The Witch’s Book of Shadows
Every witch should have a Book of Shadows. Basically it’s a witch’s diary or journal and is filled with all sorts of occult information. A Book of Shadows is a very personal item for a witch and you should treasure it and protect it.
There are many guidelines on the Internet for what should, and what shouldn’t go into it. We believe that it’s entirely up to you. If all you want to do is put spells in there (which is a commonly held view of what a Book of Shadows is anyway) then that’s fine. But you’ll get much more out of it if you record all your magickal experiences. You don’t have to of course – the choice is yours so do whatever you’re comfortable with.
Spells should always be recorded of course whether successful or not. That way if you need to do a particular spell again then it’s easy to check back and see what did, or didn’t work. Don’t waste time on trial and error. Look in your book.
As your Book of Shadows could literally contain a lifetime of magick, you should never lend it to someone. If you want to let someone copy a spell by all means do so. But let them copy it in your house. It’s irreplaceable.
Don’t go showing it around to people unnecessarily either. Especially not to “prove” you’re a witch to someone. That Book of Shadows contains a lot of magickal energy and it will lose some of it if treated in this way.
If you belong to a coven then it’s fine to show them but you will probably find it’s not necessary most times as the coven usually has its own Book of Shadows which will be the collective magickal knowledge of the members.
Finding a Book of Shadows
It doesn’t matter what form your Book of Shadows takes. Some people like to have a purpose made one, and there are some lovely ones available. Some will be quite happy with a notebook or a ring binder. Nor are you limited to just one binder. If a single binder is full, then it’s full. Start another one. They both are part of your Book of Shadows. Likewise it doesn’t matter whether it’s typed or handwritten. On plain paper or parchment. The right way is whatever you want it to be.
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