Book of Shadows vs Grimoire | What’s the Difference?

If you’re interested in witchcraft or magic you’ve probably come across the terms Book of Shadows and Grimoire. But what makes these magical books distinct, how are they different, and should you create one for your own practice?

BOOK OF SHADOWS

We’re going to start with the Book of Shadows, which is a much more recent term. You’ve probably seen examples of Books of Shadows in pop-culture, such as in Charmed or Practical Magic. In a nutshell, a Book of Shadows is like a journal where you keep information about your own spiritual practice. This could include spells, rituals, herb correspondences, or really anything that is focused around magic.

So where did this term “book of shadows” come from? The first thing to understand about a “book of shadows” is that it is a neo-pagan term that started being used when the religion of wicca was created by its founder Gerald Gardner. So it is not a term that was historically used by witches or magicians before the 1940s.

Back when Wicca was predominantly organized through covens, each coven would have a communal book of shadows that contain the coven’s specific spells and rituals. Over time wicca has evolved and changed considerably and now there are many more solitary wiccans than those that belong to a coven. Now individual witches are encouraged to create their own version of a Book of Shadows, and there aren't really any formal instructions of what should and should not be included. It’s entirely based on what you personally would like to include, though there is plenty of advice online if you need inspiration on what to add.

So, should you create your own Book of Shadows? Creating a magical book and calling it your “book of shadows” is a great idea if you are wiccan. After all, the term “book of shadows” was created by the founder of wicca. But what if you’re not wiccan, perhaps you're a traditional witch, or maybe you're just a pagan that wants to write about their spiritual practice. If this applies to you, then I think it’s totally fine to record your own magical text, but I probably wouldn't call that text a “book of shadows.”

GRIMOIRE

What is a Grimoire and how is it different from a “book of shadows”. Well, they actually have a lot in common as both a Grimoire and a Book of Shadows can contain things like rituals and spells. However, we’ve already established that a Book of Shadows is a wiccan term. So a Grimoire, by contrast is a magical book that is not associated with wicca and wiccan beliefs.

While the term book of shadows was created in the 1940s, the word Grimoire goes back way further. The term Grimoire originates from the French word ‘Grammaire’ which simply means a book that’s written in Latin. By the 18th century this word Grimoire started to be used to refer to historical books of magic.

And what are historical books of magic? Well there are a ton of them and they go way back in history. The earliest known written magical text comes from ancient Mesopotamia, where incantations were inscribed on cuneiform clay tablets. Of course the practice of writing about magic continued to Ancient Egypt and later to Greece and Rome. Though these ancient magical writings were not written in a codex or what we would call a book. So, can they be considered a Grimoire, maybe - maybe not.

Most texts that we would nowadays call Grimoires, were written starting in the Medieval period and were often created by figures called Ceremonial magicians. Ceremonial magicians, like the famous John Dee, were not enemies of the Christian church like you might think. Many were wealthy individuals who experimented with the intersections between science, faith, and magic. They recorded their rituals, experiments, and findings in books that would now be considered Grimoires.

So when we think about the main difference between a Book of Shadows and a Grimoire, in my personal opinion a Grimoire represents something that is historical in nature. Most of the time when we are interacting with a Grimoire, we are studying historical magical texts and the spells, rituals, and techniques that they contain. So, that begs the question - can you write your own modern Grimoire? Well I think you can but if you choose to do so I would structure it so that it includes at least some historic and ancient magical spells, techniques, and practices. Of course, this is my own opinion and you are free to do whatever you’d like.

If you are interested in learning more about historic grimoires, and historic magical practices. I would highly recommend these two books - Grimoires by Own Davies and The Book of Magic: From Antiquity to the Enlightenment by Brian Copenhaver.

I hope you enjoyed this introduction to the Grimoire and Book of Shadows. Please share your comments down below.