Let's talk about the Book of Shadows!
Many new witches have been taught that your book of Shadows or BOS is your spell book, your encyclopedia of your witchcraft knowledge.
While this is true, this is not all there is to your book of Shadows.
Let's talk a bit about what Shadow is.
In witchcraft, when we speak about shadow, we often mean our past. The past of ourselves, our lived experiences, and also our souls past. As witches, we strive to reconcile our past to our present to best empower our future.
So how do we combine these two things?
To understand how to add shadow to your wealth of magical information, you first need to understand what a book of Shadows actually is.
A BOS is first and foremost a journal. It's a record of your path, your work, your journey through witchcraft. It's more than regurgitated information, it's a scientific log book. A written history of your successes and more importantly, your failures.
Your BOS is yours, so you can include what you wish within its pages. You can have several books, binders digital storage files, or all of the above. There are no rules or limitations on how you organize your information.
To make your BOS the best it can be, there are some things that you need to unlearn.
First, disregard and throw away the notion of your book of Shadows ever being "finished". Your BOS should only be finished the day your spiritual path is finished, the day your body fails you and your spirit moves on to the next life. Then and only then should your BOS be completed.
Secondly, don't worry about perfection. It doesn't exist, and perfect looks different for each person. Your BOS is an extension of you, your path, your journey. Torn pages, creases, wax stains, scribbles, all are what makes your journey unique and they help to tell your story.
Third, and most importantly, embrace mistakes. Failures, missteps, screw ups, these are the most important things to keep track of. These help you grow. You cannot be embarrassed by your own life. You can only learn from it. Do not worry about what people think about your path, it's yours and yours alone. Embrace it.
Now to combine it with shadow, you need to sit down and write about your path, your story, your journey.
Write about how the spell you worked has begun working in your favor. Write about the consequences your faced after doing that hex, write down the physical effects you felt when you were mixing mugwort with lavender in your nightly tea. Keep a page open for your gods to come through in automatic writing. Write down a recipe for incense, soup, healing salves and whatever else.
Your BOS is yours, no one else's. Make it a beautiful history of your life.
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