It has become popular among modern practitioners of Witchcraft to make some “Books of Shadows”, as they call them. Few people wonder where this name “Book of Shadows” came from.

And this name appeared thanks to the light hand of Gerald Gardner. In 1949, he read this name in an article of the same name by the chiromant Mir Bashit (in the magazine “The Occult Observer”, Volume I, Number 3), in which he spoke about a certain Indian book that explained a method of prognostication based on judgments about the length of a person’s shadow. Gerald Gardner liked this name, he put a new meaning into it. Gerald Gardner in his youth was a member of some Witchcraft groups, but he was driven out from there, getting to know him better. Gerald Gardner liked to impose his vision of Witchcraft, it was very strange and had nothing to do with real Witchcraft. His own “Book of Shadows” is useless both in practical terms and as a source of knowledge.

Perviously, practitioners did leave behind books they had written themselves. These books did not have a common name, everyone named their book as they wanted, some books had no name at all. But this class of books eventually acquired the name “Grimoire”.

Indeed, a properly prepared book can increase the effectiveness of the Operations of Witchcraft, The preparations of the Grimoire differ in different Witchcraft Lines, but in all of them the book is endowed with Power and becomes one of the main Tools of Witchcraft.

The word “Grimoire” itself has a mixed etymology. Firstly, it is similar to the word “Grammar”, which means “Manual”. In this sense, Grimoire is a Manual of Magic Art. Secondly, and few people know this, word “Grimoire” is divided in two ways into two words: “Grim Or” and “Grim Oire”. “Grim Or (Aur)” means “Dark Light” (Light is meant in the Occult sense, it is the Magical Light of the Subtle Planes). “Grim Oire” means “Dark Omen”. There is also a third root of the word, but it is secret and is not intended for wide publication.

Since the Grimoire is a Tool of Witchcraft, all the corresponding rules apply to it, such as protecting the Grimoire from direct rays of the Sun, protecting it from falling into the wrong hands, and so on.

The Grimoire is prepared with the favor of Astaroth, which should be requested during preparation. Of the directions, the Grimoire corresponds to the South.

There are separate requirements for the Grimoire, common to different Withcraft groups. The first of the requirements: the Grimoire must contain a large number of pages. This requirement does not need additional explanations. The second requirement: the Grimoire must not have any corrections. Thus, adding new entries to the Grimoire itself becomes a Ritual Process, in which the Operator’s complete concentration on the action being performed is important.