Starting a Book Of Shadows

[WiseMagicWillow]

I thought that it would be a good idea to cover starting a book of shadows as many people out there when starting out really don't have a clue this also included myself.

Now there are many ways to keep a Book Of Shadows as everyone has their own way of organizing but when first imagining a book such as this the mind conjures up big leather bound books as made popular by TV and films but it can be so simple as a folder or a notepad.

It all depends on how you really want it to be if your looking to make it all neat, posh looking and as if it really does seem to be straight out the movies then just weathering the outside of a cheap notepad can achieve this.
The only limit is your imagination on how you want it to look. I just go for simpleness, i have one that i just note things down and one that it like a neat copy.

But to give you some ideas heres what you could use:

• A Ring Binder (good when you get a large amount of information and this way you can just reorder it to your liking.
  
• Cheap Notebook
  
• DOS (disk of shadows) keeping it all on computer
  

OK what to write with i could never really decide but i went with just a normal pen and a fountain for my neat copy but normal pencils, coloured pencils, pens anything can be used as i said earlier its only limited by your imagination.



What To Put In It:

OK for a long time i really didn't put anything in it as i wasn't sure if it was right to go in but now i write just about anything spells, important dates, moon phases any number of things. Personal information can also be put in this refers to how something worked out if a spell did what you expected, maybe dreams workings or just simple things like poetry or artwork.


Final note:

Don't really worry about what you think it should be like remember its yours so do with it how you see fit. It probably wont be your first and last as theres a world of things to interest you, plus things improve with practice. I hope that i have maybe answered some questions for the ones setting out. If not theres always someone to ask...*nudge nudge* ;D

[St. Vitance]

I write my spells in black pen, and do artwork in pencil. I also wrote a spell in one of the drawings, with the illistration as just a reference to what the spell does.

I put a Tarot and Rune journal in my BOS. I also have a palmistry journal, which also includes a reference on what part of the palm represents what and how to interpret it.

[rodolfo]

Mine's a very tattered blue notebook. It has come with me through Marine Corps bootcamp and MCT. I simply write with whatever's at hand, but I prefer black ink.