How to make a Book Of Shadows

[tab]

Hello beautiful give mind I thought this could offer some guidance to baby Wiccan/Witches

This Chat is so we chat all things BOS,
What is it? How to make it, share pages ect ect

I thought it could be a deep dive into ideas and inspiration on creating/adding to your own, offering guidance/inspiration to newbies…

I do ask when we are sharing, linking ect we stick to subject also to keep the information nice and organised + easy to follow I will start at beginning and focus on one section or page at a time

And I know there are several very experienced practitioners here so please correct me where needed offer additional guidance ect ect

[tab]

1.Book, Binder or Digital
So your making a book of shadows or adding to yours

There is no right or wrong here I have started with a binder and protective sleeves so I can reorganise and add pages in take pages out when I get it to a point I am satisfied I will then have the pages bound into a beautiful book

I created a cover and decorated it with light language and colours that mean something to me…

Please share a photo of your book of shadow below…

[Ostara]

I love it @tab! You did a beautiful job on your BOS. The cover is awesome!

[tab]

Do you have a BOS photo you would like to share?

What style did you go with book or binder

[crystal59]

Beautiful BoS you did a really great job I love the colors

[tab]

Thank you do you have BOS picture you can share did you go book or binder or digital?

[crystal59]

I haven’t made a book of shadows yet but when I do it will definitely be a binder with protective sleeves like yours however a while back we did have a sacred book challenge with some beautiful entries you might enjoy seeing. 📔 Weekly Witchy CHALLENGE - Your Sacred Book

[tab]

Amazing awesome link thank you

Is there a reason you haven’t started yet like a blockage maybe?

Do you want to start making one together as we look at some of the basics? I mean it will be very much yours but we can chat about it…Might be an exciting journey

[crystal59]

Sure @tab we can do that I have to go pick up a binder and some protective sleeves but I would love to finally start my book of shadows and I really appreciate you willing to help me. Blockage is the reason I don’t have one yet so I hope to work on that.

[tab]

@crystal59 wow I am really excited and feel very honoured to be a part of your BOS journey

Exciting you have already started by choosing a binder and protective sheet style for your beginning CONGRATULATIONS

Step 2 you will need
1 x large A4 file preferably with inside pocket and front pocket for you to slip in your cover
2 x plastic file dividers 10pk (or 12)
100pk protective sleeves

Let me know when you are ready x

[MeganB]

My grimoire is digital - all of my information isn’t there yet, but it’s coming along nicely! Here’s a screenshot of my grimoire homepage

(also, I just realized that the images are not the same dimensions and now I have to fix it…)

[Mystique]

I bought a BoS on Amazon. I’m babysitting grands right now. But when I get home I will take a pic and share.

[Artemisia]

My first BoS was a book that I had the seller customize the cover.

I don’t think I’ve ever written in this one, the fear of ruining the beautiful journal is great.

I started my own BoS first using a blank journal

You can see more pictures of both of them here starting at #6

Once I filled that up, I made my own bound journal.

More info on creating the journal is here and here

And to organize and keep track of all my downloads and digital magickal information, I am using Notion

I’m about to fill up my custom journal so I’m gathering supplies to make a leatherbound one for my next book.

[tab]

Oooh thanks for sharing @MeganB - I love the idea of digital I hadn’t thought of it before - but the possibilities are endless/endless storage and always with you (most people have a device on them) it looks really nice

[MeganB]

@tab

I love the idea of digital

Digital is the way to go for me and yeah, I have it with me everywhere! I use Notion, so I have the app on my phone, my laptop, and my desktop computer.

[tab]

@Mystique oooh thank you for sharing buying/printing a pre pepared one is great idea nothing wrong with that at al… there are some beautiful ones I have bought pages for mine aswell I make them unique by decorating them or putting notes in them ect

Maybe you would like to hang and as we go through some things you might want to use the opportunity to personalise some of your pages or decorate them, or draw designs put little notes on them what ever your drawn to

[tab]

Especially If your busy or travel a lot, it is tricky to take a massive heavy binder and then all the things this is great xx

[tab]

Wow @Artemisia your journals are lovely
Binding your own when I get to this stage I will be reaching out to you if that is ok

And I love the idea of keeping track of everything where - I am dyslexic so this is an awesome way to catalogue where your different sections are

Thank you for sharing and adding links for everyone

[Artemisia]

@MeganB

My grimoire is digital

I need you to teach me the ways of making my Notion Commonplace book / BoS pretty! I’ve got the basics down for linking pages and creating sections, I don’t know the extras yet to beautify it and make it feel more like a book and less like an organizational document.

[Artemisia]

Thank you for the kind words!

@tab

Binding your own when I get to this stage I will be reaching out to you if that is ok

Please do! It’s been a fun and rewarding experience learning bookbinding. It is as simple or as complicated as you want to make it, meaning there are so many extra things you can add to your book to customize it.

I think it’s helped me get over that “I Don’t Want To Ruin The Perfect Book That I Bought” problem and connected me more personally to the book. My journals have flaws and mistakes already so the pressure on me is less and I write, doodle, draw, paste so much more in these now it feels like a living breathing collection.