What is a Book of Shadows?
A Book of Shadows is a book that you will create for yourself. It’s a personal book where you will add your own spells and rituals you preform in your craft. It will be a book that is completely you. Some witches even use their BOS to journal in.
What is a Grimoire?
A grimoire is a book that holds information of your craft studies. This is where you would write down everything that you learn about your craft. It’s not as personal to you as a BOS would be but more for informational purposes for witchcraft. You can make your Grimoire personal to you if you like.
The Difference
A Book of Shadows is a book that is specifically used by a witch who follows the Wiccan religion. Or someone who is a Pagan witch. A Grimoire or Book of Spells is the general term used for a spell book. Both books share the same purpose and use; to document and guide a witch on their path.
I tend to use the term Grimoire more than Book of Shadows. My Grimoire will be here, at this blog, and in my own book which will be more personal. I do plan to have another book called Book of Spells. I like things to be well organized so they can be easy to find. By no means do you need to have two or more books. You very well can have everything in one book and call it as you wish. It’s completely up to you on how you want to go forward.
What to include in your own book
You can add anything you want into your book. You would want to make this as personal to you and your practice as possible. But if your stuck on where to start, go with the basics. You can start with adding the basics of witchcraft in your book. After you have that down, you can add in all your studies about the things you are interested in. I’m interested in crystals, herbs, and the cosmic, so I’ll be adding this into my Grimoire.
You can also add in your spells and rituals and journal about what happens. You can draw and add and pictures you want to your book. The things you can add to your own Grimoire is endless. You don’t have to do this all at once, you can add to your book over time.
Your book can also be one you’ve made yourself, brought online, or in a digital form. You would want something that you’re able to add more pages too if needed. I choose to have this blog and also a digital notebook that I’ve made.
Blessing Your Book
Before using your book, you would want to cleanse and bless your book. You can cleanse it with smoke, crystals, and/or words. Do a cleansing ritual that you are most conformable with doing. Then you would want to bless your book. I have a prayer that I say for protection and blessings that I created for myself to use. You can write your own and have it say what you want it to say.
You can visit Flying the Hedge for a book blessing she has created or use her Book of Shadows Blessing. Witch of Lupine Hallow also has some great ideas on how to bless your book too. I also have a post about my own book blessing ritual that I do if you would like to use that one.
Checkout the rest of this series on Creating Your Grimoire below.
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