I think this book would be a great resource for someone who wants to make their own Book of Shadows and learn to decorate it. Mankey provides a lot of information on the various kinds of books one can make and how to make them while providing a history on them.
It just wasn’t for me I guess. I felt that some parts were repetitive and could’ve used some editing.

Thank you to Netgalley for the free copy. All opinions are my own.

Easy to read, and well laid out. A good guide for beginners to take away some of the anxiety over starting your own book of shadows.

Jason Mankey's 'The Witch's Book of Shadows' is a great introduction for any newbie witch who isn't quite sure where to start with her own grimoire. It feels like such an imposing thing, when really it should be something that is both practical and holy to you. That's a difficult balance to strike but Mankey really manages to guide a reader through the process by combining tradition and history with easy steps to follow.

The Witch’s Book of Shadows (Witch’s Tools series 5) by Jason Mankey

9780738750149

312 Pages
Publisher: Llewellyn Publications, Llewellyn Worldwide
Release Date: February 8, 2017

Nonfiction (Adult), Religion, Spirituality, Book, Journal, Writing, Magic, Grimoire

The book is divided into the following sections

1: Some Different Types of Books of Shadows
2: Putting Together a Book of Shadows and Making It Your Own
3: A Brief History of Magical Books, Words, and Symbols
4: What to Put in a Book of Shadows
5: The Book of Shadows – Out of the Shadows
6: Alphabets, Fonts, Inks, and Symbols
7: Goddesses and Gods of the Books
8: The Book of Shadows in Ritual
9: Cleansing, Consecrating, and Other Rituals
10: New Frontiers and the BoS

In the past, I read books that said you “must do this” or you “must do that.” This book is not like that at all. The author does a great job of telling the reader that the book of shadows is whatever you want it to be. It is a personal book to you. I learned the history behind Lady Sheba’s Book of Shadows and its connection to the Gardnerians. It was one of the first books I read when starting out.

Chapter 6 contains not only suggestions for inks and pens, but the history of alphabets including the Ogham, which I use. I absolutely love the idea of using berries for ink. I was pleasantly surprised to see Seshat’s name included in chapter 7. She is the Goddess of writing, libraries, and architecture but not many people know about her.

I am glad the author included a section on retiring a book of shadows. I never thought about what to do with mine and now I have some ideas.The author has an easy-to-read writing style. This is an excellent resource for a new practitioner or if you are looking for new ideas.

Easy to read, well written and perfect for those just starting to out. Had some great ideas and tips.

This book of shadows, The Witch's Book of Shadows by Jason Mankey gave me a look into a good beginners guide of a book of shadows. Had some great tips and ideas for people who are to the craft.

The Witch's Book of Shadows is the first book that I have read by Jason Mankey. I think the book was very well written and it's easy to read. He writes it in a way that a new witch or a non-witch could read the book and understand what he was talking about. The structure is very fluid and flows nicely. I like that the author included personal stories in the book as examples. He talks about the different ways of making a book of shadows - whether using a blank book, a binder, a computer file, or creating your own book.

When I first read it - I wished that he had listed out the things a book of shadows has to have in it. Now that I am further in my path, I understand that this is really at the discretion of the witch and his or her path. Everyone's book will be different - customized to them and their practice and needs.

Overall, a great book.

My review has been posted to my blog & Goodreads.

Review has also been tweeted as usual.

Thank you! :c)

I was kindly given this book for review in physical format too. I'm glad I got it because the size is perfect for the content. I've been looking for a BoS guide and this book was the perfect guide. Inside it gave the history of the withc's BoS but also addressed the many forms it can take. That alone was priceless. Well, it was about $18 of golden information.

The book starts out strong, introducing the BoS so a witch, or someone interested in witchcraft, has a solid idea of what the BoS is all about. It also goes over the tools for a witch, the BoS being one of them. This book has inspired me to start my own, using this book as a guide; much like "how to write" books.

I read this book in multiple sittings. Shortly after it was published I was able to start it, because there was an issue with the ebook, and it took me a couple months to get through it. I'm happy that I persisted because although this wasn't the right book to read through-and-through like a novel, it was well worth the read.

When I was a teen, a book of shadows was something babywitches gossiped about and tried to find on the internet. I love that now there's a book showing what a book of shadows can be and how useful it can be not only to an individual practitioner and coven but also an individual who's interested in a different kind of journaling. You don't have to be into magic to get a lot out of this book. But you might want to start exploring magic anyway...

Easy to read, well written and perfect for people just starting using their hidden powers...

The Witch's Book of Shadows The Craft, Lore & Magick of the Witch's Grimoire by Jason Mankeypublished by Llewellyn Worldwide, Ltd. last February 7th has a wonderful cover, and I am more than sure that reading also the synopsis of the book, it maintains the promises and expectations offered and promised to the readers: the story and the modern use of the Book of Shadows, the instrument used by witches for their enchantments in the past.

Just, pity, there is nothing in the copy sent us by NetGalley and Llewellyn Publishing House. Maybe too worried for some possible bad enchantment we could have created against someone like many modern Morgan witches? Mmm..We can't know.

Anyway the author of this book Jason Mankey is a pagan and I am sure that as also for all the rest of the other books I reviewed from Llewellyn Worldwide, Ltd. he did a very good job. Maybe just, a little example of what he wrote could have been added. At the end with all the badness that there is around the world maybe no one would have practiced any kind of black enchantment.

I thank NetGalley for the book.

Jason Mankey is an amazing researcher and writer – always easy to follow, informative and entertaining. His latest book, The Witch’s Book of Shadows: The Craft, Lore & Magick of the Witch’s Grimoire exceeded my expectations. I mean, what can you say about a Book of Shadows that would fill a whole book, right? Well, Jason did it. This is THE book on Books of Shadows.

In the book he thoroughly examines the different uses of Books of Shadows – from a personal spell book and magickal reference to the spiritual journal to the Book of Shadows of various witchcraft Traditions and Covens. He explores the pros and cons of different types of Books of Shadows including the handwritten, the cut and paste collage style, using three ring binders and more modern digital methods such as flash drives, cloud services and using print on demand services.

The book contains advice, tips and tricks on crafting your Book of Shadows and organizing the contents within them. Most of all, he helps you make your Book of Shadows your very own. He provides magickal ink formulas, different alphabets, symbols and shorthands traditionally used in Books of Shadows as well as his personal favorites. Jason also provides different rituals, blessings, cleansings and empowerments for your Books of Shadows to truly make it a magickal tool.

Throughout the book are beautiful illustrations and short pieces written by guest contributors called “Every Trick in the Book”. My personal favorite was by Laura Tempest Zakroff called “No Fear Grimoire Crafting”. I am a perfectionist when it comes to my Books of Shadows, grimoires and journals. Laura talks about how she thinks of the Book of Shadows like she does the cookbook that is passed down through her family. Part of the sacredness of her family cookbook is the history within the hand written notes and the various food stains of trial and error attempts. The idea really struck a chord for me, viewing the Book of Shadows as a messy recipe book of experimentation and less as an illuminated manuscript that must be perfect.

My absolute favorite part of the book was his exploration of the history of the Books of Shadows from the grimoire traditions to the very first publicly made Books of Shadows and the drama and evolution of Books of Shadows that came along with that. Much of the historical information I had never come across before and the pieces of information I did know were put together into a nice comprehensive timeline to help me understand the history of the Books of Shadows traditions much more thoroughly. I would recommend this book to any magickal practitioner who wants to give their grimoires and Book of Shadows more life, whether they be seekers, neophytes or adepts.

I've always been fascinated with Witchcraft and even dabbled in it when I was in my late teens. This book was an interesting and engaging look at the different types of Book of Shadows used and was filled with a lot of practical information for making your own Book of Shadows.

Told through the author's own personal experiences. As well as Including the history of witchcraft and examples of ceremonies for cleansing and protecting you own BOS, this book offers both the beginner and experienced Witch a little something worth learning.

This BoS gave a good beginner's idea of a book of shadows. I felt it had wonderful tips and ideas for the newcomer to the craft

Lots of great info here, and some that seemed like padding (the section on book history was not entirely necessary, but may be interesting to a lot of people). Overall, a good introduction to the practice of keeping a Book of Shadows.

I was thrilled to review this interesting read. Great resource and reference book for anyone interested in learning about what book of shadows are from a historical point of view and how they are relevant and used today.
I love this cover and series. I have previously read and reviewed The Witches Mirror by Mickie Muller and am now anxious to read all of these guides from Llewellyn.

I found this book to be quite informative. I think that the author managed to blend his personal uses with historical facts and tidbits seamlessly. I have always been interested in magical and witchy things. However, I am quite the novice when it comes down to how comfortable I would be giving out facts. I had often wondered about the Book of Shadows having seen them referenced in books, movies, and television. I’ve seen some in bookstores themselves, and always wondered about that. To me a book of shadows is a personal item. I was eager to read this book to gain a better understanding of the purpose and connection witches have to their book of shadows, and what goes into them. I found it especially interesting when he discussed having more than one book of shadows, and the evolution of each throughout his work with the Craft. For someone who is curious about the history, or is beginning their steps along the path to witchcraft, I’d suggest this book as a good place to begin.