The Book of Shadows is a collection of magical and religious texts of Wicca and other Neo-paganism, witchcraft traditions, containing the core rituals, magical practices, ethics and philosophy of a Wiccan or other tradition.
In the coven based British Traditional Wicca, it is traditionally 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.