How to Start a Book of Shadows (Beginners Guide to Getting Started)
- Jun 9, 2023
- 11 min read
Updated: Jan 30
Ready to start your own Book of Shadows? Use this beginner guide to create your personal BoS, record spells, track moon phases, and build a spiritual journal that grows with your witchcraft practice.
How to Start Your Own Book of Shadows as a Beginner
If you’ve been feeling called to start a Book of Shadows but weren’t sure where to begin, you’re in the right place. Whether you’re searching for how to start a Book of Shadows, how to make your first Book of Shadows, or simply looking for ideas to fill its pages, this guide will walk you through the process step by step.
Starting your own Book of Shadows is less about doing it perfectly and more about creating a personal journal that actually supports your practice. In modern witchcraft, the Book of Shadows has become a living spiritual record. A place to hold your rituals, reflections, spells, moon phases, seasonal wisdom, dreams, correspondences, and the subtle ways Spirit communicates through your life.
A Book of Shadows (BoS) is a personal guide for your spiritual path. It is where you track growth, record what works, and learn through real experience. For beginners, solitary practitioners, and witches blending many traditions, it becomes a steady foundation. Unlike a grimoire, which is often written like a formal reference text for magic, your own Book of Shadows is meant to evolve alongside you.
Many practitioners treat their Book of Shadows as a sacred tool. Because it often contains deeply personal spiritual work, people commonly keep it in a secure or private place. Over time it becomes one of the most valuable resources in your practice, not because it looks impressive, but because it holds your lived wisdom.
If you are starting from the very beginning and feeling unsure what to include or how to organize your pages, don’t overthink it. You can begin with a spiral notebook, a binder, or even a digital document and a single page. The rest comes from practice.
Table of Contents
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Book of Shadows History and Meaning in Witchcraft
Book of Shadows History and Meaning in Witchcraft
People have been recording spells, rituals, prayers, and spiritual knowledge for thousands of years. In many traditions, spiritual record keeping was private, powerful, and sacred, passed through mentors, covens, and personal practice rather than formal classrooms.
In medieval Europe, grimoires served as manuals for magic and occult study. In Wiccan traditions, the Book of Shadows later developed into a more personal religious and ritual text. The most famous Book of Shadows was created by Gerald Gardner in the late 1940s and early 1950s, with important revisions by his High Priestess, Doreen Valiente.
Originally, a single Book of Shadows was kept by a high priestess or high priest and shared only with initiates. Over time, solitary practitioners and eclectic witches began using personal Books of Shadows as spiritual journals rather than formal religious texts.
Today, modern witchcraft embraces this flexibility. While popular culture like Charmed and The Craft helped popularize the idea, the real Book of Shadows remains what it has always been at its core: a personal record for learning, reflection, experimentation, and building wisdom that fits your real life.
How to Write a Book of Shadows
If you’ve been searching how to write a Book of Shadows and wondering if there’s such thing as a “right” way to do it, the answer is simple: you get to create what actually works for your practice. This step-by-step guide will show you exactly how to create a Book of Shadows that’s personal, organized, and easy to use as your spiritual journal.
Let’s begin.
Step 1: Choosing Your Format
This is where a lot of witches get stuck, so here’s the honest advice. You do not need a fancy leather-bound book unless that genuinely feels fun and relevant to your practice, which it totally can be.
Your Book of Shadows can be:
A simple spiral notebook
A bullet journal if you love structure
A digital Book of Shadows (Google Docs, Notion, Evernote, or GoodNotes)
A print-and-paste scrapbook style
Two books, if that feels more organized (more on that below)
If you freeze at the thought of “ruining” a beautiful notebook, first of all, get out of your head as flaws are part of the process and nothing is meant to be perfect. And if you still feel stuck, start with something low-pressure. I’ve found that covering old pages with a few fresh sheets of paper (when you actually have time to make them look better) makes it so much easier to begin.
Infusing Meaning Into Your Book
If you want your BoS to feel like a magickal object from the start, keep it simple:
Decorate the cover with symbols, stickers, or sigils that match your beliefs
Cleanse it with incense, herbal spray, or a sprinkle of moon water
Set an intention: “This book is a personal record of my practice, my growth, and my relationship with Spirit.”
How to Organize Your Book of Shadows
Decide if you want to organize your book from the beginning or let it evolve naturally. Personally, when I start a section on goddesses, for example, I just leave a few pages blank so I have a little impromptu section ready to go.
You can even cut out pieces of index or construction paper and glue or tape them to the side of your Book of Shadows, then label them for each section.
Two helpful options:
Structured: leave a table of contents or index at the front, then build sections as you go
Freeform: write in order as your life happens, then add sticky tabs later
Both work. What matters is that you can find what you need when you return to it.
Step 2: Create a Title Page and Optional BoS Blessing
Add a Title Page
Your title page is the perfect place for a quote, a vow, your name, or a simple line that reminds you what this book is for. It sounds small, but it sets the tone and makes the book feel like yours.
If you want, add:
Your name or magical name
The date you began
A short phrase like “My Book of Shadows” or “Personal BoS”
A quote that feels like truth in your life
Book of Shadows Blessing
“May this book be a vessel of truth and light,A guide in my practice, both day and night.With each word I write, I honor my soul,May it always inspire, help, and make me whole.”
You can type your blessing out with a cool font and paste it in, handwrite everything, draw your own symbols and art, or bless your pages with sage or palo santo. For me, putting energy into decorating it becomes part of the ritual itself. Let it be intuitive. Do what feels called to you. There’s no one “right” way to make this sacred.
Step 3: What to Put in a Book of Shadows
This is the fun part, but it’s also where beginners get overwhelmed. When I started my first Book of Shadows, I made the classic mistake. I tried to write down everything I thought a witch “should” know. I listed herbs I’d never used, copied correspondences I didn’t understand, and ended up with pages that didn’t feel connected to my actual practice.
What changed everything was deciding to write what I was actually doing. Recording spells I had tried. Noting moon phases I felt in my body. Keeping a record of rituals that helped my life. That’s when my Book of Shadows became a teacher.
If you’re wondering how to write a Book of Shadows in a way that’s real, start here.
What to Put in a Book of Shadows
These key elements, rooted in many traditions, can form the heart of your personal BoS. Choose what’s relevant, begin with what you actually practice, and let the book evolve.
Spells and Rituals (Recording Spells That Work)
This is the heartbeat of most Books of Shadows and one of my favorite sections to build. I love sharing spells with members of my coven, testing them in my own practice, and then recording what actually works. Over time, this becomes a living record of your real magic, not just theory.Use this space for recording spells, rituals, protection work, healing practices, moon phase ceremonies, and magick that aligns with your beliefs.
When a spell comes from another witch, teacher, or book, always credit the original source. Honoring where magic comes from keeps the lineage alive and strengthens your practice.
Herbs, Crystals, and other Witchcraft Correspondences
Many witches include tables of herbs and crystals in their Book of Shadows, but the deeper work is relationship, not collecting. You don’t need 100 herbs to start. Pick five. Grab them from your kitchen.
Instead of only writing correspondences, record how each herb actually feels in your practice. How rosemary shows up in protection work. How lavender shifts your energy. This is how your personal BoS becomes alive.
If you want support building real plant relationships instead of memorizing lists, my Green Witch Herb Guide helps you connect with the Spirit of each herb so your Book of Shadows reflects lived experience, not just theory.
Divination Records
Tarot spreads, oracle pulls, pendulum charts, scrying notes, recurring symbols. Write the question, the reading, and what happened afterward. Over time, you’ll notice patterns that feel like real learning, not random pulls. This is another favorite of mine, especially for learning how to read tarot. I used to lay all the cards out and see the story they tell, and I also love adding printouts of spreads or layouts I’m working with.
Deities, Traditions
This section can include prayers, symbols, beliefs, and devotional practices. If you work with Hecate, document offerings, crossroads rituals, lunar connections, and the story of your relationship over time.
If you follow Wiccan traditions, you may also include seasonal rituals, teachings, and any religious structure that feels relevant. If you don’t, that’s fine too. Your personal BoS should reflect your path, not someone else’s religion. "Take what resonates and leave the rest"
I also love talking with other witches and taking notes in my BoS when we’re sharing about deities. For example, I like to include things like their feast days (for Hecate, many modern witches honor her on November 17, and she is also traditionally worked with on the dark moon), key correspondences such as colors, planets or moon phases, herbs, symbols, and any personal insights that come through over time.
Moon Phases and Astrology
Tracking moon phases is one of the most common Book of Shadows practices. Record new moons, full moons, eclipses, and how each phase affects your energy and rituals.
If you want to learn more about working in tune with nature, my Moon Magick Guide, especially if you want a consistent lunar rhythm that supports your spellwork and your life.
Essential Oils and Ritual Blends
If essential oils are part of your practice, keep a section for properties, safe use, and blends you actually enjoy. Document which scents feel grounding, protective, or uplifting for you, and note how you used them in rituals.
Dreams, Messages, and Reflection
Dreams are a powerful record. Write down symbols, recurring themes, and intuitive messages. This section often becomes the most personal part of your Book of Shadows over time. You can also treat it like a regular journal, which I highly recommend. It’s beautiful to look back and see which dreams came true, notice how your intuition has been flowing, and reflect on how you’ve been doing emotionally and spiritually. I also love rereading old entries to track my healing journey and witness how much I’ve grown.
How to Decorate Your Book of Shadows
Okay, this is my favorite part. Your Book of Shadows should feel like your book, not a dry textbook. This is where it gets fun. This is where your Spirit, creativity, and real life start weaving together on the page. This is the part where your practice starts to feel alive in your hands, where the pages stop being blank and start telling your story. This is where magick becomes personal.
How to Personalize Your Book of Shadows
These are the tools I keep coming back to when decorating and organizing my Book of Shadows to make living art apart of my magick
You can decorate your Book of Shadows with:
Artwork, doodles, witchy stickers (love these ones!), or hand-drawn sigils
Quotes you add when something lands deeply or sparks insight
Pressed flowers, feathers, leaves, or small nature finds from rituals and spiritual walks
Ticket stubs, postcards, or meaningful paper keepsakes tied to spiritual experiences
Vintage stationery, parchment-style paper, and textured cardstock is a must
Wax seals or sealing stamps for ritual sections or spell entries
These particular pens work wonderfully for headings and titles
Washi tape with celestial, botanical, or witchy and occult patterns
Witchy Scrapbook ephemera like lace paper, or old book pages,
Stamps with moons, stars, herbs, or symbolic imagery
Page tabs for organizing spell sections
Printed altar photos or ritual images to anchor memory and intention
Remember to please use what you have. The flowers, feathers, and small gifts around you carry their own magick.
Practical Tips to (Digital, Print, Two Books, and Keeping It Organized)
If you love structure, consider keeping:
A working journal for messy writing, active spells, daily notes
A separate book as a clean reference for spells and tables you use multiple times
Two books is honestly helpful if you get overwhelmed easily.
If you prefer a digital Book of Shadows, it can be incredibly organized. You can search keywords, copy templates, and print pages to paste into a physical book. Digital and print can work together.
Step 4: Share and Source Ideas
Your Book of Shadows is personal, but that doesn’t mean you can’t learn from friends and community.
Ideas:
Share layout ideas with friends or other witches
Learn from a high priestess or high priest if you’re in a coven or formal tradition
Use Pinterest or Reddit for inspiration, but keep it grounded in your own practice
If you copy something word-for-word, credit the source. It matters.
Inspiration is helpful. Copying without connection usually isn’t.
Step 5: Keep It Evolving
Your Book of Shadows is not meant to be finished. It’s meant to evolve with your life. Return to old pages, revise spells that didn’t work, and add notes when you learn something new.
I still laugh at my early entries. Some of them were cringe. But that’s part of the process. Those pages are proof that I began, learned, and kept going.
Your Next Step: Begin Your Personal BoS Journey
Creating a Book of Shadows is not just about writing spells. It’s a way to record your practice, track growth, and build a relationship with Spirit that feels real in your life.
If you’ve already started your Book of Shadows, share one helpful tip or your favorite section in the comments. If you haven’t begun, pick one page, write one note, and let that be enough for today.
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Book of Shadows FAQ
How do I start a Book of Shadows as a beginner?
Start simple. Choose a notebook, binder, or digital file and begin by writing what you’re already practicing, even if it’s just one ritual, one spell, or one reflection.
What should I write in my Book of Shadows?
Most witches record spells, rituals, moon phases, dreams, correspondences, and personal reflections that track growth and real experience over time.
Can I use a digital Book of Shadows?
Yes. Many modern witches use digital Books of Shadows on phones, tablets, or laptops because they’re easy to edit, organize, and carry anywhere.
Is a Book of Shadows part of Wiccan traditions?
Yes. In Wiccan traditions, the Book of Shadows is a religious and ritual text used to record teachings and practices, though many non-Wiccan witches now use it as a personal spiritual journal.
Should I keep my Book of Shadows private?
Most practitioners treat their Book of Shadows as a sacred tool and keep it in a private or secure place because it often contains deeply personal spiritual work.
Do I have to copy spells by hand into my Book of Shadows?
You don’t have to, but many witches prefer handwriting because it helps with memory, focus, and energetic connection to the work.
Can I have more than one Book of Shadows?
Absolutely. Some witches keep two books, one messy working journal and one cleaner reference book, depending on how they like to organize their practice.
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