The Witch’s Book of Shadows (Witch’s Tools series 5) by Jason Mankey
9780738750149
312 Pages
Publisher: Llewellyn Publications, Llewellyn Worldwide
Release Date: February 8, 2017
Nonfiction (Adult), Religion, Spirituality, Book, Journal, Writing, Magic, Grimoire
The book is divided into the following sections
1: Some Different Types of Books of Shadows
2: Putting Together a Book of Shadows and Making It Your Own
3: A Brief History of Magical Books, Words, and Symbols
4: What to Put in a Book of Shadows
5: The Book of Shadows – Out of the Shadows
6: Alphabets, Fonts, Inks, and Symbols
7: Goddesses and Gods of the Books
8: The Book of Shadows in Ritual
9: Cleansing, Consecrating, and Other Rituals
10: New Frontiers and the BoS
In the past, I read books that said you “must do this” or you “must do that.” This book is not like that at all. The author does a great job of telling the reader that the book of shadows is whatever you want it to be. It is a personal book to you. I learned the history behind Lady Sheba’s Book of Shadows and its connection to the Gardnerians. It was one of the first books I read when starting out.
Chapter 6 contains not only suggestions for inks and pens, but the history of alphabets including the Ogham, which I use. I absolutely love the idea of using berries for ink. I was pleasantly surprised to see Seshat’s name included in chapter 7. She is the Goddess of writing, libraries, and architecture but not many people know about her.
I am glad the author included a section on retiring a book of shadows. I never thought about what to do with mine and now I have some ideas.The author has an easy-to-read writing style. This is an excellent resource for a new practitioner or if you are looking for new ideas.
