6. Preparing Your Bullet Journal as a Sacred Book of Shadows: Creating Space for Your Magic

This is Part 6 in this blog series about using a Bullet Journal as Your Book of Shadows. You don’t have to have read the rest of this series to start here. If you have, thank you — and if this is your first step into this journaling journey, welcome. This one is for you too.

Here are links to the rest of the posts in this series:

How to use a Bullet Journal as your Book of Shadows

How to Start a Witchy Bullet Journal (even if you’re not arty or organised)

Witchy Bullet Journal Spread Ideas for Beginners: Simple Pages to Start With

Witchy Goal Setting in Your Bullet Journal: A Practical, Magical Approach

Witchy Trackers, Planners & Collections: How to Use Your Bullet Journal Without Burning Out

Preparing Your Bullet Journal as a Sacred Book of Shadows: Creating Space for Your Magic

There’s also a FREE Printable Guide to Using a Bullet Journal as Your Book of Shadows, more details at the end of this post.

There’s something deeply personal about beginning a new journal.

The blank pages. The fresh cover. The quiet invitation to begin again.

And when that journal is part of your spiritual practice — when it holds your rituals, your cycles, your cards and questions — the act of setting it up becomes more than just organisation.

It becomes a sacred ritual in itself.

Whether this is your very first bullet journal, or you’re returning after a break, or you’re about to begin a new season or cycle — this post is here to help you create not just a journal, but a home for your magic.

✦ Why Your Journal Setup is a Sacred Act

There are so many voices online about how to set up your bullet journal — and many of them come from a place of control: productivity, performance, perfection.

But a witch’s journal is different.

It’s not about getting everything “right.” It’s not a display piece.

It’s an evolving space. A mirror. A cauldron. A thread that connects you to your own knowing.

Setting up your journal can become a threshold moment — a way to open the door to the next spiral of your journey.

You don’t need a ritual robe (you can if you want, or skyclad, witch's choice).

But you can light a candle.

You can set an intention.

You can bless the cover and whisper, “Let this be a place where I can be myself.”

 

✦ What You Might Want to Gather

You don’t need anything fancy.

But gathering your tools — even simply — can help you feel grounded and ready.

You might want:

• A pen you love to write with

• Washi tapes, markers, or collage bits (if that delights you)

• Tarot or oracle cards

• Your favourite tea, a stone, a small cloth

• A playlist, candle, or incense

Some people keep all their journaling things in one basket or pouch. Others leave a corner of the table open, like a little altar for the pages.

There’s no one right way. Just a rhythm that works for you.

 

✦ Where to Begin (Especially If You’re New)

It can be tempting to set up everything all at once — especially when inspiration hits. But often, this leads to overwhelm or burnout. And then people stop journaling altogether… not because it didn’t work, but because they felt like they had failed.

You haven’t failed. You just need a different rhythm.

I recommend starting with:

1. An Intention Page or Letter to Yourself

Write what you hope this journal will hold. What you’re calling in. Why you’re here. This becomes an anchor you can return to — especially when you feel lost or disconnected later.

2. A Daily Practice Spread

Not to pressure yourself into journaling every day — but to give yourself a reason to want to return. This might be:

• A tarot draw tracker

• A gratitude or energy log

• A space for freewriting or “sacred pages”

Like brushing your teeth — if you skip a day, you just pick it back up. No shame needed.

3. A Future Log or Idea Space

Somewhere near the back (or front), leave a few pages for what’s coming: sabbats, moon rituals, dreams, ideas you’re not ready to action. This keeps your journal open-ended and reduces pressure to plan everything now.

From there, you can add what feels alive for you:

• A tracker for your cycle or moon phases

• A spell page

• A collage of your current season

• Notes on a course or reading

Build slowly. Let it grow.

✦ You Don’t Have to Include Everything You See Online

You’ll likely come across gorgeously decorated Sabbat spreads…

But what if you don’t do anything for that Sabbat?

You’ll see elaborate full moon pages…

But maybe your practice was just one deep breath and a moment of noticing.

That’s okay. You’re not here to recreate someone else’s Book of Shadows.

You’re not a scribe copying from a perfect facsimile.

You are living your magic — and your journal is the witness.

Take inspiration where it serves. But let this space be personal. Supportive. Honest.

Not performative.

 

✦ Making Space (Even When Life Is Full)

You don’t need an entire altar room to make this sacred.

Try:

• Leaving your journal open on your desk or bedside table

• Having a few supplies in a small pouch or basket

• Setting a weekly time to check in (just 10 minutes can be enough)

• Choosing a simple ritual to begin (a candle, a blessing, a breath)

This is not about creating the perfect setup.

It’s about creating a place you want to return to.

 

✦ Let It Be Messy. Let It Be Yours.

Some of my journals are beautiful.

Some are chaotic and half-finished.

Some are covered in my kid's scribble and stickers. Some have blank pages I completely skipped.

None of that is failure.

This isn’t about consistency or curation.

It’s about relationship. Showing up. Starting again.

Your journal doesn’t need to be perfect. It just needs to be true.

✦ If You Want to See This in Action

If you want to see how I do this — the real, messy, human version — you can watch the companion video to this post here. I show you my space, my supplies, and talk through what I do (and don’t do).

✦ A Closing Blessing for the Journey Ahead

May this journal be a place of returning.

A place where your thoughts are welcome, your questions held, your magic remembered.

May it hold the soft beginnings, the quiet breakthroughs, the little ordinary wonders.

May you fill it slowly. Or quickly. Or not at all for a while — and then come back, and find it waiting.

May it be messy. May it be real.

May it be yours.

 

✦ Are You Starting Your Own Witchy Bullet Journal?

I’ve created a beautiful, practical guide to help you begin — whether you’re brand new to bullet journaling or looking to weave more magic into your pages.

Using a Bullet Journal for Your Book of Shadows is a free printable resource that walks you through the basics and gives you a little bundle of cut-and-stick elements to help you get started.

It’s gentle, non-prescriptive, and rooted in real practice — just like your magic.

You can download it for free here. https://www.jessicaandthemoon.com/products/using-a-bullet-journal-for-your-book-of-shadows-a-free-printable-guide-to-begin-your-witchy-journaling-journey

Warmest Blessings on your path

Jessica