Advanced Book of Shadows Ideas
Wondering what to put in your Book of Shadows (or other occult journal) besides your spell/ritual log? Wondering why the information you're told to include is important? Here's some stuff to put in your Book of Shadows, and why:
Magical Theory and Philosophy: The basics of what magic is and how it works. There are a bunch of different theories of magic from different occult systems, and you may want to research and experiment with them to find the one that works best for you. Lots of older occult texts, like Agrippa’s Three Books of Occult Philosophy, The Doctrine and Ritual of High Magic by Eliphas Levi, and Crowley’s Magick in Theory and Practice contain detailed explanations of magical theory. There’s also ancient philosophical texts like the Corpus Hermeticum or Iamblichus’ On the Mysteries that can give your magical or mystical practice a solid foundation. More modern perspectives include philosophies like Chaos Magic or the Kybalion principles.
Correspondences: If you research witchcraft on the internet, the first thing you’re likely to see are long lists of the magical properties of crystals, plants, colors, oils, planets, elements, months, days, hours, moon phases, etc. and their relation to each other. These are called correspondences, and they have their roots in early modern natural magic. They’re super popular nowadays, and crystal shops make a ton of money selling all the appropriate ingredients. I remember feeling a bit nonplussed about how I was actually supposed to use correspondences in spellwork, but I have the obligatory long lists of them in my Books of Shadows. Once you figure out how to use them, they’re convenient to reference. Remember that you can list all of your own correspondences based on your personal associations!
Witchlore: Superstitions about “satanic” witchcraft are a gold mine for ideas about your practice, especially if you decide to take a historically-inspired or trad-witchcraft route. For example: incantations associated with curses or flying ointments, beliefs about familiars and common forms that they take, purification and curse-breaking methods, activities at the Sabbat, etc. (I recently copied over most of Isobel Gowdie’s confession.) Regardless of the historicity of these ideas, it’s easy to adapt them into something workable (and ethical) for your own practice. Also, I think it’s important to understand the original concept of the witch archetype, warts and all, and decide how you personally relate to it.
Witch History: The actual history of witchcraft is fascinating and important to know if you are interested in any of the modern traditions of it, especially because there’s still a lot of misinformation about witchcraft out there. “The Burning Times” still get brought up. If you’re going to refer to history at all, you should at least know the basics. My go-to is Ronald Hutton, a historian who covers the history of witchcraft, and I have a lot of quotes from him in my notes. His book The Witch is about witch trials and the historical conception of the witch, and The Triumph of the Moon is about the history and many influences of modern Wicca.
Local Folklore: What kind of folklore exists in your area? Are there any local haunted houses, or natural formations with legends attached? Any local cryptids? Historical witch trials? Unique superstitions? Do people in your culture and community practice folk magic, now or historically?
High Magic: Ceremonial magic, rituals to summon spirits and harness the energy of planets. Much of the modern Western esoteric tradition is based on the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, a nineteenth-century occult society. Its ritual structure is the basis of Wicca and many other occult groups. There’s also the grimoire tradition, medieval and early modern books of spells that were used to summon and bind spirits. Ceremonial techniques are less associated with witchcraft than folk techniques, but they’re tried and true, and a lot of witches use them.
Low Magic: Witchcraft in particular is more folk than ceremonial. There are literally thousands of spell techniques — traditional ceremonial rites, spell bags and sachets, witch bottles, poppets, candle magic, knot magic, sigil magic, herbalism, etc. etc. You have many more options than you think you do. It’s good to familiarize yourself with at least some of them so that you can start experimenting with them to figure out which one works best for you. A lot of correspondences have their roots in folklore (like, for example, the idea that amethyst can cure drunkenness). Pay attention to what folk beliefs exist around you.
Divination Methods: There are also thousands of divination methods — cartomancy (tarot cards, oracle cards, Lenormand cards), cleromancy (casting dice, bones, rune stones, sticks, etc.), scrying (with mirrors, candles, crystal balls, and bowls of water), automatic writing, dream interpretation, pendulums, dripping hot wax in a bowl of water, tea leaves, astrology, etc. Again, it’s a good idea to try out different ones to see which one works best for you, and different methods are also better suited to different kinds of situations and questions. You’re gonna need at least one to do any magic effectively.
Deity Fact Sheets: If you’re pagan and you plan to do deity work, you need to know as much as possible about the god you want to work with. What is the god associated with? What do all these different associations have in common? What are some of the other names and epithets (titles) that the god is known by? What context were they used in? What kinds of people worshipped the god, and why? What are its traditional offerings? What are its correspondences? Are there any surviving hymns to the god? You may not find answers to all these questions, depending on how much information about your deity survives, but anything you can learn is good. If we don’t know much about the god, what do we know, and where does that information come from?
Magical Alphabets: In case you want to keep your secrets, or just look cool. Some of the popular ones are the Theban alphabet, the Enochian alphabet, FUTHARK runes, Egyptian hieroglyphs, the celestial alphabet, various symbol fonts, etc. Feel free to make up your own, too!
Symbols, Magic Circles, and Diagrams: I mean, you don’t need magic circles and diagrams, but there is nothing quite like the feeling of opening up a handwritten book and going “oh yeah, this is a book of magic” just from looking at it. Grimoires have a vibe. It’s the equivalent of putting cute doodles in your diary, but so much cooler. It’s also a good idea to keep track of any symbols that might be relevant to your practice or the spirits you work with. Or, you could take the Chaos Magic approach and create an “alphabet of desire,” your own personal language of symbols.
Sabbats or Festivals: Which festivals and holy days are associated with your practice? What are they centered around? Which gods or spirits do they concern? What are their correspondences? How were they celebrated historically? How are they celebrated now?
Magical Recipes: Many witches have their go-to recipes for tinctures, teas, soups, powders, vinegars, essential oils, cakes, and other concoctions that can be used to heal, strengthen, cleanse, or curse. (IMPORTANT: Do not dabble in herbalism unless you know exactly what you’re doing. It’s as much medicine as it is magic, and many stereotypically “witchy” plants are toxic and can kill you.)
Poetry and Hymns: What do you recite when you perform rituals? There’s lots of books that can tell you what to say, but you also can write your own poetry and hymns, which are often more personal and more meaningful. Poetry also doesn’t have to be occult to be used in ritual — if you come across any poems that resonate for you, copy them into your BoS and use them as hymns.
Shadow Work: I personally think that Shadow work is a necessity, even though it can be painful. Shadow work has gotten more popular lately, and you’ll find lots of suggestions and prompts for how to approach it, but it isn’t easy, and is probably best discussed with a therapist. Still, you can use this part of your BoS as a kind of therapy journal for your interactions with yourself, especially the ones that make you uncomfortable. Writing it down will help you work through it. (It’s not called a “Book of Shadows” for nothing.)
Keep in mind, your Book of Shadows should be personal. You don't need to include all of this information, just what's most necessary for you and your practice.
Personally, I have multiple Books of Shadows. I used to just have a paper one for a spell/ritual log and an ever-growing digial one for notes, but I've recently gained an appreciation for handwritten manuscripts with cool diagrams and pictures, so I've started taking more of my notes by hand. In addition to my paper Book of Shadows for witchcraft stuff, I've got a whole separate book (with an armillary sphere on the cover of course) for notes on classic occultism, alchemy, hermeticism etc.. Get creative with it.
