A Book of Shadows is a witch’s spell book
This spell book will be full of magic spells, love spells, charms and witchcraft methods.
A witch will consult her Book of shadows many times for love spells as they are the most popular type of spell a witch is asked to cast.
A witch is a form of priestess who communes with the powers of the Universe, whether they be the forces of nature, Angelic or Voodoo spirits.
In the same way that a great chef will write down his successful recipes and keep them secret. So too the witch has her Book of Shadows. This is a special book that contains spells, rituals, chants and magical formulae. She might also keep her ‘recipes’ for healing and any other memoranda of her spiritual life and dealings.
The poetic term Book of Shadows is believed to have been taken from an ancient Sanskrit manual of divination.
According to Wiccan traditions a witch’s Book of Shadows is usually copied down from the her initiating High Priest or Priestess, who had once in their turn, taken their Book of Shadows from their initiating Priest or Priestess.
Alexandrian Wiccans, who follow the teachings of the Neopagan religion of Wicca, founded by the King of Witches, Alex Sanders and his wife Maxine Sanders in the 1960s, keep one Book of Shadows in which their formalised and established rituals are written down, from which initiates copy their own Book of Shadows. But they also keep a second book, in which new and diverse magical information is stored and this is often lent out to other covens.
Nowadays this magical tome has become a journal for the modern witch. She will keep a vast inventory of all her magical workings within its pages.
Many witches today no longer consign their spells and craft to hand written pages but keep their journal, their Book of Shadows, on a disk.
There are those who prefer to keep their Book of Shadows for recording their magical formulae only and so also keep another book, their Book of Mirrors, recording their mystical life and thoughts.
A witch should keep her Book of Shadows a secret, in accordance with occult laws. This means she keeps it’s contents secret, hidden and for herself only.
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