Bought vs self made blank Book of Shadows
If you're a practitioner of Wicca, Witchcraft, or any other form of paganism, you may be interested in creating your own Book of Shadows.
A Book of Shadows, sometimes described as a grimoire, is a personal journal where you can record your spiritual journey, spells, rituals, and other important information.
In this blog series, we'll cover the different options for creating a Book of Shadows and go through how to make your own Book of Shadows with some free Reliquary & Curios Book of Shadows pages templates for you to download and use.
As with all magickal practice, you should always do what feels the best for you, and works for your circumstances.
Should you buy or make your Book of Shadows journal?
There are many magickal witchy aesthetic Book of Shadows blank notebooks and journals available that have been specifically designed for this purpose.
Generally these blank BoS are mass-produced, created in a range of sizes, and often have embossed leather covers with embellishment and include a closure method such as a clasp or binding strap. Non-leather versions are so available for people who don’t want to use animal products, so make sure you read the product description in detail before purchase to understand what materials have been used. Both leather and non-leather BoS journals are available in a range of different page formats, with white and cream lined, plain and aged paper options available.
There are many book making artists on the internet who offer BoS blank journals on platforms like Etsy, some of which can personalise the BoS cover if required. But, if you’re working to a right budget, or you’re unable to buy a pre-made BoS journal, any notebook will do if you don’t want to make your own. Just make sure it doesn’t contain any other content, and you can decorate the covers to give it the aesthetic and magickal intention that you desire.
Below are some examples of Book of Shadows blank journals currently available at time of publishing this blog:
The pros and cons of buying a Book of Shadows journal or notebook
Buying a journal or notebook designed specifically to hold BoS content can help make the process of creating one much quicker, but can be limiting if the journal has a fixed set of pages that can’t be added to.
Also, if you choose a lined paper journal consider how you will add content that requires a plain paper format and vice versa - can extra pages be easily stuck in over the lined pages? Depending on the type of binding and the width of the spine, some BoS journals may struggle to close after a number of extra pages have been added.
Some people who use ready-made blank BoS journals use a series of different journals to record each theme of their content, which can add some flexibility as more and more content is added over the years. You could have individual BoS journals for spells, rituals, correspondences and divination etc, with each one having a colour theme and cover embellishment to suit the content. Whilst this can create a beautiful collection of bound BoS journals, it can become costly over an extended period of time, which is worth considering if this is the route that you choose to take.
The benefits of making your own Book of Shadows
In my experience, making your own Book of Shadows journal can have a number of positive benefits. Creating your own BoS and other magickal tools can be more powerful than using pre-made items because it allows you to infuse your own intentions, energy, and personal symbolism into the tool. When you create something yourself, you invest a part of yourself into it, making it more attuned to your unique energies and spiritual practices.
Both during the construction and whilst using the tool, your connection deepens, making it more effective in your magical workings. The act of creating your own magical tools can also be a way to cultivate a deeper sense of ownership and responsibility over your practice, as you have put in the effort to create something that is uniquely yours.
Using a binder as a basis for your BoS can offer a wide range of opportunities to decorate the cover, and create something that is both imbued with energy and has the structure to grow as you build your magickal practise.
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