Book War: BoS vs Grimoire

There are a lot of people out there who like to interchange terms. Most recognizably, people interchanging Wicca and Witchcraft, and Pentacle and Pentagram, but those are not the only terms that are interchanged by (at least) novice occultists, particlarly Witches and Wiccans (those who generally use the item I am about to discuss). Grimoires and Books of Shadows are interchanged almost as much as Wicca and Witchcraft.

Let us discuss the differences and contents of each.

We all know what goes into a Book of Shadows. I think throughout this blog I've discussed it enough, that my readers should pretty much know...basic things like spells and rituals, but also useful information like history, journals, corresponding information, etc. It's in a sense an all-purpose book, to store all your information that you think is important for your path (and rightly so. It's not like we can all afford a big filing cabinet to store our information, nor are all of us able to accommodate such a structure, especially if some of us are "hiding" our practices from outsiders. A book of shadows is much more portable AND hidable, especially from prying eyes).

The Grimoire is more of a specified, practical book. It's geared to basically one purpose: practice. In a Grimoire you don't store journals, history, poems and jokes, feelings and fears...you store your personalized spells and rituals, ceremonies and preparations for each practice. Think of it as a spell book, but including more practices than just spells.

Just as there is a distinct difference between Wicca and Witchcraft, there is also a distinct difference between a Grimoire and a Book of Shadows. While both are used in either practice of Wicca or Witchcraft (or even practices outside those two systems should the need drive an individual), they are not one in the same book. One is geared to something specific, one isn't.