Book of Shadows (CG)

Since I posted a creation guide I had already posted in the main forum I have decided to also post a smaller guide on a book of shadows.

For this post ill cover a personal Spellbook, or as some call them Grimoire or Book of Shadows(BOS). There is a difference in the term. The key difference is the audience. A grimiore is meant to be read and understood by others while a book of shadows is a personal thing, almost like a journal. In this post I'll focus on the Personal spellbook or Book Of Shadows. For simplicity ill refer to this a BOS from this point onward.

The key tenet of a BOS is that it is for yourself. No one else need understand it, but it should seem completely readable to you. Organize the book based on your ideas. This will be a slightly different article as I'm going to give ideas for a decent BOS but the ultimate choice how you organize it is up to you. First the general creation.

Any notebook will due for a BOS but I find a hard back journal to be the best possible option. This helps with the durability of the item. Ideally you should like the look and feel of this book but they are usually simply places of knowledge not power like a staff or knife so this is actually less important. If you wanna go all out you could even get a lockable journal to keep your BOS private. Decoration your journal with runes and other such things can help give you a connection to it but its not really necessary for it basic functions but can give other benefits not immediately apparent. An example is to bless it as a substitute altar. (please refer to my Altar (CG) for info on Altar creation. Some also use a BOS as a focus for spells.

While it is possible to create a BOS through digital means I find it often better to keep such things physical to prevent accidental date loss and to help with mobility. Also a physical medium give the ability to write symbols and sigils into your book as you need to. As said above a BOS can also be enchanted to help with other things.

The BOS main purpose is to be a magical journal. To get the most out of it you should write the things you have done and the noted effects. Its a great place to figure out how to word a new spell your working on, or what your latest dream was and possible meanings. Info you constantly use is a great edition to a BOS. An example is the elemental affinity of zodiac signs or maybe your interpretation of the tarot. If your worried you may forget info or you simply want to keep all the material you commonly use in one place it nice to keep it in your BOS.

That's really all there is to them. Its one of the most basic tools to PR practitioner of magic but it can also be one of the most important. As your craft grows so should this tome.

If you have any more info you would like to add or simply have other ideas of what to put into a BOS feel free to post below.
* The Altar Idea was giving to me by Palador

I have a digital Book of Shadows and I much prefer it that way personally. Data loss is not a concern when you use programs like OneNote which as long as you remember your hotmail email and password you will always have access to. If one of your computers breaks or you want to access it on a library computer, you can easily login via the website.

Also, if you use a program such as Wordpad a lot of computers autosave this to your OneDrive which is pretty much the same thing and can be accessed in the same way. Now even past those two options...flash drive yo. You can get a basic cheap one for like a buck or two and even in bulk packs online or in a tech store. You don't need the crazy big storage space for documents, the larger ones are usually for like video games or things that take up a lot of space. I use a cutsie basic Hello Kitty flashdrive because I'm a filthy weeb lol!

It works just fine for saving not only written documents but also pictures and my firefox favorites. I hate a massive amount of pictures and favorites to different pagan websites and pdf books so I update it occasionally. Yet, I have never ever had to worry about filling it up. Tiny sucker can be thrown into my purse or on my keychain. Being that small makes it mobile. Plus, you can also access this stuff from a tablet which is small, light weight, and book sized. It is wonderful because most online document thingies have spell correct.

I don't care if your a college English graduate, you still make spelling errors so it's useful. For me personally...I have terrible hand writing. I and everyone I know can read it so it's legible but it's just so ugly in my opinion, though others think it's cute I guess. That and I am a very fast typer plus writing makes my hand cramp up pretty quickly. For OneNote, you can make seperate color coated tabs and then subtabs. Then, bullet point, bold, italic, underline, etc. So it is very visually pleasing and organazation is emaculate lol.

I do however have a few small journals on hand as well I have gotten from dollar stores and Bookman's. All of which are hardcover and super pretty shiny designs. I do end up using those more often when I am out for like recording Nymph experiences and such. I also use it for writing shopping lists so I can easily remember what I already have and what I need to pick up. I have a terrible memory so sometimes jotting down some quick notes for missing materials or things I need refills on is helpful. This is also why I keep inventory so I do not accidently buy doubles of things.

As for symbols, sigils, runes and such; yeah that is a great idea! I know someone who painted a sigil on her tarot box to conseal it so it would be less noticable and less likely to be found. There are so many things you could do with that it makes me drool lol. For my physical books, I have never bothered. I'm an open Pagan for the most part. All of my friends and my spouse know. Most of my family is either dead or like distant relitives I see once a year and never talk to. My wife's family I don't bother telling because they are the sterotypical crazy Christians who deny evolution, are terrified of demons, etc.

One accused Holy's uncle's former girlfriend of being a witch and casting a spell on him with zero proof and without even knowing how witchcraft works. So just a bunch of irrational hysteria. But in both cases, they almost never come to our home. Even when they do and my altar is out in the opened they seem to just think it's a fancy decorated coffee table and nothing more. But because I only live with my spouse and we do not often have visitors I do not need to conseal my books.

I never personally saw the point in blessing mine when I first made them but at a later date I will likely add a prayer for Hermes and Apollon asking for them to continue to guide my magick, divination, and pursuit of knowledge. Hermes I feel closer to but Apollon's pretty far up there too. Both are highly intellegent. Hermes is a god of intellegence, magick, and helper of man as well as divination. Apollon not only of divination but he is prophetic and it's kind of a case of...but what doesn't he know? That and both of these brother are pretty close to each other. So they are the dudes to ask in my opinion, for me.