If you are a reasonably experienced witch, you will find this a treasure trove of wise and beautiful words to plunder and add to your own Book of Shadows. What you get is a collection of rituals for Sabbats (seasonal festivals) and Esbats (full moon rites) snippets of information legends prayers, chants and invocations recipes for seasonal feasts, herbal remedies, incense and ritual oils spells and magical lore rune magic and a glossary of magical signs and symbols. Second, although Scott was preparing the Book of Shadows for publication at the time of his death, he never finished the work. First, it is not an introduction to witchcraft - rather it is a companion book to Scott's earlier work Wicca: A Guide for the Solitary Practitioner. There are two things about Cunningham's Book of Shadows it is important to realise. And I was delighted with what I found inside. It has only recently been rediscovered and has just been published in book form by Llewellyn. Scott died in 1993, but his Book of Shadows had only just been found because it was stuffed into an old brown envelope and lost among a pile of other paperwork. It seems that American Wiccan author Scott Cunningham fell into the latter category. Some people keep their Book of Shadows neatly handwritten in a single book, other - like me - end up with a loose collection of papers in a file, box or bulging envelope. Although the basic text and rituals may be the same for all those following the same witchcraft tradition - and if you are a Wiccan they will contain some of the words penned by Gerald Gardner and Doreen Valiente - every witch will make their own changes and additions.

I can't resist the urge to peek into another witch's Book of Shadows when I get the chance.Ī Book of Shadows is a witch's personal grimoire - a collection of spells and rituals, recipes and personal notes accumulated over their magical life.

Cunningham witchcraft