DISCUSSION: Digital Book of Shadows

[missdarlingjess]

I created my B.O.S on Tumblr! Its a blog site where you can personalize it any way you want! Very helpful and you can get the "pretty" aspect as well as the digital aspect! You can create pages or links in the description to organize your notes and may get some followers on the way.

[loona wynd]

I created my B.O.S on Tumblr! Its a blog site where you can personalize it any way you want! Very helpful and you can get the "pretty" aspect as well as the digital aspect! You can create pages or links in the description to organize your notes and may get some followers on the way.

I've seen a few of those. The good thing is that you can get information from all over on there and put into your book. The downside is that anyone can look at the material on there.

[Isis3Anubis]

I have both a hard copy and a digital. I find typing up spells or info is easier and good for printing out pages to put on index cards. To print a spell on an index card you have to print the page and cut and paste it onto the card but it saves invaluable space on the altar table instead of books and trying to find the pages in candlelight. Plus with MS Word you can create tables of lists for magickal correspondences of days of the week, crystal properties, and god/dess associations. Right now Iam working on runes and have three pages of typed info I never would have been able to hand write in my BOS journal book. I just don't understand sharing private magickal info online for everyone to see. I feel that if I post my altar online negative energies from cyberspace may somehow affect it!

[missdarlingjess]

I like your idea with the index cards Isis3Anubis! Very efficient!

[AnaisStar]

I dont find it disrespectful. I often add my spells to my blog as well as my bound copy.

Sometimes its easier to pull stuff up online anyways, and I love to be able to share with others.

[loona wynd]

One of the reasons I like having an online book of shadows here is that I can put my experiences and my rituals and the like out there for any and all seekers to find. I honestly believe that putting more information out there provides seekers with a wide enough variety of rituals and resources that they can really develop their own practice. I can also get feed back on spells and rituals I have written as well as get insight from other people.

[Piscespoet]

I made my digital book of shadows on google drive by creating the folder book of shadows, then I categorized it like, correspondencs, prayers, rituals, spells, sabbats,ect, then I sub categorized them . For example I have a deity folder in my book of shadows folder, then when I open it I see gods and then another file marked goddesses, then I open it and make a file for kind of deity they are such as Hecate would go in the Greek goddess folder. And it is easier to access on the go since I sett my docs offline so I don't need internet to read them.

[Rathac]

The basis for my opinions on this subject is that I am of the belief that objects can hold, or act as a conduit for, power (both actual and psychological), and that magick is not driven purely by psychological means. Therefore, I prefer a physical, hand-written Book of Shadows. Custom inks and writing pens can be created which contain their own magickal influence of which the digital world is bereft.

In a physical book, careful focus must be exercised when writing. The flow of your lines will reveal aspects of your thoughts absent in mechanical, uniform printouts.

Every time a digital file is opened it is a recreation and, in my opinion, less potent than a physical book which becomes the equivalent of a magickal talisman.

A digital collection of text is more prone to prying eyes and theft. If you access your digital BoS wirelessly, your information can easily be intercepted. If you highly prize secrecy, a physical book is, in my opinion, the way to go. However, it is deserving of consideration that a physical book can be found and read more easily than a digital copy by those close to you (such as people you live with). So if you have disapproving parents, digital may be necessary. If it is a matter of roommates, your book can be secured within a safe or locked trunk. Splurge on a lock with serrated or mushroom pins to make picking difficult. Even experienced lockpickers have difficulty with such locks.

[manshin]

I really like Evernote. For being free, you can do quite a bit with it. A digital bos (or whatever) is much easier to keep. I've tried to keep physical notes many many times in the past and it never works out. Just doesn't sync with me.

[Annellin]

I want to start my own too, digital. I am completely blind, so writing it in braille isn't a easy way, I don't even have at home the necessary equipment. So I will use the laptop for it.

[moonraingirl]

I agree with rathac, that physical books have something more to them. That's something about them that feels special.
I started writing what I'm thankful for each day. I have an app for that so that I can quickly write everything that happens during the day. But when I get home, I copy digital notes into a nice notebook with a special pen. It feels more real that way.