Pentacle Leather Blank Book with Cord, 5" x 7"

The pentacle is the witch's emblem of protection: a five-pointed star for earth, air, fire, and water crowned by spirit, drawn inside a circle that binds and guards. This 5 by 7 inch leather blank book carries the encircled pentacle embossed on the cover within a Celtic border, with a cross-stitched spine and an attached cord that wraps it closed. Inside are 200 blank, unlined pages of handmade paper.

It is made to become a Book of Shadows: the working book where a practitioner keeps spells, rituals, correspondences, dreams, and the turning of a practice over the years. The pentacle on the cover sets a ring of protection around everything you write within.

Key Features

• Encircled pentacle design. The classic protective star embossed within a Celtic border, with a cross-stitched spine. The art is the heart of the book, for practitioners who want the plainest, steadiest form of the emblem.
• Leather cover with cord closure. A leather cover wraps the pages, and an attached cord winds around to keep your writing private at home, in circle, or in a travel bag.
• 200 blank, unlined pages. Handmade paper with no ruling, leaving room for script, sigils, diagrams, and pressed herbs alike.
• Portable 5 by 7 inch size. One of a family of leather ritual books in the shop, each bearing a different emblem and offered in more than one size, so you can match the symbol and format to your practice.

Product Details

• Dimensions: 5" x 7"
• 200 blank, unlined pages of handmade paper
• Leather cover with embossed encircled pentacle and Celtic border, cross-stitched spine
• Attached cord closure
• Sold as a blank book for writing, drawing, and ritual record-keeping

The Spiritual Significance

A Book of Shadows is a witch's working book, and despite the old-world weight of the name it is a fairly modern tradition. Gerald Gardner's mid-twentieth-century Wicca formalized the practice, with each initiate copying rituals and lore by hand into a book of their own. Its ancestors are the older grimoires such as the Key of Solomon, but the idea of a personal, hand-kept book of one's craft belongs to living modern witchcraft.

The pentacle is the witch's emblem above all others, a five-pointed star for earth, air, fire, and water crowned by spirit, enclosed in a circle that binds and protects. In modern witchcraft and Wicca it stands for protection and for the elements held whole and in balance, and it is the figure most often laid at the center of the altar. Encircled here within a Celtic border, the line without end, it makes a plain and steady guardian for a working book, protection and balance kept around the writing itself.

How To Use

1. Cleanse it first. Pass the cover through cleansing smoke or leave it in moonlight overnight to clear the handling it has been through before it becomes yours.
2. Dedicate the first page. Write an opening dedication, to your practice and the protection you are calling in, naming what this book is for.
3. Keep your craft in it. Record spells and their results, ritual outlines, correspondences, dreams, and the questions you are working through. A Book of Shadows is most useful when it is honest.
4. Tend the book. Wind the cord to keep it closed, store it away from damp, and condition the leather occasionally so it lasts as long as the practice it holds.

Pairs Well With

• Steampunk Pen and Calligraphy Set: a dip pen for writing entries with more ceremony than a ballpoint allows.
• Dragon's Blood Ink by Espiritu, 1 oz: the traditional red ink for consecrated writing, sigils, and petitions in the book.
• Parchment Paper by Espiritu, 3" x 4": loose petition and spell papers to write and tuck between the pages.
• Sage and Frankincense Smudge Stick: cleansing smoke to consecrate the book before its first use.
• Pentagram Pewter Pocket Stone: the same five-pointed star for the altar or pocket, tying the book to the rest of your working space.

Frequently Asked Questions

What's the difference between this and the Broom Pentacle Leather Journal?

This is the classic encircled pentacle, plain but for its Celtic border, on 200 pages with a cord. The Broom Pentacle Leather Journal sets the pentacle among a broom and cauldron, the witch's working tools, framed in Celtic knotwork. Choose the plain star or the fuller scene.

Are the pages lined or blank?

The 200 pages are blank and unlined handmade paper, with no ruling. That leaves you free to write in any hand, draw sigils and diagrams, or press herbs and petals flat between the leaves without lines getting in the way.

What size is the book?

It measures 5 by 7 inches, a portable size that still gives you room to write a full working on a page. It slips into a bag for circle or travel, and the cord keeps it closed while it moves.

Is the cover real leather, and is the star a pentacle or a pentagram?

The cover is leather with a Celtic border. The star is a pentacle, a five-pointed star enclosed in a circle, which in modern witchcraft reads as protection. Because each book is finished by hand, the grain and embossing vary a little from one to the next.

Do I have to use it as a Book of Shadows?

Not at all. It is simply a beautiful blank book. Many keep it as a Book of Shadows or grimoire, but it works just as well as a dream journal, a tarot diary, a sketchbook, or an everyday journal for someone who loves the symbol.