

10 Likes

That might get a bit…chaotic…no pun intended… :laughing:.

10 Likes

:rofl::rofl::rofl: when I think of a chaos coven I think of the witches in hocus pocus. :rofl::rofl::rofl:

8 Likes

You can put whatever you want in a Book of Shadows…whatever you love and want to include in your practice…and it can be in any form you like. I personally love color so I add colored pages or color prints whenever I can. Mine has these sections (well, it started out this way, then the book got too big and started falling apart…and now the sections are in different books :slight_smile: they are portfolios I buy online that have lots of room for pages you slip in. Binders would be so much more pratical for the way I organize but I like the way portfolio pages flip and lie flat. So I use those!

So the sections in my BOS are spellcrafting tips and correspondences, my circle casting ritual; tools, cleansing and charging; candle magick; herbs and incense; crystals; spiritual connection and devotions; lunar magick, solar magick, sabbats, esbats, conventional holidays, birthday magick, ocean magick, storm magick, spells and rituals for: abundance, banishing and protection, blessings, confidence, creativity, dream work, happiness, healing, justice, love, luck, manifesting, mindfulness, money magick, motivation, manifesting and productivity, purification, protection, transformation, truth.

I also have a private Pinterest board that has soooo many sections and pins - with more info on topics like augury, aura work, ancestor work and other topics I haven’t created room for yet in the BOS but am learning more about. I find Pinterest board to be that to be really handy for quick reference.

Then I have a little BOS (that is in a mini photo album) that I take with me when I travel that has of course, travel spells and a few ones I like to keep on hand. So, that’s just how I do it. Maybe will give you some ideas for what may work for you.

11 Likes

Thanks for your extensive knowledge!!!

8 Likes

Oh yes, I’d join. :partying_face:

5 Likes

@megan4 you can put whatever you want in your shadow book!
I agree with my sisters!
this will help you every time you need to remember something or to learn it! pictures and whatever else you feel you should put in!
nothing is offensive in knowledge! :smiling_face_with_three_hearts:

6 Likes

Mine is completely digital! I have everything in a “notebook“ on Goodnotes. Almost all of mine is from our coven :smiling_face:


I do keep a handwritten book of mirrors though. And that is just in a normal notebook! :sparkles:

10 Likes

This topic was automatically closed 180 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.