There’s so much hype out there about the Book of Shadows (affectionately known as the BOS) that it can be quite confusing for new students to determine things like;

• What exactly is a BOS?
• What’s the difference between that and a nature/dream/mediation diary?
• What do I put in a BOS?
• What sort of BOS am I supposed to buy or make?

Let’s explain what the BOS is first and later talk through some of the hype so we can strip away the fact from the marketing. A great many Wiccans and Witches choose to have a BOS largely because it’s a good way to record and keep a history of their Wiccan practice. I say “a great many” because it’s not an order from above or anything so it’s not a demand but it’s certainly something that most practicing Witches would agree is helpful for them.

Essentially you write in your BOS all the rituals you conduct through the year, all the spell-work you might undertake and any other relevant materials that you want to keep track of. By keeping a record of all this work, you can use the same ritual or working again if you need to without hunting through a bunch of old papers and you can also check back later to see if any spell –work gave a good result or not. It would be a tragedy to do some great spell-work that delivered brilliant results but couldn’t be repeated because you couldn’t find a record of what you did!

Your basic circle casting ritual will probably remain the same so recording that in your BOS helps you make sure you don’t drift too far from the ritual and start creating different ways to do it without realising. A case of Chinese whispers kind of thing. Your Sabbats will probably be different each year so that while you celebrated Samhain in a particular way this year, next year you may feel differently and will probably want to do the ritual differently. Recording all these Sabbats each time gives you an ongoing diary of what you did and also helps to give you ideas down the track when you want to create a new ritual but using some successful ‘ingredients’ you’ve done before.

So your BOS is a diary, a ritual ‘recipe’ book, a grimoire and a personal collection that will become a representation of your Wiccan journey. Many covens also have a coven BOS that records the major rituals for that group and when a seeker is initiated, traditionally they are presented with the coven book and requested to write out its contents into their own personal BOS.

So if the BOS records all that important stuff, what’s the difference between that and a nature/ dream mediation diary? This is a really good question and one that continues to cause debate amongst Wiccans and Witches. Here’s my take on it that not everyone will agree with but it’s a practical way of explaining it.

As a new seeker, one of the important tasks you’re required to attend to is writing down any significant dreams and mediations and also recording what you observe around you in nature for at least your first year and preferably much longer. Why? Because cataloguing all this helps you to see patterns in dreams and mediations that may be insights about who you are and about your connection with the Lord and Lady. Being a Wiccan and/or a Witch also means cultivating your connection and appreciation of nature so really understanding what’s happening in nature helps you to get closer to it and to see how your behaviour shifts with the shifts in season. The Gods and Goddesses manifest throughout all nature so having a clear understanding about the seasons and your environment is to more clearly see the Divine.

I ask my students to keep their nature/dream/mediation diary separate for the first year from their BOS so they can focus on these topics specifically and really give them the effort they deserve. It’s much easer to see patterns in all that if you don’t also have to wade through records of rituals and so on. So if you keep that record separate from your BOS, it’s much easier.

In addition, in my belief, a BOS becomes a sacred book that holds your personality, your dedication, your commitment to the Lord and Lady. It evolves into a wonderful collection that shows how you celebrate your faith and that’s very special. With that in mind, many Wiccans and Witches spend a small fortune on beautiful leather bound or wooden covered books that are almost works of art as well as their personal ritual record. In my opinion it takes at least a year before you really work out what you want in your BOS and how you’re going to record everything because it’s such a personal, intimate and special book so your first BOS can be a ‘practice’ one till you’ve worked out your system. It would be a little sad to spend lots of money on a beautiful book that you started writing in straight away and then a few months later decided you actually wanted to set it out differently. So in a nutshell, I recommend two cheap exercise books for the first year, one as your nature/dream/meditation dairy and one as your first BOS.

Speaking of your system for writing in the BOS, here are as many ways setting up and of writing in the BOS as there are Wiccans and Witches doing it. Traditionally you should make your own tools including your BOS but not all of us are accomplished artisans so that doesn’t always happen! What you can do though is buy a BOS you love and personalise it by covering with leather yourself or painting a design on it that comes from your creativity. You can paste bay leaves inside the cover for protection of the records inside or perhaps create a design on your computer, print that out and paste that to the front cover. Remember, this is your BOS and it should be a reflection of who you are.

Some people, me included, follow the old tradition of writing everything in their BOS by hand and while it’s time consuming, there’s something to be said for the wonder and power that gradually attaches it self to a well loved, hand written book. However, could also use a ring binder and enter the pages in from a computer print out. It’s much faster, much easier and you can move pages around and create sections in the binder if you want to. You could compromise as some of my students do and type the ritual up on the computer, print it out and then draw and ‘scrapbook’ special things onto the pages to personalise them.

I mentioned at the beginning of this article that we’d discuss the hype so let’s do that now. While a BOS is a basic tool of Wicca and Witchcraft, you don’t have to spend a fortune. It’s not necessary. Many Wiccans, one of my own teachers in fact, uses a ring binder from the local stationery shop because it’s cheap, convenient and it works. She’s been teaching for years, knows her stuff and after a while your BOS is going to get pretty full so a growing set of ring binders is a great way to store all the work you’ve done.

Wicca and the Craft are legitimate religions with legitimate people who love and honour the Divine. There are also some wonderful artisans who create some beautiful BOS’s for people and do so in love and with a sense of empathy for the religion. However, there are some people out there who make second ate quality books because it gives them an income and they don’t care a toss if you pay through the nose for what is cheap crap. Look around first, ask to look at other Wiccan’s and Witch’s books, look on the internet, ask at your local Pagan supplies store. In other words, get lots of information and ideas first before you spend money on a BOS system that six months later you might want to change. Your BOS should be special and one of your greatest treasures so take your time looking around. Your BOS will find you when you’re ready.

Smiles and blessings, Amethyst