50 Prompts For Your Book of Shadows

Whether you call it your personal spell book, grimoire, or Book of Shadows, your witchy journal is unique to you and your practice.

Taking the time to record your rituals, recipes, and knowledge along the way helps you to reflect on lessons learned, build on what you know, and even pass on your tradition to someone else.

Digital spell books are all the rage right now.

But a paper spell book offers some unique benefits, including screen-free creative time, the freedom to easily customize fonts and drawings, and more secure privacy.

Listed below are some creative prompts below to either get you started on your Book of Shadows, or to get you past a block in your already established one.

Spells and Magic

-Write your own spell for the coming full moon.

-List the moon phases and come up with your own correspondences and associations.

-Pick 5 components for a love spell (roses, strawberries, pink ribbons).  Then come up with creative ways to use them in a spell.

-Design a kitchen witch recipe spell using only ingredients you already have.

-Go through your collection of gemstones.  Take a moment to hold each one, then record your thoughts and impressions.

-Dream up your ideal sacred space.  What would it look like?  Indoors/outdoors?  What statuary, wall colors and fabric would you use?

-Design a protection spell for your animal familiar.

-Think of an emotional imbalance in your life and come up with a healing spell to help.

For the Herbalist

-If you had to survive for an entire year in the wilderness, what 10 herbs would your bring with you?

-Draw a diagram of your dream garden.  Pretend that money and time are no object.

-Learn 5 herbs you can find in your region.  Draw them, then write down where you are likely to find them (in the shade, on the north side of the hill, ect) and what they can be used for.

-List the Sabbats and name one herb that’s in season for each one.

-Pick your favorite herbal home remedy and customize it for your needs and region.

-Learn a new recipe for a homemade herbal bath product and write it down in your Book of Shadows with notations and tips you discovered during the process of making it.

-Make a collage of flowers and herbs you want to try growing from clippings out of an old gardening magazine.

Divination

-Design a tarot spread to solve a unique problem in your life at this time.

-Choose a card from the Major Arcana.  Draw your own version of it in your Book of Shadows.

-Draw out the symbols in a standard set of runes.  Did you know their original meanings are unknown?  Assign your own meanings to each one.

-Design your own dowsing mat.  Then, actually use it!

Witchy Leisure

-Make a list of witchcraft related books you plan to read.

-Write a fable about magic gone wrong.  What is the moral of the story?

-Brainstorm some pagan-related travel ideas.

-Diagram the human body, labeling it with commonly used pressure points.  Then, design a ritual around sacred massage.

-Take a nature walk.  Identify 5 items in nature and describe how you might use them in your next ritual.

-Wake up early one morning and record the last dream you remember.  What hidden messages do you see?

Expanding Your Knowledge

-Interview a member of your coven about a subject he or she has expertise in.  Write about your experience and what you learned.

-Identify a place in your area of local folkloric experience.  Visit this place and record the myths associated with it in your own words.

-Research a goddess or god from a pantheon with which you are not familiar.  Record your notes for later reference.

-Try palm-reading.  Trace out your hand, then fill it in with your unique line patterns and research their meanings.

-Interview the eldest member of your family.  Ask them about your oldest family traditions and brainstorm ways you might incorporate them into your current practice.

Wheel of the Year

Get organized and map out ideas in your Book of Shadows to celebrate the Wheel of the Year.

-Diagram the Wheel of the Year.   Include charming illustrations or assign a color to each Sabbat.

-On the next Sabbat, make a note of the flowers, herbs, and other natural items in season during that time in your region so you know what to expect next year.  Use this knowledge as a reference for planning future Sabbat ritual ideas.

-Make a bucket list for the next upcoming Sabbat.  For example, Ostara might include decorating eggs, planting spring flower bulbs, or giving away gift baskets to friends.

-Plan a party for the next Sabbat.  Decide on a theme, table settings, music, and a guest list.

-Think of some creative ways to include your children in your Sabbat celebrations.

-Diagram your next seasonal altar.  Include flower ideas, symbols, gemstones, and directional correspondences.

Witchy Crafts

-Design and draw out your ultimate ritual robe.  Pretend money and time are no object.

-Experiment with different herbal blends and come up with a recipe for ritual incense.  Record it in detail, including weights and measurements.

-Pick a crafting skill you know well (knitting, sewing, pottery, ect).  Then think of some ways you might apply your talent to witchcraft.

-Design an altar tile for your sacred space.  Draw it out in detail, including symbols, colors and materials you want to use.

Kitchen Witch

-Pick a seasonal recipe to cook for every holiday on the Wheel of the Year.

-Choose a cookie recipe, then break the ingredients down into their magical meanings.  What kind of spell would this recipe work best for?  Healing, love, workplace harmony?

-Design a recipe spell around an edible herb you know well.

-List your favorite kitchen tools and think of ways to use them magically.  Does your wooden spoon remind you of a wand?  Can you use your cast iron pot as a cauldron?  What other ways might you use your kitchen tools creatively in spell work?

-Go into your kitchen and choose a seasonal fruit or vegetable.  Hold it in your hand, smell it, taste it.  What kind of impression do you get?  Is it earthy or aromatic?  Spicy or mild?  How might these qualities effect its role in your kitchen witch spells?

-Design a kitchen altar.

-Pick a spell intention (psychic awareness, luck, money, ect.) and then list every ingredient you can think of that might support that intention.

-Or, do the opposite.  Pick an ingredient and list every potential magical use for it you can think of.

Ghosts and the Paranormal

-Write about a place you remember from childhood or adolescence that had a reputation for being haunted.  Did you ever visit this place?  Why or why not?

-Record any experiences or encounters you’ve had in your life that made you wonder about the afterlife or spirits.  Don’t judge yourself.  You might be surprised when you stop to think about it.

-Write a letter to a deceased ancestor.  Record any thoughts or dreams you have about them over the next few days.