Hey all,
Now you have all heard me speak about the almighty book of shadows but I haven't actually explained to you all why I keep one and what the purpose of one is. A book of shadows is a personal journal of sorts that you can keep all your personal findings, blessings, spells, rituals and information in to help you on your path. For me my book of shadows is more of a grimore than a book of shadows but I like the sound of the book of shadows more. A grimore is a personal book you write all information and spells down without adding your personal views, findings ect. Other people can read your grimore as its not a personal book its more a information storage. But my book of shadows is a mixture of both. I have all the information I find down the way in my special box or my book of shadows. I keep tables of information in there and add my personal views so i use it how I see fit not how many people explain it should or should not be. Growing up my mother never explained to me how important a book of shadows was then again she never really sat me down and explain many things. The reason many pagan, neopagans, wiccans, witches who ever and what ever path you follow keep a book of shadows because it is a a special book for you to keep track of your leanings, teachings, spells you have used, herbs that have been great importance to you and so on. Now for me I will never share my book of shadows with anyone unless its my own child one day. That is because its very personal to me and I dont want anyone touching my book and putting their energy on it. I make sure that I only write in my book of shadows when I am happy, positive and healthy. I dont want to put negative energy around my book, I believe that it needs to be kept surrounded by good energy. That is my view though you dont have to follow this view at all. Its just my personal belief. You can look up book of shadows on google and there will be 100s of information, check lists and what you should and should not do. Dont follow theses down to each letter. Its your own personal book that you want to enjoy creating and working with. Its not a chore, you need to enjoy what your doing or then whats the point in doing it? Here are some good tips and tricks I found really helpful when looking into making mine. - First get some ideas, do you want to make it digital or do you want to write it all down into a special book or journal. It all depends on you. For me I have a pinterest board for all my information, tips and tricks that I may use in the future but not sure about. Then I have a leather bound fair-trade book as you can see in the picture above. This book cost me about £30 but its worth every penny. I use this book to store all my information I have used or use all the time. This book is always by my side when I am doing a spell, meditating, using the cards or just connecting to my spiritual path. You could be happy to have a folder and store everything in there. Its completely up to you and how you can see yourself using it in the future. - Secondly what you put in your book of shadows is up to you. I will do a small list of themes that I have used for mine and or will be adding into it in the future. But like I said before its completely up to you as its your own personal journey and book. My themes - candle colour chart, Now I use this chart all the time. I need to know what colour candle would work best with the spell I want to create and use. - moon faces, knowing your moon faces is a great way to connect to the moon energy and also you can learn a lot about how theses moon faces effect your spell depending on when your doing it and why. - times and days of the week, This is again a really good idea to look into. Different times of the day is used for different effects on spells, thats the same about what day you are doing the spell or ritual. - elements, I would say you need to learn about the elements, it was the first thing I was taught on my path. How to connect to the elements and show your thanks. Its a really good way to learn spell work as well if you are knew. Elemental magic is a great starting point. - Herbs, We all need to know what herbs do. I have a big section in my book for herbs and every time I learn a new herb either through my pagan box or though my own research that I will use within my craft I add it to my book. Saves me time in the future to find out what herbs would work best for a type of ritual or spell I want to do. - sabbats and their rituals, You cant have to follow the sabbats. I know many pagans that only celebrate the main ones, for me I celebrate all of them even if its just a way to say thank you to mother earth. Most of the time I spend an hour celebrating because I am in work that day. - divination, This is a big part for me because I use my cards a lot. I am slowly learning about runes and my pendulum and will be a great add on into my book. - personal page, I myself wrote a personal page in my book because I wanted to explain my journey. I have gone many years without a book of shadows and didn't realise how useful one is. So I wrote a page about my start onto the path, what type of pagan or witch I am and my best friends (my cats who are always near mine within my craft). - everyday uses, I personally put this one in because I am find myself emotionally drained or stressed. As you may know I do suffer from depression and panic attacks. I have added in my book of shadows ways of combating this, either by mediation or crystals and essential oils. All items that have worked and I use them a lot. Its a great natural bonus that you do this daily or within your routine because then your connecting to mother earth and your spirital path without even trying. All these ideas and tips you can use within your own book of shadows. I personally looked into what other people where doing before I found the right path for me. It took me months to find the perfect book for me as well and now I dont look back. Dont rush into anything, thats the biggest mistake I did when starting up my book of shadows. I wanted everything to be perfect and neat and in order. Now I have realised that life isnt like that so why should my book be. It is in order to some degree but nothing as perfect as I first wanted it to be and I love it no matter what anyway. Hope this all helps you out within your book of shadows and within your own studies too. MissDoomie xxx Comments are closed.
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