Most Wiccan traditions have a Book of Shadows. Such books are rarely published or even shown to non-initiates. In them, the tradition's specific beliefs and modes of worship are thoroughly or sketchily outlined. Though contents and organization of these ritual manners vary, most Book of Shadows include instructions for casting and banishing; religious rituals; the consecration of tools; laws; coven organizational notes; magickal rites; prayers and perhaps herbal lore. Some contain lists of the tradition's pantheon, training exercises for new students, and finally, initiation ceremonies. Such books are vitally important to the establishment and maintenance of all Wiccan traditions, for without them, the tradition's specific rites and other lore must be carefully memorized and passed down through word of mouth. This always leaves room for error, misinterpretation, and even loss of material. Don't misunderstand this: No Wiccan tradition that I know of has recorded every single bit of information. Much is verbally passed from teacher to student. Still, a tradition's Book of Shadows provides an unchanging guide and memory-trigger for practitioners. There are many different Books of Shadows today. Some are used by hundreds or thousands of Wiccans. Others are created by Solitary Wiccans and are never shown to others. The book itself can be of any type. Bound blank books are widely available today and can certainly be used-but only if you're sure that your tradition has stopped evolving. (Its difficult to make changes in a bound book.)If you have any doubt whatsoever, a loose-leaf notebook might be the answer. This allows you to add or delete new materials if and when the need arises. Many traditional Wiccan Book of Shadows begin with initiation rituals, and contain other information that isn't directly applicable to Solitary Wiccans. If we set aside these sections, we can view the general (very general) outline of a typical Book of Shadows. This can be used when creating your own. The process is simple; fill in the blanks with all the information, rituals, rules, and other information that you've determined are a part of your tradition. Add your own touches--a bit of poetry here, maybe a section of songs or chats. Most Solitary Books of Shadows are highly personal creations. (If you feel uncomfortable thinking about creating a Book of Shadows, don't. Every Book of Shadows was written at sometime or another.) This is a short outline of stuff u can put in your Book of shadows (it doesn’t have to be in this order.) Title Page Laws Invocations of the Goddess and God An altar diagram Circle Casting and dispersing instructions Rituals Prayers, chants and invocations The tools of the Craft Self-initiation ritual (or 4 a coven initiation ritual) Magickal rites and information You also don’t necessarily have to hand-write your Book of Shadows, but you can have it on a disk, a computer, u can type it out and put it into a binder...etc. Still there is no doubt that hand-writing every single word does enhance the effectiveness of the Book of Shadows, for a part of your energy then physically exists within the words and the book itself. If you have terrible handwriting, or don’t like to write, you can either type it or key it into a computer and print it out, as I said earlier. Though computing your Book of Shadows may seem to be quite convenient, nothing is more evocative than turning to a hand-written book during ritual. Its part of the romantic legacy of Wicca, and one we shouldn't be without. (I would agree, however, due to recent personal experiences, that a typed copy of everything hand-written can come in handy. In other words, the Book of Shadows in both forms may well be ideal. All this information I got from "Living Wicca a Further Guide for the Solitary Practitioner" By Scott Cunningham.
