By Peter Nash
Every religion has its written lore or guide to the mysteries, and Wicca is no exception. Every tradition, every path had its bible. Ie the Talmud of the Jews, The Koran of the Muslims, the Hindu Vedas, the New Testament of the Christians to name but a few.
In Wicca we have of course the somewhat oddly named Book of Shadows (we will discuss the name later); a rather curious and even controversial document, the origin of which is still debated to this day in the craft.
In some traditions of Wicca, the Book of Shadows is a self-penned personal document, Written along the lines of a magickal diary and constantly updated with spells (either self composed) or acquired from others, recipes, rituals, etc. Or a coven may keep such a book communally for the use of the whole coven, with each member contributing. This is definitely good practice and good discipline - for example if the coven performs a ritual which either fails or backfires or works only partially they may perform the records and perform a magical 'post mortem' as it were, and maybe pinpoint any mistakes in the operation.
In my own tradition the book of shadows is an official document (In fact there are three such books; the first and second books of shadows are given in the first degree; the third book being copied out after promotion to the second - degree). It is difficult, certainly Gerald B Gardner, Doreen Valiente and Aleister Crowley contributed to the first book. Other parts appear to be based on the rituals of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, which was formed in 1888 in London by Mac Gregor Mathews, Wynn Westcott and Robert Woodman.
However, this does not in any way weaken the Book of Shadows on the contrary it has been much enriched by contributions from the great Occult adepts. Many different authors after all wrote the Bible.
The first book of shadows is in essence the handbook of the first-degree initiate, simple in its layout but nevertheless effective and indeed, the new initiate's first task after initiation is to copy it out.
This effectively masks the beginning of his/her training. The book gives all the basic rituals of the craft, i.e. consecration of water/salt, the casting of the magic circle, the three initiation rituals, prayers etc.
The second and third books are not so orderly, however, as the first book, and are more concerned with magickal, religious, theoretical teaching and lore of the craft, training techniques and Wiccan Law. They also contain some more advanced rituals.
So where does the rather strange title "The Book of Shadows" actually come from ? Nobody seems to know for sure, although there are a number of different theories. Some hold that the phrase comes from the God being referred to as The Dread Lord of Shadows in the second degree initiation ritual. (The Dread Lord of Shadows being a reference to his being the Lord of the Underworld in the Legend of the Descent of the Goddess).
Others draw attention to the fact that in times of persecution or so called 'burning times' witches would don black cloaks to travel through quiet dark country lanes to their meetings in the shade or in the shadows to avoid being seen or arouse suspicion. There are just two theories that I'm aware of, doubtless there are others!
To sum up: a well-kept and efficient magickal diary pr personal Book of Shadows is certainly a useful tool for the individual witch, especially if he/she works alone. If we record our experiences sensations and results (if any) or even disastrous failures, of any ritual or working that we undertake we can gain valuable insight into are psyches or abilities, i.e. we can learn much from ourselves. Furthermore later on in our careers, even years later, such documents can provide invaluable information for research.
In conversation once with a very well known witch (now in the summerlands) he said to me "The Book of Shadows is infinite". Being a newly initiated 18-year-old, I was puzzled by the remark being only acquainted with the "Official" first book.
The comment gave me food for thought, however many years later I think I now know what he meant….