Book of Shadows - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

This article describes the traditional book of Wicca
Wicca
Wicca , is a modern Pagan religious movement. Developing in England in the first half of the 20th century, Wicca was popularised in the 1950s and early 1960s by a Wiccan High Priest named Gerald Gardner, who at the time called it the "witch cult" and "witchcraft," and its adherents "the Wica."...

; for other uses, see Book of Shadows (disambiguation)
Book of Shadows (disambiguation)
Book of Shadows may refer to:* Book of Shadows, a book of religious texts and instructions for magical rituals in Wicca* Book of Shadows , its fictional equivalent from the television series Charmed...

.

A Book of Shadows is a book containing religious texts and instructions for magical

Magic (paranormal)

Magic is the claimed art of manipulating aspects of reality either by supernatural means or through knowledge of occult laws unknown to science. It is in contrast to science, in that science does not accept anything not subject to either direct or indirect observation, and subject to logical...

rituals found within the Neopagan

Neopaganism

Neopaganism is an umbrella term used to identify a wide variety of modern religious movements, particularly those influenced by or claiming to be derived from the various pagan beliefs of pre-modern Europe...

religion of Wicca

Wicca

Wicca , is a modern Pagan religious movement. Developing in England in the first half of the 20th century, Wicca was popularised in the 1950s and early 1960s by a Wiccan High Priest named Gerald Gardner, who at the time called it the "witch cult" and "witchcraft," and its adherents "the Wica."...

. Originating within the Gardnerian tradition

Gardnerian Wicca

Gardnerian Wicca, or Gardnerian Witchcraft, is a mystery cult tradition or denomination in the neopagan religion of Wicca, whose members can trace initiatory descent from Gerald Gardner. The tradition is itself named after Gardner , a British civil servant and scholar of magic...

of the Craft, the first Book of Shadows was created by the pioneering Wiccan Gerald Gardner

Gerald Gardner

Gerald Brousseau Gardner , who sometimes used the craft name Scire, was an influential English Wiccan, as well as an amateur anthropologist and archaeologist, writer, weaponry expert and occultist. He was instrumental in bringing the Neopagan religion of Wicca to public attention in Britain and...

sometime in the late 1940s or early 1950s, and which he utilised first in his Bricket Wood coven

Bricket Wood coven

The Bricket Wood coven, or Hertfordshire coven was a coven of Gardnerian Witches founded in the 1940s by Gerald Gardner. It was notable for being the first coven in the Gardnerian line, though having its supposed origins in the pre-Gardnerian New Forest coven...

and then in other covens which he founded in following decades. The concept of the Book of Shadows was then adopted by other Wiccan traditions, such as Alexandrianism

Alexandrian Wicca

Alexandrian Wicca is a tradition of the Neopagan religion of Wicca, founded by Alex Sanders who, with his wife Maxine Sanders, established the tradition in the United Kingdom in the 1960s...

and Mohsianism, and with the rise of books teaching people how to begin following Wicca in the 1970s onward, the idea of the Book of Shadows was then further propagated amongst solitary practitioners unconnected to earlier traditions.

Initially, when Wicca was still dominated by coven

Coven

A coven or covan is a name used to describe a gathering of witches or in some cases vampires. Due to the word's association with witches, a gathering of Wiccans, followers of the witchcraft-based neopagan religion of Wicca, is also described as a coven....

s, "only one copy [of the Book] existed for an entire coven, kept by the high priestess or high priest. That rule has proved unfeasible, and it is [now] commonplace for all Witches to have their own copies." In the various traditions that make up British Traditional Wicca

British Traditional Wicca

British Traditional Wicca is a term used to describe some Wiccan traditions which have their origins in the New Forest region of England...

, copies of the original Book composed by Gerald Gardner with the aid of his High Priestess Doreen Valiente

Doreen Valiente

Doreen Edith Dominy Valiente , who also went under the craft name Ameth, was an influential English Wiccan who was involved in a number of different early traditions, including Gardnerianism, Cochrane's Craft and the Coven of Atho...

, along with alterations and additions that have been made since then, is followed by adherents. They have tried to keep the contents of this Book a secret, although it has been published on a number of occasions by figures such as Charles Cardell

Charles Cardell

Charles Cardell was an English Wiccan who propagated his own tradition of the Craft, which was distinct from that of Gerald Gardner. Cardell's tradition of Wicca was based around a form of the Horned God known as Atho, and worked with a coven that met in the grounds of his estate in Surrey. His...

, Lady Sheba and Janet

Janet Farrar

Janet Farrar is a British teacher and author of books on Wicca and Neopaganism. Along with her two husbands, Stewart Farrar and Gavin Bone, Farrar has published "some of the most influential books on modern Witchcraft to date." According to George Knowles, "some seventy five percent of Wiccans...

and Stewart Farrar

Stewart Farrar

Frank Stewart Farrar , who always went by the name of Stewart Farrar, was an English screenwriter, novelist and prominent figure in the Neopagan religion of Wicca, which he devoted much of his later life to propagating with the aid of his seventh wife, Janet Farrar, and then his friend Gavin Bone...

. In other Wiccan traditions and amongst a number of solitary practitioners, alternate versions of the Book have been written that are independent of Gardner's original.

Numerous associations and traditions have since grown up around the Book of Shadows. Traditionally, "a Witch's book of shadows is destroyed upon death." The concept of the Book of Shadows has subsequently appeared in popular culture, for instance being utilised in the American television series Charmed
Charmed
Charmed is an American television series that originally aired from October 7, 1998, until May 21, 2006, on the now defunct The WB Television Network. The series was created in 1998 by writer Constance M...

and providing the title of films, musical albums and comics, however in all these cases it was taken out of its original Wiccan context.

Origins

Gerald Gardner, the "father of Wicca", first introduced the Book of Shadows to people that he had initiated into the craft through his Bricket Wood coven

Bricket Wood coven

in the 1950s. He claimed that it was a personal cookbook of spells that have worked for the owner; they could copy from his own book and add or remove material as they saw fit. He said that the practice of Witches keeping such a book was ancient, and was practised by the Witch-cult throughout history. According to tradition, Gardner claimed, the book was burned after a person died, so that it would not be discovered that they had been a witch.

Gerald Gardner did not mention any such thing as a "Book of Shadows" in his 1949 (though written three years earlier), novel about mediaeval witchcraft, High Magic's Aid. Doreen Valiente claimed that this was because at the time, Gardner had not yet conceived of the idea, and only invented it after writing his novel.

High Priestess Doreen Valiente

Doreen Valiente

made the claim that Gardner found the term "Book of Shadows" from a 1949 edition (Volume I, Number 3) of a magazine known as The Occult Observer. In this edition, she claimed, was an advertisement for Gardner's novel, High Magic's Aid, which was opposite an article titled "The Book of Shadows" written by the palmist Mir Bashir. The article in question was about an allegedly ancient Sanskrit

Sanskrit

Sanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...

divination manual which explained how to foretell things based upon the length of a person's shadow. Valiente theorised that Gardner then adopted this term for his Witches' grimoire

Grimoire

A grimoire is a textbook of magic. Such books typically include instructions on how to create magical objects like talismans and amulets, how to perform magical spells, charms and divination and also how to summon or invoke supernatural entities such as angels, spirits, and demons...

. She maintained that "It was a good name, and it is a good name still, wherever Gardner found it".

A leather bound manuscript written in Gardner's handwriting that was titled Ye Bok of Ye Art Magical was later found amongst his papers from the Museum after his death by Aidan Kelly

Aidan Kelly

Aidan Kelly is an American academic, poet and influential figure in the Neopagan religion of Wicca. Having developed his own branch of the faith, the New Reformed Orthodox Order of the Golden Dawn, during the 1960s, he was also initiated into other traditions, including Gardnerianism and Feri, in...

and was later obtained by Richard and Tamarra James of the Wiccan Church of Canada. It appeared to be a first draft of Gardner's Book of Shadows, and featured sections based upon the rituals of the Order of Templars of the Orient which had been devised by the occultist Aleister Crowley

Aleister Crowley

Aleister Crowley , born Edward Alexander Crowley, and also known as both Frater Perdurabo and The Great Beast, was an influential English occultist, astrologer, mystic and ceremonial magician, responsible for founding the religious philosophy of Thelema. He was also successful in various other...

. Gardner had gained access to these rituals in 1946, when he had purchased a charter from Crowley giving him permission to perform the OTO rituals.

Some people have taken this as evidence that Gardner invented the idea of a Witches' Grimoire

Grimoire

, perhaps sometime between 1946 (when he finished his novel High Magic's Aid), and 1949, and had named it Ye Bok of Ye Art Magical. In 1949, he had renamed it to the Book of Shadows, and soon began to make use of it with his Bricket Wood Coven.

Adding weight to the evidence indicating Gardner invented the Book was that other Neo-pagan witches of the time, such as Robert Cochrane

Roy Bowers

Robert Cochrane , who was born as Roy Bowers, was an English Neopagan witch who founded the tradition known as Cochrane's Craft, which is seen by some to be a form of Wicca but is sometimes considered distinct from it due to Cochrane's opposition to both Gerald Gardner and Gardnerian Wicca.Born...

, never made use of such a book.

Valiente's rewriting

In 1953, Doreen Valiente

Doreen Valiente

joined Gardner's Bricket Wood coven

Bricket Wood coven

, and soon rose to become its High Priestess. She noticed how much of the material in his Book of Shadows was taken not from ancient sources as Gardner had initially claimed, but from the works of the occultist Aleister Crowley

Aleister Crowley

, from Aradia, or the Gospel of the Witches
Aradia, or the Gospel of the Witches
Aradia, or the Gospel of the Witches is a book composed by the American folklorist Charles Leland that was published in 1899. It contains what he believed was the religious text of a group of pagan witches in Tuscany, Italy that documented their beliefs and rituals, although various historians and...

, from the Key of Solomon
Key of Solomon
The Key of Solomon , is a grimoire, or book on magic incorrectly attributed to King Solomon. It probably dates back to the 14th or 15th century Italian Renaissance...

and also from the rituals of Freemasonry

Freemasonry

Freemasonry is a fraternal organisation that arose from obscure origins in the late 16th to early 17th century. Freemasonry now exists in various forms all over the world, with a membership estimated at around six million, including approximately 150,000 under the jurisdictions of the Grand Lodge...

. She confronted Gardner with this, who admitted that the text he had received from the New Forest coven

New Forest coven

The New Forest coven were a group of Neopagan witches or Wiccans who allegedly met around the area of the New Forest in southern England during the 1930s and 1940s...

had been fragmentary and he had had to fill much of it using various sources. He also stated that "well, if you think you can do any better, go ahead", and Valiente thought that she could, later stating that:
Valiente rewrote much of it, cutting out a lot of sections that had come from Crowley (whose negative reputation she feared), though retaining parts that originated with Aradia, or the Gospel of the Witches
Aradia, or the Gospel of the Witches
Aradia, or the Gospel of the Witches is a book composed by the American folklorist Charles Leland that was published in 1899. It contains what he believed was the religious text of a group of pagan witches in Tuscany, Italy that documented their beliefs and rituals, although various historians and...

, which she felt was genuine witchcraft practice. Valiente dramatically rewrote sections such as the Charge of the Goddess
Charge of the Goddess
The Charge of the Goddess is a traditional inspirational text sometimes used in the neopagan religion of Wicca. Several versions exist, though they all have the same basic premise, that of a set of instructions given by a Great Goddess to her worshippers...

and also wrote several poems for the book, such as The Witches Rune. She also helped to create a poem to include the Wiccan Rede

Wiccan Rede

The Wiccan Rede is a statement that provides the key moral system in the Neopagan religion of Wicca and other related Witchcraft-based faiths. A common form of the Rede is An it harm none, do what ye will....

within it.

Valiente also noticed that a chant in one ritual in the book was based upon the poem "A Tree Song" from Puck of Pook's Hill
Puck of Pook's Hill
Puck of Pook's Hill is a historical fantasy book by Rudyard Kipling, published in 1906, containing a series of short stories set in different periods of English history. The stories are all narrated to two children living near Burwash, in the area of Kipling's own house Bateman's, by people...

by Rudyard Kipling

Rudyard Kipling

Joseph Rudyard Kipling was an English poet, short-story writer, and novelist chiefly remembered for his celebration of British imperialism, tales and poems of British soldiers in India, and his tales for children. Kipling received the 1907 Nobel Prize for Literature...

, which she had enjoyed as a child. The chant in question stated that:

Oh, do not tell the priest our plight,

Or he would call it sin;

But - we have been in the woods all night,

A-conjuring summer in !

And we bring you news by word of mouth -

Good news for cattle and corn -

Now is the Sun come up from the South,

With Oak, and Ash, and Thorn!

(These eight lines are exactly the final stanza of "A Tree Song".)

This version of the ritual, written by both Gardner and Valiente, but containing sections adopted from various sources, such as Aleister Crowley

Aleister Crowley

, Aradia, or the Gospel of the Witches
Aradia, or the Gospel of the Witches
Aradia, or the Gospel of the Witches is a book composed by the American folklorist Charles Leland that was published in 1899. It contains what he believed was the religious text of a group of pagan witches in Tuscany, Italy that documented their beliefs and rituals, although various historians and...

, and even Rudyard Kipling

Rudyard Kipling

, went on to become the traditional text for Gardnerian Wicca

Gardnerian Wicca

In British Traditional Wicca

In forms of British Traditional Wicca

British Traditional Wicca

British Traditional Wicca is a term used to describe some Wiccan traditions which have their origins in the New Forest region of England...

, which include Gardnerian Wicca

Gardnerian Wicca

, Alexandrian Wicca

Alexandrian Wicca

Alexandrian Wicca is a tradition of the Neopagan religion of Wicca, founded by Alex Sanders who, with his wife Maxine Sanders, established the tradition in the United Kingdom in the 1960s...

and Algard Wicca, the Book of Shadows used by adherents is based upon that written by Gardner and Valiente.

Although his own book had been put together with the help of Doreen Valiente

Doreen Valiente

and included material from a variety of modern sources, (notably from Aradia, or the Gospel of the Witches
Aradia, or the Gospel of the Witches
Aradia, or the Gospel of the Witches is a book composed by the American folklorist Charles Leland that was published in 1899. It contains what he believed was the religious text of a group of pagan witches in Tuscany, Italy that documented their beliefs and rituals, although various historians and...

and the writings of Aleister Crowley

Aleister Crowley

) it also included sections written in an antique (or mock-antique) style, including advice for witches brought to trial

Witch-hunt

A witch-hunt is a search for witches or evidence of witchcraft, often involving moral panic, mass hysteria and lynching, but in historical instances also legally sanctioned and involving official witchcraft trials...

and tortured. Gardner claimed that these sections were genuinely historical in origin, and that witches had not been allowed to write anything down until recently, to avoid incrimination; when at last Books of Shadows were allowed, the rituals and spells had to be written in a jumbled manner to prevent any non-initiate from using them. More recent scholars however have doubted their authenticity.

It seems likely that Gardner told his three subsequent initiatory lines that the book should be copied word for word, and Wiccans descended from Eleanor Bone

Eleanor Bone

Eleanor "Ray" Bone was an influential figure in the neopagan religion of Wicca. She claimed to have been initiated in 1941 by a couple of hereditary witches in Cumbria. She later met and became friends with Gerald Gardner, and was initiated into Wicca, becoming the High Priestess in one of his...

, Patricia Crowther

Patricia Crowther (Wiccan)

Patricia Crowther is considered influential in the early promotion of the Wicca religion. She was born in Sheffield as Patricia Dawson....

and Monique Wilson have widely believed that the book was of ancient provenance. North America

North America

North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...

n Gardnerians

Gardnerian Wicca

of the Long Island line allow covens to add rituals and teachings to the book, but nothing may be removed.

Contemporary usage

There sometimes exists two Books of Shadows kept by some traditional Wiccans, one being a book of core rituals and practises which remains unchanged and from which new initiates copy, and the second being a coven book, intended for ritual use, which differs from group to group and may contain much added material (such as astrology

Astrology

Astrology consists of a number of belief systems which hold that there is a relationship between astronomical phenomena and events in the human world...

, herbal lore

Herbalism

Herbalism is a traditional medicinal or folk medicine practice based on the use of plants and plant extracts. Herbalism is also known as botanical medicine, medical herbalism, herbal medicine, herbology, herblore, and phytotherapy...

, and information regarding divination

Divination

Divination is the attempt to gain insight into a question or situation by way of an occultic standardized process or ritual...

), and such material is often traded between covens.

Some Wiccans keep a personal Book of Shadows in addition to that of their tradition, which is typically for individual use and is not passed on to one's initiates.

Publication

After Gardner's death, his rival, Charles Cardell

Charles Cardell

, published much of the material from the Gardnerian Book of Shadows. In the 1970s, the Alexandrians Janet Farrar

Janet Farrar

and Stewart Farrar

Stewart Farrar

decided, with the consent of Doreen Valiente

Doreen Valiente

, that much of the Gardnerian book should be published in its true form. Much of it was published by the Farrars in their 1984 book The Witches' Way.

In Eclectic Wicca

In non-traditional or "eclectic" forms of Wiccan or Neo-pagan practice, the term Book of Shadows is more often used to describe a personal journal

Diary

A diary is a record with discrete entries arranged by date reporting on what has happened over the course of a day or other period. A personal diary may include a person's experiences, and/or thoughts or feelings, including comment on current events outside the writer's direct experience. Someone...

, rather than a traditional text. This journal records ritual

Ritual

A ritual is a set of actions, performed mainly for their symbolic value. It may be prescribed by a religion or by the traditions of a community. The term usually excludes actions which are arbitrarily chosen by the performers....

s, spells, and their results, as well as other magical

Magic (paranormal)

information. This can be either an individual or coven text, and is not normally passed from teacher to student. In many cases, this kind of Book of Shadows is an electronic document (disk or website

Website

A website, also written as Web site, web site, or simply site, is a collection of related web pages containing images, videos or other digital assets. A website is hosted on at least one web server, accessible via a network such as the Internet or a private local area network through an Internet...

) instead of a hand-written one. Some reserve the Book of Shadows for recording spells and keep a separate book, sometimes called the Book of Mirrors to contain thoughts, feelings and experiences.

In popular culture

The television fantasy series Charmed
Charmed
Charmed is an American television series that originally aired from October 7, 1998, until May 21, 2006, on the now defunct The WB Television Network. The series was created in 1998 by writer Constance M...

features a fictional Book of Shadows

Book of Shadows (Charmed)

The Book of Shadows, or simply "the Book", is a fictional book of witchcraft from the TV series Charmed. In the beginning, the book was created by Melinda Warren and was passed down the family to the Charmed Ones. This book contains spells, incantations, potions and information of the evil beings...

which contains spells and arcane law, and has a supernatural ability to defend itself from harm. In the 1996 film The Craft
The Craft (film)
The Craft is a 1996 American supernatural teen horror film directed by Andrew Fleming and starring Robin Tunney, Rachel True, Fairuza Balk and Neve Campbell. The film's plot centers on a group of four teenage girls who pursue witchcraft and use it for their own gain...

, which some critics saw as a major influence on the series Charmed, the Book of Shadows was referred to as an object in which a witch keeps her "power thoughts".

The 2000 sequel to The Blair Witch Project
The Blair Witch Project
The Blair Witch Project is a 1999 American horror film pieced together from amateur footage. The film was produced by the Haxan Films production company. The film relates the story of three student filmmakers The Blair Witch Project is a 1999 American horror film pieced together from amateur...

was titled Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2
Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2
Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2 is the 2000 American horror film and the sequel to the film The Blair Witch Project, directed by Joe Berlinger...

and featured a Wiccan character, despite there being no mention of a Book of Shadows during the film. The title was seen as an attempt to capitalise on the Charmed series' established market.

In the 2011 CW Series The Secret Circle
The Secret Circle
The Secret Circle is a fictional novel series created by L. J. Smith. The series revolves around thirteen teenage witches that form an infamous coven known as 'The Secret Circle'....

, each family is shown to have their own Book of Shadows, with each book containing unique spells. As the book is passed down from generation to generation, each generation appears to write their own spells or notes, as indicated by Cassie's recognition of her mother's handwriting in her own families Book of Shadows.

An episode of the television series First Wave

First Wave

First Wave is a Canadian/American science fiction television series, filmed in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, that aired from 1998 to 2001 on the Sci-Fi Channel. The show was created by Chris Brancato, who co-wrote an early version of the script for the seminal X-Files episode "Eve". Francis...

featured a wiccan with a Book of Shadows that contained the secret to identifying the alien infiltrators which were the central antagonistic force of the show.

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.