The Book of Shadows is a collection of magical and religious texts of Wicca and other Neopagan witchcraft traditions, containing the core rituals, magical practices, ethics and philosophy of a Wiccan or other tradition. In Wicca, it is normally copied by hand from the book of one's initiating High Priestess or Priest, who copied theirs from their initiator. In modern Eclectic Wiccan terminology, however, a Book of Shadows is a personal magical journal rather than a traditional text.

Within traditional lineaged forms of Wicca there are a number of versions of the Book of Shadows, their contents varying to a greater or lesser degree from the early versions belonging to Gerald Gardner, who first popularised Wicca. While Gardner seems to have originally treated the book as a personal journal, it has come to be considered a religious text in most traditions. (Quote from wikipedia.org)