Keeping a written record of what you practise is one of the highest-value habits you can build early on, and it needs nothing more than a notebook.
What to actually record
- Rituals or spells you perform, with enough detail to repeat them later.
- What you noticed afterward: results, feelings, anything that happened, including "nothing in particular."
- Correspondences you personally find work, even if they differ from what a book or blog (including this one) says.
- Moon phase, sign, and any timing details, if you're working with those.
- Dreams, especially after dreamwork herbs like mugwort.
- Herb notes: what you used, where it came from, how it smelled or felt.
Physical or digital
Either works. A physical notebook feels more ritual to a lot of people and doesn't rely on a device, but a notes app with a passcode is just as valid, especially if privacy at home is a real concern. Some people keep both: quick digital notes in the moment, transferred to a physical book later.
Keeping it private
If you need to keep your practice discreet, a plain notebook that doesn't announce itself, a locked drawer, or a password-protected notes app all work fine. There's no requirement that a practice journal look a particular way, and a plain composition notebook does the job exactly as well as an elaborate leather-bound one.
Starting simple
You don't need a fancy setup to begin. A cheap notebook and the first entry you actually write in it is a complete grimoire. Anything beyond that is decoration, not function.
A quick history, if you're curious
"Grimoire" traces back to the Old French word gramaire, meaning grammar: the same root that gave English both "grammar" and, by a stranger path, "glamour" (originally a Scots word for a magical spell, from the association between Latin literacy and mysterious, arcane knowledge in the medieval period). Historically, a grimoire was a formal instructional text (something like the Key of Solomon) closer to a textbook or reference work, sometimes even copied and passed between practitioners, than a personal diary.
"Book of Shadows," by contrast, is a much newer term, popularised by Gerald Gardner in the founding of Wicca in the early 1950s. Gardner described it as an ancient practice passed down through a secret witch-cult, but his own high priestess, Doreen Valiente, said he hadn't used the term at all until around 1949, and an early draft of his own book (later found among his papers, titled Ye Bok of Ye Art Magical) borrowed heavily from Aleister Crowley's ceremonial magic writings rather than any ancient source.
The practical distinction that survives today: a grimoire leans towards a formal, instructional reference, while a Book of Shadows leans towards a personal, individual record of your own practice. Neither label is exclusive, and plenty of people use the two words interchangeably: call yours whatever feels right.
