“And I composed a certain work wherein I rehearsed the secret of secrets, in which I have preserved them hidden, and I have also therein concealed all secrets whatsoever of magical arts of any masters…”
-S. L. MacGregor Mathers, The Key of Solomon the King
One of the most important books that should be in every witch’s library is their own magical workbook. This personal journal serves as a great repository for you to store your accumulated knowledge, success stories and ideas for future research. Some traditions of witchcraft call their workbook a book of shadows, spellbook, grimoire, journal, or book of illumination. Use whatever term is most pleasing to you!
Personal spellbooks are often written in a secret language to guard the teachings recorded by the witch. In the event the book should fall into enemy hands, they would not be able to decode and interpret the contents of the magical book.
You can dedicate your personal workbook to your favorite god or goddess. For example, the Egyptian god Thoth is the scribe of the gods, lord of writing, master of papyrus, lord of divine words, lord of books, master of the power of speech, and the author of the Book of the Dead. Seshet is an Egyptian goddess of writing, learning, and knowledge. But dedicate your book of shadows to whoever you want.
Choosing Your Book of Shadows
A variety of items can be used to make your own workbook. For example you can find journals available for sale at most book stores and office supply stores. These journals are available in a variety of sizes and materials. You can choose lined or unlined paper depending upon your personal preference. For my more personal writings, reflections, thoughts, and results of any solitary spells and rituals that I perform I keep a hand written leather bound journal with lined paper. I don’t share this journal with anyone as it is more of a personal diary than a guide to natural magic.
Art Journals
I have even found small decorative journals at my local dollar store. The one I’m using at the moment has a cover which is wrapped with green, handmade paper with a decorative silk flower attached to the front. This journal contains 100 pages of lined paper. The small size of this journal is perfect for using in the field as it can conveniently fit into your purse or backpack. I use this book to record my gardening successes, failures, thoughts and tips.
One-of-a-Kind Scrapbook
For the more adventuresome you may choose to make your own workbook. Art and craft stores stock a wide variety of art papers, stickers, paint pens, metallic markers and other journaling and bookmaking supplies. Look in the scrapbook section for a myriad of items that can be used to create your own book.
You may also want to visit the rubber stamp section of the craft stores for a supply of stamps and inks if you want to make a highly decorated workbook. The craft stores also sell many books and magazines on scrapbooking and rubber stamping along with offering classes in scrap bookmaking and rubber stamping.
Simple 3-Ring Binder
Use loose-leaf paper which you can add to a 3-ring binder. This method is the most flexible as it allows you to rearrange the contents of your book anytime you like. You may also want to add subject dividers so that you can quickly flip to the section of your workbook that you need while performing magic rituals and other ceremonies.
Handmade Books
If you are feeling a bit crafty, you can make your own handmade book. Book binding is a fun hobby where you can make anything from simple folios from a few sheets of paper to multi-page journals with elaborate bindings. You can even find kits containing all the supplies to create a unique, handmade book of your very own.
Creating Your Workbook
I like to add the individual pages of my workbook to a clear, plastic protector sheet. You can fit two pages per protector sheet. The sheets have 3-holes which allows them to be placed into a 3-ring binder. Storing your workbook pages in this manner is especially beneficial to a workbook that will be shared with other people or otherwise undergo a lot of handling.
The plastic sheets almost render the book waterproof which is convenient if you use your workbook when performing outdoor rituals and ceremonies. Faux parchment paper can be purchased from most office supply stores. This type of paper adds a more authentic and ancient look to your workbook.
Adding Pages to Your Workbook
The following examples are just a few ways to add information to your own personal magic journal.
Handwritten Pages
Grab your calligraphy pens and markers and add a bit of homemade flair to your book of shadows to add some handwritten and embellished information based on your own studies. You may also type this information into your computer for archival purposes, print out pages then embellish each page with a bit of calligraphy.
And, if you’re really artistically inclined, you can even add a few watercolor images to really enhance your journal. There’s nothing like handpainted botanical drawings to really setoff your herbal grimoire.
Snippets of Text From Favorite Grimoires
Copied from someone else’s workbook with their permission. For example, among my pagan friends, I am considered to be an expert in herb lore so I may trade some of the herbal information in my workbook for some information they have in their book that may be lacking in my book. Again this information may be hand-copied or stored on your computer.
Tear Sheets From Magazines
I like to tear out pages or photocopies of articles from my favorite magazines. As a freelance writer, I also tear out pages of my own freelance articles and place them in clear plastic 3-ring binder sheets then add them to my 3-ring binder journal. This is a great way to protect any recipes or herbal spells from getting damaged while working in the kitchen.
Some of my favorite magazines include The Herb Quarterly, Herb Companion, Backhome, Hobby Farms and Mother Earth News. Click on this list to view a list of articles written by The Creative Cottage Founder Lynn Smythe that have appeared in various print publications including The Old Farmer’s Almanac and Llewellyn’s yearly Herbal Almanac, Magic Calendar and Witches Datebook.
Copyright-free Classic Texts
The internet is a great source for researching and finding copyright-free information that you can print out or copy and add to your own magical spellbook. Sacred Texts is a fantastic online resource for a variety of copyright-free publications covering religion, mythology and folklore.
The full text of many ancient books can be found and studied on this website which is located at www.sacred-texts.com. Sacred Texts offers over 60 topics of study including alchemy, Atlantis, book of shadows, Celtic, Egyptian, goddesses, Grimoire, neo-paganism, prophecy, shamanism and more.
Building Your Book of Shadows
You may add whatever topics of study that interest you to your workbook. Your workbook will increase in size as you become interested in additional topics throughout your years of study. Here are some suggestions on how you may want to organize your workbook based on some of the items that are contained in my own personal workbook.
You can use a tab, post-it note, or similar item to organize each section in your book of shadows into your favorite topics such as:
- Aromatherapy – essential oils, natural incense, potpourri.
- Basic ritual work – casting the circle, calling the elements, consecration of objects.
- Culinary herbs – beverages, appetizers, side dishes, desserts, main dishes, special esbat and sabbat recipes.
- Diagrams of symbols – alchemical, Egyptian, moon phases, planets, zodiac.
- Divination – herbal divination methods, runes, tarot cards.
- Gemstones and crystals
- Gods and goddesses – Celtic, Egyptian, Greek, Roman, other.
- Magical herbs – bark, berries, flowers, fruits, leaves, nuts, roots.
- Medicinal herbs – infusions, decoctions, lotions, salves, tinctures, unguents, washes.
- Sabbats – Yule, Imbolc, Ostara, Beltane, Litha, Lughnasadh, Mabon, Samhain.
- Spells – banishing, fertility, healing, love, luck, spirituality.
- Tables of correspondences – colors, days of the week, elements, months of the year, planetary, zodiacal.
- Tools – athame, boleen, cauldron, chalice, pentacle, wand.
Your book of shadows is a continual work in progress. Add or subtract pages of information to your own workbook according to the topics and subtopics of study that interest you the most. One convenient method is to divide your workbook into the same subheadings as your home library, or magical scriptorium. That way when you are in the process of updating your workbook you can easily cross-reference books and magazines that are in your personal collection.
Let’s Keep in Touch
Do you have any tips or tricks you’d like to share? Leave a comment on this post or shoot me an email: info@thecreativecottage.net and I just might feature your story in a future blog post.
Take care,
Lynn Smythe
- Founder and Chief Blogger – The Creative Cottage
- Contributing Writer – Thrive Global
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