Editing Wicca (section)

===Book of Shadows===
{{Main|Book of Shadows}}
[[File: Wiccan 'Book of Shadows'.jpg|thumb|A '[[Book of Shadows]]', sitting on a Wiccan altar, alongside plants and crystals]]
In Wicca, there is no set sacred text such as the Christian [[Bible]], Jewish [[Tanakh]], or Islamic [[Quran]], although there are certain scriptures and texts that various traditions hold to be important and influence their beliefs and practices. Gerald Gardner used a book containing many different texts in his covens, known as the [[Book of Shadows]] (among other names), which he would frequently add to and adapt. In his Book of Shadows, there are texts taken from various sources, including [[Charles Godfrey Leland]]'s ''[[Aradia, or the Gospel of the Witches]]'' (1899) and the works of 19th–20th century [[occultism|occultist]] [[Aleister Crowley]], whom Gardner knew personally. Also in the Book are examples of poetry largely composed by Gardner and his High Priestess [[Doreen Valiente]], the most notable of which is the ''[[Charge of the Goddess]]''.

{{Quote box|width=246px|align=left|quote=The Book of Shadows is not a Bible or Quran. It is a personal cookbook of spells that have worked for the owner. I am giving you mine to copy to get you started: as you gain experience discard those spells that don't work for you and substitute those that you have thought of yourselves.|source=[[Gerald Gardner]] to his followers{{sfn|Lamond|2004|p=14}}}}

Similar in use to the [[grimoire]]s of [[Magician (paranormal)|ceremonial magicians]],{{sfn|Crowley|1989|pp=14-15}} the Book contained instructions for how to perform rituals and spells, as well as religious poetry and chants like ''[[Eko Eko Azarak]]'' to use in those rituals. Gardner's original intention was that every copy of the book would be different because a student would copy from their initiators, but changing things which they felt to be personally ineffective, however amongst many Gardnerian Witches today, particularly in the [[United States]], all copies of the Book are kept identical to the version that the High Priestess [[Monique Wilson (witch)|Monique Wilson]] copied from Gardner, with nothing being altered. The Book of Shadows was originally meant to be kept a secret from non-initiates into BTW, but parts of the Book have been published by authors including [[Charles Cardell]], Lady Sheba, [[Janet Farrar]] and [[Stewart Farrar]].{{sfn|Farrar|Farrar|1981}}<ref>{{cite book |title=Witchcraft and the Book of Shadows |publisher=I-H-O Books |location=Thame |first=Gerald |last=Gardner |author-link=Gerald Gardner |editor=Naylor, A. R. |year=2004a |isbn=1-872189-52-0}}</ref>