"Book of Shadows" Must-Haves

[Sanguina Cruenta]

Cross-posted from my guild, because I thought you guys would have good ideas heart

Not must haves for everyone, just must-haves for you.

Even if you don't have a Book of Shadows (or Grimoire, Book of Mirrors, Book of Light, Book of ********), what would you rank highly as things to include?

I'm remaking my old Book of Shadows at the moment, and I have a number of things I will definitely include (much of my Pathways thread, for example) and some things I might include for nostalgia's sake or just because I think they're pretty (like one or two of Valiente's poems). I'm not asking this question so much for ideas of what to add to my own, but because I'm interested in what other people are drawn to and would love to add to their own.

So, let me know! Link to or post poems, images (I like to print out and paste in beautiful pictures), liturgy, ideas, philosophies - anything and everything you consider a "must include" for your own BoS.

Do you have a dedication? What does it say?
How is your BoS organised?
Are there things you absolutely would not include?
Is it structured, or more of a free-form collection?  

[Morgandria]

I have three books. One is a book strictly for keeping rough notes: recipes, lessons, etc. It's probably the book I use the most because it's where my raw notes on incense and oil recipes go, as well as anything I write down planning a working, like when I work out a new sigil or something. I also have some dream and ritual diary type stuff there, which I don't really keep up that well.

The second is probably closest to what people think of as a BoS. I keep ritual writings there - different types of ritual set-ups, blessings, invocations, quarter calls, notes on ritual performance and other such things. I keep all the rituals I've written myself there as well. I don't use it as much as I used to.

The third is what I tend to think of as a magical workbook. It has all sorts of articles about different practices and kinds of magic, magical languages, stones, as well as copies of my prayers and spells,
poetry, and whatnot.

My own books are actually just three-ringed binders. I've made them look nice - artwork, fabric coverings, that sort of thing. I like to keep my files on the computer and work from there. I just add things as I go, and update. This way I can also access all my stuff on the computer without having to haul my books out all the time.

I have to admit that my books are very much like me - everything has a place, and an order, and they're well-organized by dividers.

Must haves?
I don't throw out my working notes. That way I can go back and examine what the hell I was thinking when I did something. It lets me see the evolution of my craft.

I love to have copies of things like invocations around, as stand-alones, because if I'm working informally I can still pull out pieces to work with without trying to figure out how to take things in or out of an existing ritual. I tend to practice fairly off the cuff when I'm on my own, and sometimes all I need is a few bits of ritual, not the whole ritual structure.

Pictures. I -love- pictures. I'm working on illustrating all my books, both my Wiccan ones, and my personal ones. I really express concepts and associations through colours and shapes, thanks to my synethesia, so it can help me pick up and express the vibe a particular ritual needs when it's there.  

[Dr. H. Lecter]

I'm slowly garnering what I know as I go along, gathering the bits of info that I feel I shouldn't forget. It's my catch all book. Anything that doesn't fit into one of the others goes in here.

Other than that, I have another book which I use to put down all of my kitchen magic, things I can cook, bake or otherwise make and give to people.

My last book is my own personal record of herbs and plants, what uses they have in the craft, and specificly if they can be ingested safely, or placed on the body. While I can't draw, I do my best to sketch the plants leaves, flowers, that sort of thing.

Naturally, all of them are kept well hidden. While one of my pagan friends asked to see my BoS, I had to decline. It just feels too personal to let another into. Maybe thats just me, but that book in particular feels sacred.  

[kyndryana3]

I am a notebook junkie, I have a ton of spiral notebooks on my desk (and other places) and most of them contain notes on various things. I have four books that I would consider BOS types. One is a small leather bound travel journal, that I started writing things I might want to have on hand while away from home (on vacation and the like) and unable to really carry about my bigger book. I have my working BOS which is a three ring binder with dividers. I have my retired BOS, which is another three ring binder, where I move things that I don't use all the time, or things which are outdated or just curiosity reference materials. I started that one because my main book was just getting too big, and there were some things that I rarely used but was loathe to get rid of. My last one is one where I am starting to build information that I am uncovering on Heathenry, and has my notes on runes in it.

I use three ring binders so that I can move pages about. In my bound books, things tend to end up in whatever order I find them in, and it can be hard to find what I am looking for. I do keep some files on the computer, but I like having a hard copy, so most everything on the computer is slated to be copied over into a book (or read and discarded).

I'm not much on excluding things. There are some things that I have in my book for the purpose of sharing said information with others (like poem Rede and information on who wrote it and where it was first seen).

I find that in my daily practice, I am referencing my book less and less. A lot of things that I put in initially and used quite often like correspondence lists, I either know by heart now or use my own, so don't end up needing to look things up.

I am a big fan of magical alphabets and symbols, and for me these are a must have in my book. I also have collected a selection of quotes that inspire me. I have a lot of information on correspondences of many varieties, and for me these are endlessly fascinating, although I lean towards exploring the whys and the connections instead of just collecting lists.  

[Sanguina Cruenta]

I may have been unclear sweatdrop I was suggesting you share bits and pieces that are in your BoS, not describe them.  

[Morgandria]

Ah. I don't think I'm up for opening up my books like that. I sometimes share a few of the poems I have written, and on rare occasion my incense and oil recipes, but aside from that a lot of it is terribly personal and I don't share what's there. Besides, I don't think a lot of the material I keep would be useful to anyone else.  

[kyndryana3]

I'll share some quotes that have in my book....a lot of other things are either very long, very personal or things I have copied from other sources for personal reference.

"If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drum. Let him step to the music he hears; however measured or far away" Thoreau

"Whether you think you can or you can't, you're right." Henry Ford

"Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail." Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away." Philip K. d**k

"If I knew what we were doing, it wouldn't be called research." Albert Einstein

"Power is about knowing what we stand for, breathing it into every activity of the day, and being clear." Pheobe Eng

"There can be no happiness if the things we believe in are different from the things we do." Freya Stark

"Happiness is neither virtue nor pleasure nor this thing nor that but simply growth. We are happy when we are growing." William Butler Yeats  

[Morgandria]

I thought of something I could share - I keep a copy of this poem in my books. it's evocative.

The Kama Sutra of Kindness: Position No. 2

should I greet you
as if
we had merely eaten
together one night
when the white birches
dripped wet
and lightning etched
black trees on your walls?

it is not love
I am asking

love comes from years
of breathing
skin to skin
tangled in each other's dreams
until each night
weaves another thread
in the same web
of blood and sleep

and I have only
passed through you quickly
like light
and you have only
surrounded me suddenly
like flame

the lake is cold
the snows are sudden
the wild cherry bends
and winter's a burden

in your hand I feel
spring burn in the bud.

Copyright, Mary Mackey 1987
From "The Dear Dance of Eros"  

[Phoebe Majere]

I don't have a BoS yet, but I'm working on finding the perfect book for it. I have a book that is solely information, borrowed from books I've read over the past years all compiled into one. The laws, different Gods and Goddesses, the basic ritual outline, colours, planetary alignment rules and lunar phases, etc.  

[Morgandria]

Phoebe Elsanna Majere

I don't have a BoS yet, but I'm working on finding the perfect book for it. I have a book that is solely information, borrowed from books I've read over the past years all compiled into one. The laws, different Gods and Goddesses, the basic ritual outline, colours, planetary alignment rules and lunar phases, etc.

Slightly off-topic, but may I politely ask you not to use 'Blessed Be' in your signature file? It's a piece of ritual language taken from Wicca that has a specific meaning, and using it outside its' proper context as you have can be offensive.

Thanks!  

[Erise Crewe]

Morgandria

Copyright, Mary Mackey 1987
From "The Dear Dance of Eros"

eek wow. that poem is amazing. Thank you for sharing heart

Also completely off topic, that poem made me think of another one.

What the Living Do
by Marie Howe

Johnny, the kitchen sink has been clogged for days, some utensil probably fell down there.
And the Drano won't work but smells dangerous, and the crusty dishes have piled up

waiting for the plumber I still haven't called. This is the everyday we spoke of.
It's winter again: the sky's a deep headstrong blue, and the sunlight pours through

the open living room windows because the heat's on too high in here, and I can't turn it off.
For weeks now, driving, or dropping a bag of groceries in the street the bag breaking,

I've been thinking: This is what the living do. And yesterday, hurrying along those
wobbly bricks in the Cambridge sidewalk, spilling my coffee down my wrist and sleeve,

I thought it again, and again later, when buying a hairbrush: This is it.
Parking. Slamming the car door shut in the cold. What you called that yearning.

What you finally gave up. We want the spring to come and the winter to pass. We want
whoever to call or not call, a letter, a kiss -- we want more and more and then more of it.

But there are moments, walking, when I catch a glimpse of myself in the window glass,
say, the window of the corner video store, and I'm gripped by a cherishing so deep

for my own blowing hair, chapped face, and unbuttoned coat that I'm speechless:

I am living, I remember you.



Not romantic at all- she wrote that poem about her brother after he died of HIV/AIDS but the i guess honesty of it reminded me of your poem. The poem takes a moment in life and extends it by the poet's thoughts and 3 dimensionalizes it. That and the imagery of winter and comparing/contrasting two opposing things- cold/fire + winter/spring + love/lust in your poem vs a life/death contrast made me think of the poem I linked. xd Sorry if that's not how you interpreted your poem but thanks for sharing.  

[Sanguina Cruenta]

Thanks for sharing what you have done, guys ^_^  

[Erise Crewe]

Sanguina Cruenta

Thanks for sharing what you have done, guys ^_^

sweatdrop I haven't done anything at all yet tbh. Would a journal containing every new thing I learn each day plus a summery of the books I've read count as a BoS?

I keep learning that certain things I read aren't true or valid so I'm thinking of writing down and crossing out as I go. biggrin Maybe I'll share it with other people someday.  

[Sanguina Cruenta]

Erise Crewe

Sanguina Cruenta

Thanks for sharing what you have done, guys ^_^

sweatdrop I haven't done anything at all yet tbh. Would a journal containing every new thing I learn each day plus a summery of the books I've read count as a BoS?

I keep learning that certain things I read aren't true or valid so I'm thinking of writing down and crossing out as I go. biggrin Maybe I'll share it with other people someday.

Why would you have done anything at this point? You've barely discovered witchcraft.  

[Erise Crewe]

Sanguina Cruenta

Why would you have done anything at this point? You've barely discovered witchcraft.

my first thought was 'peer pressure! scream ' I'm j/k it's part of being new xd seems like even complete newbies have started one so i was wondering when to begin sweatdrop

But also i see the books in an informational source, and because of that want to take notes out of ..the habit of taking notes when i'm trying to learn something. sweatdrop And then wonder if that would count as a BoS material, since that's what a BoS is supposed to be right eek