MoonBeams Book of Shadows

Simply put, a Book of Shadows is your place to write down all your rituals, thoughts, spells, or bits of information you think are too important to lose. It's also a very personal book based on what you think matters to your religion. When I hear of people wanting to borrow someone else's BOS, I wonder why they don't write their own.

Actually, that can be answered by this: They don't know where to start. As an avid journal writer since I was little, starting a book to record my rituals was no problem. But not everyone writes in a journal, so making that first mark in a brand new blank book can be scary. First of all, what do you write? What kinds of information goes inside the book?

Many people actually have a few books on hand. They keep one specifically for spells, one for rituals, one for dreams, one for divinations, one as a journal...whew! That can add up to a lot of books! I've broken my own books down to three...well, four, technically, but three that I really use:

First I have my journal. Pretty basic, really. I don't write every day, but write when I feel I need to. However, I've added an extra "magickal touch" to my journals: When I head the page with the date, I also put the moon phase, what sign the moon is in, and how "old" the moon is in days. By doing this, you may find that you only write on certain periods of the moon, that your moods swing with the phase, or that your writing habits are in some kind of pattern. You can find the moon phase and sign in a Witches' Almanack or Llewellyn's Magickal Almanack. By keeping a journal, I can analyze my emotions and know if I'm in the right state of mind for any magickal work. If I am in a bad mood, I can blow off some steam and get back to approaching a sense of level-headedness.

I also keep a journal for dreams and divination. I was given a set of Dream Cards for my 20th birthday, and when I write down my dreams, I can go back and analyze them with the cards. I also write down whenever I do a divination of some sort...usually Tarot. I'll write down what spread I used (usually Celtic Cross, but it sometimes varies), the "book meaning" of each card, my own impressions of the meanings of each card, then I write a page or so linking the meanings together. For both, dreams and divination, I leave a page blank in between each entry. This way I can go back and fill in the actual result. If I interpreted the cards as meaning I'll have a really awful day, but it turns out fine, I'll write it down. Then I can pull out the cards again and re-think my interpretation. Perhaps it means an upcoming month may be filled with hardships. Perhaps I was just tripping on lactic acid (that's a crew joke in case I just confused you *grin*) and I should have interpreted the cards to mean that I've just passed a really hard day. I can do the same with dreams using the cards or even with a dream dictionary. Sometimes you will have a series of dreams that you can't explain that occur over a long period of time. By writing them down you can go back and piece them together with events from your life.

Ahhh...here's the most commonly asked question: "What's the Book of Shadows and how do I make one?" You can start the same way you do any other journal. Find a blank book...any will do, but make sure it *feels* right to you. It can be lined or unlined, book-bound or spiral-bound, large or small. You can even use a loose-leaf binder if you prefer. (I have a difficult time with pages tearing out and I feel a bound book is a little more permanent, so I usually stay away from loose-leaf. That shouldn't keep you from trying one out if it works for you.) Find a utensil that you like to write with, be it a fountain pen, ball point, crayon, or ketchup and mustard packets. You don't have to stick to this writing instrument through the whole book, but make sure you're comfortable using it.

To start with a Book of Shadows, people usually first write a book dedication on the inside cover or first page. It can be a poem, a statement...anything that says, "I dedicate this book to *insert Deity belief here* in my study of *insert definition of personal religion here*. May it prove safe and honorable. So mote it be." You can write a full book dedication ritual and write this first dedication into your book during that ritual. Whatever you think it takes to give your book a "sacred" feel to it will work.

Now, what to put into it. Some of the easiest bit of information to start with are tables of correspondences, such as color, moon phase, astrological signs, or symbols. You can put in your definition of magick, your basic ritual format, the descriptions of the holidays, or draw in your favorite altar set-up. If it helps, you can print off pages from the Internet and copy them into your book. (I am in the process of re-doing the printable pages of this site so you can print them out easily. For now, however, you can highlight the text, copy it by pressing CTRL C, opening a new word document, and pasting by pressing CTRL V. You may have to adjust the color of the text or the margins, but it's a start until I can get things finished.) If you write spells and rituals into your Book of Shadows, try to limit them to the ones you create and use for yourself. Usually the best thing to do is write them in as you just finish casting the spell or performing the ritual...then it is fresh in your mind and you may have done things a little differently than you first planned while you were in the process of completing the rite. You may wish to leave a page blank to write down your immediate impressions or feelings on how well the spell or ritual went over, then add more as you see the results.

Admittedly, I do copy down spells not of my own creation...I have yet another book for these. In this book, I write down everything I come across and think I may use in the future. This way if I'm creating a spell to get a job, and I have 5 such spells in this extra book (which I call my grimoire, not my official Book of Shadows) I can take bits and pieces from each spell if I think they'll work for me, add in my own chant and other personal tidbits, and create my own spell from what I find. I do the same for rituals when I'm drawing a blank at what to do: I may be writing a Mabon ritual, but I may like the format for a full moon ritual better. Then I'll pull a teaching myth from another, a chant from another, and write my own invokation of the corners and deities.

As you get used to putting information into your Book of Shadows, you will begin to feel that it has its own personality...that certain items must be in a certain order or you must write in black ink rather than blue. If you are using a loose-leaf notebook, you may prefer to have everything filed in one particular way. Chances are you will find your Book of Shadows building upon itself.

There is another option for those who do not wish to write everything out. (I find it well worth the task, though sometimes all the writing can feel tedious.) Many people are now keeping a Cyber Book of Shadows or a Floppy Disk of Shadows. These can have as much "power" as any hand-written book, though your computer can't be carried around with you in circle. *grin* These are good options for organization, but I think you should print out at least one hard copy to keep in a notebook somewhere. You never know when something bad will happen to your beloved computer. If you have a hard copy, you can bring it with you to circle, and if you happen to spill some ritual Kool-Aid on your page, you can always print out another copy.

Your Book of Shadows is a part of you now. This is why I don't like the idea of just borrowing and copying...even those traditions that have a Book of Shadows to be copied (such as the Alexandrian and Gardnerian traditions) are added to by the individual. You can use it like a journal and write in your thoughts and poetry...whatever you feel should be found within. Protect it well, as you would protect yourself and your deepest thoughts.