Everyone’s book of shadows will be different, unless you are a member of a Coven that requires you to have the exact same one as everyone else in the Coven. This would be if your Coven has a Book of Shadows and everyone has a copy of it. You may have your own BOS that you keep at home and use for your own private magick and ritual. The Coven of The Myst has their own Book of Shadows, but Nefertiti and Chrianhawk have their own personal BOS that they use for their own personal magick and rituals. What exactly is a Book of Shadows and what goes into one will be covered in this lesson. What one person has in theirs, may not be found in yours. It is personal preference and need for the information.
A book of shadows is a place for witches to keep information on Spells, recipes, rituals, dreams, and other musings. Some witches keep two books, one for Personal information and musings and one for rituals, recipes, and spells. The personal one would be kept private and the other one would be taken to rituals etc.
Why would you have a BOS? The BOS is a way to track your progress as a witch, and a place to store information on rituals and spells that you have done.
Choosing and organizing your BOS.
Some witches have a BOS on their computer. They can easily access it and print out the information that they need at that particular moment. There are advantages and disadvantages to this method. The advantages are it can be easily organized and updated as needed, and the information is right there and printable so that you can take only what is necessary for that moment with you. The disadvantages are that it is not in your personal handwriting. Many witches feel that you will learn and retain the information better if you hand write it out. The advantages to having it in handwritten form are better memorization as well as something concrete that can be held, and passed down to the next generation. The disadvantages to the hand written one are not as east to organize, and can be damaged during ritual or magick by spilling wax or something else upon it. Once it is lost, it would be hard to gather all of that knowledge again.
If you choose to have a true BOS and not a virtual one, many witches find that a 3-ring binder works best. Here you can add and remove information as necessary and it is easily organized with dividers and indexes. The Coven of the Myst has a hard bound hand made BOS that was made by Nefertiti and Chrianhawk. They selected an appropriate fabric and covered press board with it. They then bought Linen paper and designed the section covers as well as the pages for the information on the computer. When this was done they printed the pages out and separated the sections with tabbed dividers then bound them together by sewing and adhesive. The book is not 100 % perfect, but it was handcrafted with our personal energies. Nefertiti and Chrianhawk also have their own personal BOS that they purchased at Borders Books several years ago. They are hardbound book with lined paper that they have decorated and covered to match their personalities. They hand write the information in these.
What goes into a Book of Shadows?
Some of these things can be kept in a separate book. ChrianHawk and I have binders full of information but only put the important pertinent information into the Book of Shadows. Place into your personal Book of Shadows whatever you feel you will have need of. Don’t’ just put something in there to make it look like you know a lot and have experienced and done a lot. This is a work in progress, that you will add to over your years of dedication to the Goddess and God.
