A Book of Shadows is a personal archive of spells and beliefs, typical of the traditions of Witchcraft and Wicca. Each book is personal, and often very private.
Steps
Step 1. Decide in what format you want to keep your Book of Shadows
You can keep it on your computer, in a spiral notebook, in a binder or in a journal. Many people use binders for the ease of redistributing pages and dividing them into sections.
Step 2. Write a statement of your principles
What do you believe in? Who are your gods or your patron goddesses, if any? Do you follow the Wicca Rede or the Triple Law? Do you believe in casting spells, or just worshiping rituals? These questions and more can help you get a better picture of your beliefs and put them on paper (you don't have to if you don't want to).
Step 3. Write down any rituals or magic formulas you have created, step by step
Record all your notes for future reference.
Step 4. Write down any rituals or spells you perform as well as influences such as moon phases etc
and what are the results. You can review them later and see how they are progressing, or if you could do them differently.
Step 5. Include chants, poems, stories, artwork, etc
whether they are created by yourself or by others. As long as the God or Goddess inspires or honors you, it's a good game.
Step 6. Each Book of Shadows must have matching pages
At least the basic ones like the phases of the moon and their meanings, a diagram of elementary colors.
Step 7. It might be a good idea to keep an index so you can find the notes more easily in your Book of Shadows
It helps to find the correct ritual, spell, magic formula, etc. much faster and make them work better.
Advice
- Scour craft stores for embellishments, stickers, and other scrapbook accessories to use in your book.
- Computer-based Shadow Books aren't traditional (yet), but you may find this method much easier to maintain than the print version. Note-taking programs, such as Google Notebook, Evernote, or MS Office OneNote, are useful for these purposes. Remember to make a copy - you may want to keep a Shadow USB stick. Since it is not a physical book, there is less chance that someone else will be able to read it. You can use a secure password for this purpose. If you need a page for a ritual, you can always print it and destroy it immediately afterwards.