Book of Shadows

A Book of Shadows is the working journal of a practice: the correspondences, rituals, workings, and observations of the person who keeps it. This planner lists the fifteen traditional sections, each with its purpose and a starting prompt, and builds your table of contents as you choose.

Choose your sections

Updated August 23, 2026: fifteen sections, planner, prompts for each.

The Fifteen Sections

1. Cover PageThe name of your book, your craft name or motto, and the date you began. A line on what the book is for.

2. Dedication & Statement of PurposeWhy you keep this book: what you intend to record, for whom, and for what end. Read it back when the book feels heavy.

3. Your Path & BeliefsWhat you actually believe, not what you were told to believe: the tradition you draw from, the gods or principles you work with, the lines you will not cross.

4. Correspondences: HerbsThe herbs you use, with their planetary and elemental associations, their uses, and their cautions. Add as you work, not in advance.

5. Correspondences: CrystalsThe stones you work with, with their uses and their care. Cross-reference the Crystal Dictionary on this site.

6. Correspondences: Colors & CandlesThe colors you burn and what they mean in your practice. Note what you observe, not only what the tradition says.

7. The Wheel of the YearThe eight sabbats, what each means to you, and what you did each year. The cycle builds the book's rhythm.

8. Moon WorkThe phases and the void of course, with what you do in each. Log the dates and what you observed.

9. Ritual FrameworkHow you structure a ritual: opening, center, closing. The version you actually use, refined by use.

10. Spells & WorkingsThe working, the date and moon phase, the materials, and the result. Date every entry and come back to it.

11. Meditation & Inner WorkThe practices you keep: what you do, how long, and what shifts with time.

12. Dream JournalDates, dreams, and the symbols that recur. The Dream Symbols tool on this site can help you read them.

13. Divination PracticeThe systems you use and the draws that mattered. Log the question, the draw, and the outcome.

14. Ancestors & SpiritsThe ancestors you honor and the spirits you work with, with the etiquette you keep with them.

15. Ethics & BoundariesYour rules of practice: what you will and will not do, for yourself and for others. The page that keeps the book honest.

How to Start

The first rule of a Book of Shadows is that it grows by use, not by planning. Choose a blank notebook that will survive the work (a bound book with decent paper; the book will be opened, carried, and handled), write the cover page, and date the first entry. Then choose two or three sections from the planner that match the practice you actually keep, and begin with the one you will use this week: a moon log if the moon is your anchor, a dream journal if the dreams are loud, a correspondences page if you work with herbs and stones.

The book does not need to be complete, and it should not be neat in the museum sense. It is a working tool: cross things out, paste in pages, let the sections interleave. Date every entry, because the dated record is what turns a collection of notes into a practice. The value of the book is not what it contains on day one; it is what it has become after a year of entries, when the correspondences are yours and the rituals are the ones you actually perform.

The Ethics Page

The section that keeps the book honest is the last one in this planner and the most important: your ethics and boundaries. Write what you will and will not do, for yourself and for others, and return to it when the practice raises a question. The tradition of the grimoire is long, but every serious practitioner writes their own rules, and the book is the place to keep them. A practice without a boundary page is a practice that drifts; the page is the anchor of the whole book.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a Book of Shadows?

A Book of Shadows is a personal journal of magical practice: the correspondences, rituals, workings, and observations of the person who keeps it. The name comes from the Wiccan tradition, but the practice is wider: any practitioner who records their work seriously keeps some form of grimoire or book of shadows.

How do I start a Book of Shadows?

Start with a blank notebook and this planner: choose the sections you need, write the cover page and the statement of purpose, and begin with one section you will actually use (moon work, a dream journal, or correspondences). The book grows by use, not by planning: add pages as the practice grows.

What should be in a Book of Shadows?

The traditional contents are correspondences (herbs, crystals, colors), the wheel of the year, moon work, rituals, spells and workings with dated results, dreams, and ethics. This planner lists fifteen common sections, each with a purpose and a starting prompt. Choose the ones that match your practice.

Is a Book of Shadows the same as a grimoire?

Historically, a grimoire is a book of instructions (spells, rituals, spirit work) and a Book of Shadows is a personal journal of practice. In modern use the two overlap heavily: most practitioners keep one book that does both, recording both the instructions and the results.

Should my Book of Shadows be handwritten?

Traditionally yes, and many practitioners keep it handwritten for the personal charge that carries. But the content matters more than the medium: a well-kept digital book (notes, a folder, this site's tools) serves the same purpose. The book is a working tool, not a museum piece.

Sources

The fifteen sections follow the common structure of the Book of Shadows tradition as it developed from the Wiccan practice, consistent with the reference library on this site. The planner and prompts are original to this page.