Editing Book of Shadows (section)

===Origins===

Gerald Gardner, the "father of Wicca", first introduced the Book of Shadows to people that he had initiated into the craft through his [[Bricket Wood coven]] in the 1950s. He claimed that it was a personal cookbook of spells that have worked for the owner; they could copy from his own book and add material as they saw fit. He said that the practice of Witches keeping such a book was ancient, and was practised by the [[Witch-cult]] throughout history. According to tradition, Gardner claimed that the Book of Shadows was burned after a person died, so that it would not be discovered that they had been a witch.

Gerald Gardner did not mention any such thing as a "Book of Shadows" in his fictitious 1949 novel about mediaeval witchcraft, ''High Magic's Aid''. High Priestess [[Doreen Valiente]] claimed that this was because at the time, Gardner had not yet conceived of the idea, and only invented it after writing his novel.

Valiente made the claim that Gardner found the term "Book of Shadows" from a 1949 edition (Volume I, Number 3) of a magazine known as ''The Occult Observer''. In this edition, she claimed, was an advertisement for Gardner's novel, ''High Magic's Aid'', which was opposite an article titled "The Book of Shadows" written by the [[palmistry|palmist]] [[Mir Bashir (palmist)|Mir Bashir]]. The article in question was about an allegedly ancient [[Sanskrit]] divination manual which explained how to foretell things based upon the length of a person's shadow.<ref name="Valiente1">{{cite book | first=Doreen | last=Valiente | author-link=Doreen Valiente | title=The Rebirth of Witchcraft | publisher = Hale| year=1989}} Page 51</ref> Valiente theorised that Gardner then adopted this term for his Witches' [[grimoire]]. She maintained that "It was a good name, and it is a good name still, wherever Gardner found it".<ref name="Valiente1" />
[[File:Ye Booke Of Ye Art Magical.JPG|right|thumb|A typescript from a page of ''Ye Booke of Ye Art Magical'']]

A leather bound manuscript written in Gardner's handwriting that was titled ''[[Ye olde|Ye]] Bok of Ye Art Magical'' was later found amongst his papers from the Museum after his death by [[Aidan Kelly]]<ref>''Crafting the Art of Magic: Book I, Aidan Kelly, page xvii, Llewellyn Publications, 1991</ref> and was later obtained by Richard and Tamarra James of the [[Wiccan Church of Canada]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Gerald Gardner – Ye Book of Ye Art Magical |url=https://wiccabos.net/gerald-gardner-ye-book-of-ye-art-magical/ |website=Rare Wiccan Books of Shadows |access-date=15 August 2019}}</ref> It appeared to be a first draft of Gardner's Book of Shadows, and featured sections based upon the rituals of [[Ordo Templi Orientis]] which had been devised by the occultist [[Aleister Crowley]].<ref>''The Rebirth of Witchcraft'', Doreen Valiente, page 58</ref> Gardner had gained access to these rituals in 1946, when he had purchased a charter from Crowley giving him permission to perform the OTO rituals.

Some people have taken this as evidence that Gardner invented the idea of a Witches' [[Grimoire]], perhaps sometime between 1946 (when he finished his novel ''High Magic's Aid''), and 1949, and had named it ''Ye Bok of Ye Art Magical''. In 1949, he had renamed it to the ''Book of Shadows'', and soon began to make use of it with his Bricket Wood Coven.

Adding weight to the evidence indicating Gardner invented the Book was that other Neo-pagan witches of the time, such as [[Roy Bowers|Robert Cochrane]], never made use of such a book.<ref name="ValienteCochrane">{{cite book | first=Doreen | last=Valiente | author-link=Doreen Valiente | title=Witchcraft: A Tradition Renewed | publisher = Hale| year=1990}} Page 8</ref>