A Book of Shadows or BOS is a book in which you keep a record of all your magickal information. Traditionally, it had to be handwritten by the Witch to ensure the Witch has read the material. Nowadays, it can be anything from a copybook, to a big, bound book, to a journal type book, to a binder. People even have Floppy Disks of Shadows. I have a 2 inch black binder in which I keep typed up information. It's all up to you. Below, you will find a list of things you might want to keep in you Book of Shadows.
-Book Blessing
-Favorite Quotes
-Wiccan Laws and Ethics (i.e. Wiccan Rede, Rule of Three, Charge of the God/dess, Law of the Power, etc...)
-Deity Information (i.e. The God/dess, Greek Deities, Celtic Deities, Egyptian Deities, etc...)
-Sabbat Information
-Any Correspondances (i.e. Herbs and Magickal Uses, Gems and Magickal Uses, Oils/Incense and Magickal Uses, Elements, Angels, Planets, Days, etc...)
-Rituals
-Spells, Spells You've Tried, Outcome of Spells You've Tried
-Prayers and Chants
-Poems
-Drawings
-Records of Your Meditation, Visualization, and Concentration Exercises
-Your Dream Interpretations
-Your Thoughts on Your Spiritual Journey
-Other Information (i.e. Chakras, Auras, Animal Totems, etc...)
Those are only a few ideas. Basically, you can put whatever you want in it. Think of it as a recordbook of your magickal life.
Before, this page contained a few spells and rituals. I've decided to take them off of the page for I firmly believe you should write your own spells and rituals. Magick is like prayer. Would you really want to recite a prayer someone else wrote? Rituals and Spells should be personal. Therefore, below, you will find guidelines on how to design your own rituals and spells.
Basic Outline of a Ritual for the Solitary Witch
From Silver RavenWolf's To Ride a Silver Broomstick
A. Ritual Preparation
1. Define purpose
2. Write ritual
3. Gather necessary tools
4. Prepare area
5. Prepare body
B. Open Circle
1. Find compass North
2. Set up Door Between the Worlds
3. Call the Watchtowers/Elemental Quarters
C. Invocation to the Deities
1. Align self with deity
2. Invoke deities
D. Statement of Purpose
E. Actual Working or Act of Honor
1. Working
a) Complete preliminary manual or visual tasks
b) Raise power/energy
c) Focus power/energy
d) Ground power/energy
2. Honoring
a) Complete preliminary manual or visual tasks
b) Dedicate cakes and wine
c) Partake of cakes and wine
F. Meditation
G. Thanking the Deities
H. Closing the Circle
1. Mentally and verbally close the circle
2. Physically close the circle
3. Clean up
a) Disposal
b) Washing of plates and glasses
c) Putting away tools and other implements
