Book of Shadows Binding

Merry Meet All,

I'm assuming that some of you own a Book of Shadows. In our age of technology, some witches even keep a Disc of Shadows. For anyone who has ever longed for a deeper, more personal hand bound Book of Shadows, read on...

Yes, I own a Binder of Shadows, if you will. I stumbled across a book one day that outlined how to bind your own Book of Shadows. There is nothing wrong with what everyone already owns. There is just more than one way to do this.

It is helpful and a time saver to assemble all the materials prior to undertaking this project. However, depending on how personal you want the project to be, it can take a long time.

This is what I did. I bought nice durable green twill material for the book covers from a fabric store. I purchased parchment paper from Staples and thought out ahead of time what I planned to include in the book then printed that all out on the parchment paper. I bought PVA glue, good for book binding, from an arts store. This was all affordable! Then, with the printouts-with magical fonts, that are easy and free to download, I stacked up all the pages in a neat pile.

I cut the green twill to size. The fabric should be larger than the book. It covers the book and there has to be some remaining. The davy board-hard board for the book covers- is available at an arts store. I went to the Nova Scotia Community College art store. I had the davy board cut to size at the Deserres art store. So, line up the fabric and the davy board. Decide now how big you want your spine to be. Lay down the davy board and leave a space in the center. Glue the davy board to the fabric and bring the fabric over the davy board. Let dry. Smooth out the wrinkles. Ensure everything is neat and even. Add the pages and add lots and lots of glue on the spine of the stacked pages to your book. Let dry. Adding plenty of glue now saves the exasperation later when you hear that ominous crack of the spine when opening your book. Pages can fall out. Add more glue. Be patient.

Now, with your book made, you can make it pretty-and witchy. I added dried herbs and flowers to my pages. Flat heads of flowers are best. Herbs such as sage can be added for protection, lavender, shasta daisies and petunias are lovely. I dried and pressed flowers in a thick volume first then added them. I also added borders, pictures, photos, spells and whatever else my heart desired. The Book of Shadows feels so personally mine. I glued bleeding heart leaves because in the fall, they turn a beautiful color. It is amazing what you can come up with when you let your imagination go.

I also am studying on my family ancestry. The Celtic Triquetra reflects my ancestry. Personalizing a hand bound Book of Shadows is endless fun.

I embroidered a triquetra patch and glued that to the cover. I added ribbons, bookmarks and tassles to the spine. I sewed a beautiful deep green velvet pouch for my book of shadows. I embroidered a triquetra patch in a matching color to the pouch. I added a frog for closure and added a gold unicorn pendant to the pouch.

To make your spells have that antique look, print out on a computer,again using a fancy font or art, and set your oven to a low temperature. Pour warm coffee on the pages on a cookie tray and swirl it around. Bake in the oven for 6-7 minutes. Remove from oven. Now you have that cool antique aged look to the spell page.

What could be more witchy? Have fun!

Here are some more suggestions. Celtic art, if you have a Celtic background, as I do, is easy to get. It can be downloaded or studied from anywhere. If you are a Strega witch or into Asatru, then add that in some way to your book of shadows. Smudge it with sage and consecrate your book.

A Book of Shadows reflects what is important to you and in your heart. A card, letters, photos important to you can be stored in an envelope or pouch and that all added to your Book. You may even begin a new tradition!

Once a book is bound, it is hard to add new pages. I got around this by gluing new pages to the pages already in the book very neatly. It is a permanent journal and cumulation of your spells and magic thoughts so once bound, forever captured. You can make it something you may hand down to your children someday.

Also, storing your Book of Shadows in a special protective pouch with a protective symbol can add power to the Book. I can tell it's working. What witch could resist that? I also had the fortune to let my Book of Shadows rest while we did a full moon spell on her altar. The Book resting on her altar gave my Book even more power.

The sky is the limit! I have been considering binding a second Book of Shadows by hand. Perhaps I will go with something more along the lines of a Book of only spells and enclose it in a lovely amethyst color. Anything is possible!