Book of Shadows
Before the invention of books, written knowledge was kept on scrolls.
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There was places such the library at Alexandria, Egypt where was said to contain over half a million scrolls of knowledge collected from all of the known world. In most of man’s history the majority of people could not read or write.
Consequently, books were imbued with a mystique by the majority of people, representing knowledge that was hidden to those who could not decipher the writings.
That which was most likely to be written down was the most important knowledge, which to early man was spiritual wisdom.
Here is a great example of the Garnerian Book of Shadows – you can get a copy here.
The earliest form of the modern Witch’s Book of Shadows we encounter is the book of magical formulas and recipes kept by the Cunning Men and Wise Women of Britain.
We can trace the beginning of modern magical books to the Greek
philosopher Iamblichus, who developed the concept of ‘theurgy,’ a belief that by performing ritual acts, man could invoke spiritual powers to aid him on his quest for spiritual truth and regeneration.
Followers of Iamblichus developed a body of literature consisting of
magical rituals from various cultures, ranging from the high magic of the spiritual alchemical Great Work to the low magic of summoning spirits to find treasure or heal illness.
The modern Book of Shadows originated with the modern Witchcraft religion of Wicca. Today, the term Book of Shadows has been adopted to mean the personal magical workbook of anyone who claims to be a Witch.
Sometimes it is helpful to keep a diary of your magical experiments and research. Such a diary should include the date, perhaps even some astrological data (or anything else you think may have a relationship to what you are doing).
This is also a good time to begin recording your dreams — at least the important ones — in a dream diary.
Your dreams can tell you a great deal about yourself, and may sometimes reveal premonitions. Dreams are personal…and don’t fall for the commercial ‘dream book’.
You can create your own Book of Shadows or Dream Book with this notebook – it is totally personalizable too!
But the true most important use of such a book is that you can track what spells have the biggest impact in your life. You can know (if you write your own spell – read “How to Customize Spells” first) what spells work for you and what don’t.
If you know someone older than you that practices witchcraft…try to borrow his/hers Book of Shadows. You will get precious information about spells and rituals.
