Whenever you learn something, you take notes. When you start studying your own mind and soul, it’s a good idea to keep a diary. It has different name in different traditions – The Book of Shadows, Soul’s Workbook, Spiritual Diary. You can even give it its own specific name, if you’d like. It can be a paper notebook or a digital file. You can write down your own thoughts, experiences, and reflections, exercises you practice and your results. You can use a binder and include print outs of important information, record inspiring quotes, include photos and images. You can make it anything you like, as long as it works for you.
Most importantly, your spiritual practice is probably the most sacred, intimate and personal process of all. And this is how you should treat your diary. Keep it safe and secure, locked away where no one could access it, except you. Here are some recommendations for starting your own Book of Shadows:
- Dedicate a separate notebook to your spiritual journey. Don’t write trivial things in it – like what you ate for breakfast or how you’re angry at your partner for giving you a wrong present – unless, there is a spiritual lesson you want to draw from these events.
- Make this notebook stand out in the way it looks and feels. It is special. It is significant. It is associated with your deepest thoughts and feelings. Just looking at it will soon be evoking a certain state of mind in you.
- Write your own dedication for this diary. You can dedicate it to your inner growth, to discovering the Truth, to connecting with your True Self, to emanating unconditional Love – whatever is meaningful and significant to you. Write that dedication at the start of the diary, and read it every time you open it.
- Make a separate section for your dreams. If lucid dreaming and astral travel is the core of your spiritual practice, you may even want to have a separate diary dedicated just to that and keep it on your nightstand. Otherwise, you can either create a section in your Book of Shadows or simply mark you dreams with a special sign, e.g. put a star on top of pages where you record your dreams, so that you can easily find them later.
- A picture is worth a thousand words. Draw things or staple in photos and images to help you on your journey. They could be diagrams that explain difficult concepts, inspirational images, pictures for visualizations, or even your own drawings of your dreams.
You can get really creative with your Book of Shadows, but don’t lose sight of its main goal – to help you progress on your spiritual journey.