Book of Shadows are modern things and have only been around for the last couple of hundred years. The name was made up in the 1940's by Gerald Gardener. However, I like the name so I use it. Witches books are also known as a Grimoire. A Book of Shadows or Grimoire is a collection of all a witches learnings, spells and rituals, correspondences, Herbs etc., The reason behind the name is that during the "Burning Times" it was believed that the book should be hidden under or in the "Shadows" so that no one could find it. It is belived traditionally, that the student hand wrote his/her Book of Shadows from his/her teacher. This was to protect the teacher or the coven if someon would find the book, only the student would be accused (there would be no evidence of anyone else's handwrittng). No one knows when the *first* BoS (book of Shadows) was actually written as hundreds of years ago hardly anhyone knew how to read or write. Most of the teachings were done orally and still are within the "Old Craft" today.
This is where the magical alphabets come in. Some believe that the Witchs learned types of magical alphabets to write the book. So this way, no ordinary person would be able to read the book. Smart eh? The magical alphabets are still used today. Many believe they are powerful written words. For example, when you inscribe something on your Athame using a magical alphabet, you are subconciously putting more power into the words because you are concentrating on the word itself (trying to get it right and perfect) not to mention no non Witch will know what it says, which in its way is protecting it from any negativity.
A Book of Shadows may be a 3-ring Binder or a Beautiful Leather bound book or perhaps one of Black or Purple Velvet. I have seen some beautiful books that even have Crystals inbedded in them and Silver filigree corners. It can be very plain and simple or you can decorate it yourself. My first BoS is a purpose made scrap book with a spine and a hard back. My husband purchased it for me as a gift and the cover is Autumn leaves (this being my favourite time of the year) but inside I have decorated my spells and poems etc., (a list of what you may like to keep in your BoS will follow this page) with pictures of Fairies and Moons, Stars , Suns and Butterflies. The thing to remember is not to go overboard with the decoration, keep it so that you can still read from it whilst doing rituals etc.,
With the computer age I am sure many of you will do as I have done and have your BoS on Disc and accessible via your computer. You can then print off what you have and put it in a BoS at a later stage. Those of you wishing to keep with tradition may like to know that your BoS should be hand written, ensure the writting is large enough to read, remembering at times you may only have a Candle or the Moon as your light source. You may also want to attach two strings with some kind of weight on the ends (perhaps Crystals, Stones or Runes) so that pages will not flip in the wind.
Finally remember your BoS is something to treasure, it may well become a family heir loom and be passed down to your children and your children's children.
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