Book of Shadows
One famous Book of Shadows was created by the pioneering Wiccan Gerald Gardner sometime in the late s or early s, and which he utilised first in his Bricket Wood coven and then in other covens which he founded in following decades. The Book of Shadows is also used by other Wiccan traditions, such as Alexandrianism and Mohsianism, and with the rise of books teaching people how to begin following Wicca in the s onward, the idea of the Book of Shadows was then further propagated amongst solitary practitioners unconnected to earlier traditions. Initially, when Wicca was still dominated by covens , "only one copy [of the Book] existed for an entire coven, kept by the high priestess or high priest. That rule has proved unfeasible, and it is [now] commonplace for all Witches to have their own copies. They have tried to keep the contents of this Book a secret, although it has been published on a number of occasions by figures such as Charles Cardell , Lady Sheba, and Janet and Stewart Farrar.
