thumb|right|300px|One of [[Gerald Gardner's earliest Books of Shadows]]
A Book of Shadows is a book containing religious text and instructions for magical rituals found within the Neopagan religion of Wicca. Since its conception, it has made its way into many pagan practices and paths. The most famous Book of Shadows was created by the pioneering Wiccan Gerald Gardner sometime in the late 1940s or early 1950s, and which he utilised first in his Bricket Wood coven and then in other covens which he founded in following decades. The Book of Shadows is also used by other Wiccan traditions, such as Alexandrian Wicca and Mohsianism, and with the rise of books teaching people how to begin following non-initiatory Wicca in the 1970s onward, the idea of the Book of Shadows was then further propagated amongst solitary practitioners unconnected to earlier, initiatory traditions.
Initially, when Wicca was still dominated by covens, "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, copies of the original Book composed by Gerald Gardner with the aid of his High Priestess Doreen Valiente, along with alterations and additions that have been made since then, is followed by adherents. Though originally a secret text only given to initiates of Wicca, many initiate and non-initiates alike have gone on to print various Books of Shadows. These figures include Charles Cardell, Lady Sheba, and Janet and Stewart Farrar to name a few. In other Wiccan traditions and amongst a number of solitary practitioners, alternate versions of the Book of Shadows have been written, which 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." It can be an experimental practice, everyday ritual works, or a record of magic. This is also a book of inspiration and can be used in future rituals. The concept of the Book of Shadows has subsequently appeared in popular culture, for instance being used in the American television series Charmed, which popularised the Book of Shadows.
History
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 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 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 that the Book of Shadows 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 fictitious 1949 novel about mediaeval witchcraft, High Magic's Aid. High Priestess 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.
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 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. She maintained that "It was a good name, and it is a good name still, wherever Gardner found it". 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 Ordo Templi Orientis which had been devised by the occultist Aleister Crowley. 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, 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, never made use of such a book.
Valiente's rewriting
In 1953, Doreen Valiente joined Gardner's 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, from Aradia, or the Gospel of the Witches, from the Key of Solomon and also from the rituals of Freemasonry. She confronted Gardner with this, who admitted that the text he had received from the New Forest coven 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: