Contents Introduction 1 What Is a Book of Shadows? 6 Your BoS Is About You! 8 1: Some Different Types of Books of Shadows 11 The Coven Book of Shadows 12 A Tradition's Book of Shadows 14 The Individual Witch's Personal Book of Shadows 17 The Journal Book of Shadows 21 "One Specific Thing" Book of Shadows 23 The Operative and Active Book of Shadows 24 Every Trick in the Book:You Are Writing Your Own History, Thorn Mooney 27 2: Putting Together a Book of Shadows and Making It Your Own 31 Finding a Book of Shadows 31 A Book of Shadows in a Three-Ring Binder 34 Making a Three-Ring Binder Look Great 37 The Advantages and Disadvantages of Using a Three-Ring Binder 38 The Cut-and-Paste Book of Shadows 41 The Advantages and Disadvantages of a Cut-and-Paste Book of Shadows 44 The Handwritten Book of Shadows 45 A Handwritten BoS Presents a Few Extra Challenges 48 The Advantages and Disadvantages of a Handwritten Book of Shadows 49 Arranging a Book of Shadows 50 Decorating and Personalizing a Book of Shadows 59 Every Trick in the Book: No-Fear Grimoire Crafting, Laura Tempest Zakroff 65 3: A Brief History of Magical Books, Words, and Symbols 69 The Cave Painters 70 From Symbols to Writing to Books 75 A Few Legendary Magical Writers 79 Every Trick in the Book: The Emerald Tablet, Christopher Drysdale 85 A Few Famous Magical Books 88 Every Trick in the Book: A Modern Witch & The Egyptian Book of the Dead, Kiya Nicoll 96 The Key of Solomon the King (Clavicula Salomonis) 98 From Grimoires to the Book of Shadows 102 Magical Books in Pop Culture Today 107 The Necronomicon 110 4: What to Put in a Book of Shadows 115 The Opening Pages 117 Rituals 120 Ritual Extras 124 Witchcraft Extras 128 Magick and Spellwork 134 Divination and the Future 142 Every Trick in the Book: A Blended Book of Shadows, Asa West 145 5: The Book of Shadows--Out of the Shadows 149 From Sheba to Cunningham to RavenWolf: BoS's from 1970 to the Present Day 151 Every Trick in the Book: An Excerpt from Gnostica News 162 Are There Any Secrets Left? 165 6: Alphabets, Fonts, Inks, and Symbols 169 Ogham 172 Foreign Languages and Magical Mottos 174 The Creative Use of Fonts and Scripts 176 Magical Symbols and Shortcuts 181 My Favorite Symbols and Shortcuts 182 Homemade Ink and Pens 185 Notes 191 7: Goddesses and Gods of the Books 193 Goddesses and Gods Associated with Literacy, Spellcraft, Alphabets, and Wisdom 194 Spells and Rituals Involving Individual Deities 196 Sophia and Jesus: Jewish and Christian Magick 202 Odin and the Runes 206 The Blessings and Curses of Aradia 212 8: The Book of Shadows in Ritual 219 The Advantages of Reading from Your BoS During Ritual 221 Reading in Ritual 223 We Can Do Better Than Reading from a Piece of Paper in Ritual 227 What a Book of Shadows Is Not 228 Every Trick in the Book: Holding the Keys to Mystery, Christine Hoff Kraemer, PhD 230 9: Cleansing, Consecrating, and Other Rituals 235 Consecrating and Blessing a BoS for Personal Use 238 A Coven Book Blessing 244 Retiring a Book of Shadows 251 Letting Go of a Book of Shadows 253 10: New Frontiers and the BoS 259 My BoS on a Flash Drive and a Tablet 261 A Print-on-Demand Book of Shadows 265 The Cloud and Even Further Frontiers 268 Bibliography and Further Reading 271.