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I'm sure most of us have at least seen advertisments for the show "Charmed" and seen their magical book that proctects itself from evil, turns it's own pages and holds any information they need it to hold at any given moment. While that would be totally awesome, us nonfictional type people aren't that lucky. Most witches need to build they're own book, unless they're lucky enough to have pagan parents, or belong to a coven. A Book of shadows or a Grimoire (Which are the same thing. One is not the evil verision of the other. The words are interchangable in most circles.)is basically just a witch's diary about her/his craft, where s/he keeps everything s/hes learned on her/his journey down the path.

Most covens will usually have a main Book they keep for all the members to use. It will generally be located where everyone can get to it, but if you need something out of it you have to copy it down to take it with you. Thus, most coven member will keep a smaller personal book that they keep the spells they use often and their own personal notes in. I, personaly, am not a member of a coven so we'll be focusing primarial on the solitary witch's Book of shadows. If you are a member of a coven, talk to your fellow members for help, thats what they're there for, and every coven has different rules regarding their sacred books.

The solitary witch's book is a very personal thing. It can be made out of anything, and the content is totally up the witch. Most books are black in color, because black repells negativity, but the book itself can be anything. A three ring binder could work, or if you are good at wood working you could make your cover from a wood that has protection qualities, or there are many pre-made books you can buy these days with pagan symbols embossed on the front. Some people like the scrapbook type or the binder type better because it's easier to move around or add pages. There are some online pagan supply stores that sell very beautiful blank books of this type. It's completely up to you. The more personal energy you put into it the better. Also most Books of shadow are hand written in ink. It can be very tempting to type it out with all the technology today, and many people do, but I'm from an old school of thinking that says hand written books are infused with more presonal energy. Besides... typing out a book of shadows is not what this class is about. If thats the road you do decide to take though, there are software programs out there for that very thing. You may have to look hard to find them, but they're out there.

Once you've chosen the book thats perfect for you,whatever that may be, it's time to put something in it. You can of course purify it, annoint it or put charms on it if you're more advanced, but thats not neccessary for a beginner book. You can alway purify and annoint it later when you learn how. If you've chosen one of the pre-made kind with the permanent binding you may want to have a note book to take your notes in, and then tranfer them to the book later. When I chose my book, I chose the permanent bound type, with blank pages and the pagan symbol on the front. I tend to write everything in pencil frist then go over it in pen, but this is all about what works for you. Some people also choose to write their books in rune or other laungues. I personaly think this is silly; I don't what to have to spend and hour decoding a spell that takes 5 mins. to cast, but again, it all personal choice. There are many symbols that come in handy when writing out your spells though. Symbols for fire, incense, the different phases of the moon, the seasons and the planets can be writtenin the corner of the page so you can see at a glance what items are need for a particular spell, or what time of year it should be cast, without having to read the whole ritual.

The first thing that should go in your book is a blessing of some sort. There are many prewritten ones out there in books and online if you don't think your writing skills are up to snuff, but again, I think it's best if it's something you write yourself. It doesn't have to be long, but it should rhyme. If you want to write it yourself and you can't think of anything, then just leave the frist page blank for now and come back to it later. The gods will forgive you if your book goes unblessed for a while wink .

From here on out... this all my opinion. I cannot stress enough that a Book of shadows is a personal thing. You choose what to put in it and what to leave out, but there are some thing that in the opinion of most should go in. Here is a short list of some of the stuff in mine, but once again the order or how many of these things you include is up to you:

These of course are beginners topics. Once you advance further in your studies you may have enteries on familars, candle making, astral projection, dream analysis. As well as, spells, rituals, recipies, chants, songs, bedtime prayers for your children, herbal remedies. The sky is the limit. Buy books, search online, explore your craft, and record it. And don't worry if you don't have the best handwriting because noone will see it but you.

That's a major thing. Once you start your book, you should never let people handle it. Their negativity can be harmful, and you can never know what they're intentions are. Don't give people you don't know well access spells that you created. If they do harm with something you created, your just as responsible as they are for the outcome. So unless it's someone you trust implicitly, like a coven member or a magical partner, or the like, don't let them handle it.