BOS: Physical or Computerized Book?

[erosryder]

I was wondering if other people have a computerized BOS or a Physical Book?

I've heard it's better to have a physical book because you put more energy and thought into it. But I believe it's about the time and energy you put into your BOS. I have put a lot of time, energy, and love into my BOS, artwork, sigils, rituals, etc. It's on my computer for now. Until I feel it's ready to be printed out.

What do you have?

[Sakurako]

My BOS is mostly printed as I can't write that tiny. I wanted to fit as much on each page as possible as I have limited space. I do have a very personal section though which is only handwritten.

I feel that the energy of the book comes from the time and the effort to create it. Mine is mainly information. I don't have rituals or meditations in there as I hardly ever write them down unless I feel they are significant enough and then I'll place them in my journal. I know a lot of people prefer the handwritten format but I just don't have the time to rewrite hundreds of pages again by hand. I'm so pedantic that the last time I tried I spent three days on one page :hahugh: and it still wasn't what I wanted lol. The only thing I refuse to do is 'cut & paste'. I think that is just a waste of time. If the content is created and then written (or typed) by yourself then that is where true personalisation lies. Typed or written, either way you're still using ink.

[aynfean]

I have both, a public one that I keep on a blog (link in sig) and a private one that I handwrite. They include mostly the same info although the hand written one is definitely more personal.

For the online one I like the ability to have it really organized (I'm kind of OCD that way)
However the hand written one shows my journey, each page another step.

[Windsmith]

Mine is physical, but everything in it was typed on a computer and printed out. I interact better with it when I have the actual paper to look at and make notes on, but I use it more when I've been able to play with fonts and layouts that make it nicer to look at. Also, because my practice and beliefs are in always in process, sometimes I have to change things, and I would rather be able to change just what I need and reprint, rather than having to rewrite the whole thing. I probably wouldn't do that, so my Almanac (what I call mine) would get out of date and wouldn't be useful anymore.

[erosryder]

^^Yeah, that's how I'm going to want mine once I get it to the point of printing out. lol

@aynfean

Love the blog.

[erosryder]

^^Yeah, that's how I'm going to want mine once I get it to the point of printing out. lol

@aynfean

Love the blog.

[grug]

I keep all of my stuff on my computer. I do pretty much all of my writing on computer so it makes sense for me to keep all of my work on it.

[Adalai]

Mine is physical. Just because I like the feel of having a physical book to hold. I spent a lot of time making mine and am currently upgrading it to post-bound so that I can change the pages out (which was the only drawback to permanently binding it). I'm in love with it more than ever. I love the feel of turning the pages and my book is pretty massive. Last I measured it was about 14" long and 12" wide. If I gather stuff from the internet, put it in little digital stickies on my desktop and when I get the chance, transfer it by hand to my book :)

[StarlitNox]

Mine is on Evernote. Writing lots doesn't agree with my wrist, unfortunately. Another problem I have with a physical BOS is that you can't duplicate them for backup reasons... Not without using a crapton of time, anyhow. XD! It's just more convenient for me. One day I may make a physical copy after I organize it so that I can have a travel-BOS, though. :D
Mine is mainly hymns and info on stones, though, sooo... >_>
As far as energy goes... I don't know much about energy, so it doesn't bother me either way. Dx

[erosryder]

Yeah, I didn't even think for backup reasons. lol.

[Sakurako]

A BOS backed up on the computer saved my last BOS after a drink was spilled all over it. I had all my pages saved so I only needed to reprint them. It saved me from having a major freak out lol. Plus another upside to having your work on the computer is that you only need to write the info out once and you don't have the risk of losing all your work by accident. It's taken me 4 years to write my current BOS and there's no way I would be able to remember all that info if I had to start all over again.

[erosryder]

A BOS backed up on the computer saved my last BOS after a drink was spilled all over it. I had all my pages saved so I only needed to reprint them. It saved me from having a major freak out lol. Plus another upside to having your work on the computer is that you only need to write the info out once and you don't have the risk of losing all your work by accident. It's taken me 4 years to write my current BOS and there's no way I would be able to remember all that info if I had to start all over again.

That's intense!!! I have mine on a flash drive just in case my computer gets something spilled on it. My fdrive is my life. :)

[Adalai]

A BOS backed up on the computer saved my last BOS after a drink was spilled all over it. I had all my pages saved so I only needed to reprint them. It saved me from having a major freak out lol. Plus another upside to having your work on the computer is that you only need to write the info out once and you don't have the risk of losing all your work by accident. It's taken me 4 years to write my current BOS and there's no way I would be able to remember all that info if I had to start all over again.

I'm sorry.. I believe you and all.. but I don't really understand how someone could come up with THAT much material. I tend to be simplistic so... but ... no serious... I don't mean to pry or ask specifics but.. is it full of depth and detail? or is it breadth (basics over a ton of concepts)? I just can't find THAT Much material.

[StarlitNox]

Yeah, I didn't even think for backup reasons. lol.

With Evernote, you can access your BOS (I think it's password-protected) on ANY computer, because the info you put on it is stored online :3 Verrry useful, saved me a lot of work when my harddrive crashed and everything was gone. :D www.evernote.com

[erosryder]

With Evernote, you can access your BOS (I think it's password-protected) on ANY computer, because the info you put on it is stored online :3 Verrry useful, saved me a lot of work when my harddrive crashed and everything was gone. :D www.evernote.com

I do something similar, I don't update it usually but I use ftp for file back-up to store it on my website. Ill have to put my BOS on that. :)

[Adalai]

Google Docs would be good for this (an alternative to Evernote if you already have a gmail account) if someone hasn't mentioned it yet.

[Sakurako]

I'm sorry.. I believe you and all.. but I don't really understand how someone could come up with THAT much material. I tend to be simplistic so... but ... no serious... I don't mean to pry or ask specifics but.. is it full of depth and detail? or is it breadth (basics over a ton of concepts)? I just can't find THAT Much material.


There is so much information available that I only have what directly speaks to me. I like detail and usually will collect just about every bit of info I can get my hands on from the net, books, other people and my own experience and put it all down in one section. I'll be the first to admit it's probably far too detailed but you know I've been Pagan now for over a decade and everything I have collected and experienced is in my book. It's the third BOS I have made and I have added more detail as I go. Even with that said my book only has 150 or so pages in it. I also have a lot of scientific info mashed in there along with my spiritual info. I think there is another thread where I have posted the sections I have in my BOS.

[erosryder]

There is so much information available that I only have what directly speaks to me. I like detail and usually will collect just about every bit of info I can get my hands on from the net, books, other people and my own experience and put it all down in one section. I'll be the first to admit it's probably far too detailed but you know I've been Pagan now for over a decade and everything I have collected and experienced is in my book. It's the third BOS I have made and I have added more detail as I go. Even with that said my book only has 150 or so pages in it. I also have a lot of scientific info mashed in there along with my spiritual info. I think there is another thread where I have posted the sections I have in my BOS.

I like that you put science in there!!! :) PM me if you have any good sites worth checking out I love reading on the science part of things. :)

[Sakurako]

I like that you put science in there!!! :) PM me if you have any good sites worth checking out I love reading on the science part of things. :)


Will do! I borrowed a lot of books from the library for most of my info though. I'm fascinated by science and spirituality and seeing how they dance together. I always want to know 'why' lol.

[rainbowgryphon]

I was keeping my BOS in a little binder, but it was definitely getting messy and pages were falling out. I stopped writing in it, but I want to create a new one with all of the things I'm learning now.

I now have an ebook reader, so I'll probably keep my new BOS on the computer and have it as an RTF on my Sony Reader. That way, I don't have to print it out (too lazy) but it's still in a smaller format for my tiny ritual space and easily accessible.

I don't personally feel that the energy is necessarily any less powerful in a computerized BOS. That may have been true in the early days of computers, pre-Internet, when we weren't so used to them, but for most people, they've become part of life. Try going no-tech for a whole evening and you'll probably feel like something major is missing from your life. :uhhuhuh: Just as we can write sincere things to people in email or a forum or on Twitter, we can express our spiritual ideas in an electronic BOS.

Just my 2 cents.
:-)

[blackwingsblackheart]

What's amusing is that I have two blank books, purchased in different decades, which I intended as Books of Shadows, but they're still sitting gathering dust while I try to edit a literal physical heap of class notes, torn-out magazine articles, printed-out recipes and photocopied book pages into files for my Flash Drive of Shadows which is STILL intended to be copied out by hand someday. Trust me, it's not pretty...

[brymble]

I'm sorry.. I believe you and all.. but I don't really understand how someone could come up with THAT much material. I tend to be simplistic so... but ... no serious... I don't mean to pry or ask specifics but.. is it full of depth and detail? or is it breadth (basics over a ton of concepts)? I just can't find THAT Much material.

I'be been keeping a BOS for over 20 years and it has taken many forms during that time. My first was hand-written in plain English in a little hardbound sketchbook. For many years I kept in in a loose-leaf binder that expanded into a cardboard box, and then two. That one included a lot of redundant information, prinuted or photocopied from various published, private and personal sources, and soon came to be more about amassing and cataloging information for study than developing and recording my own practice. It became cumbersome and limiting so I scrapped the whole thing. I attempted a few altered book "art" BOS, none of which were ever finished. For awhile I went with a simple, stripped down "pocket" BOS with only key castings and invocations. When that one was lost to fire, I started the one I have now, which is composed of a formulary listing local herbs and spell components, two volumes of the BOS proper, recording ritual and spellwork from over the last few years, and a grimoire, which catalogs entities and spirits that I work with, and keeps a record of hedge-riding and mirror-work. I am thinking about adding another volume for divination. All are entirely hand-written in Theban cipher.

I have mixed feelings about back-up on flash drive. I don't want to feel tied to a computer desk, or have to break trance to boot up or load documents.

I chose to write in Theban for a number of reasons, including basic privacy, and for protection when living with a couple of unstable and not very peaceful people. Now that my daughter is 9 and starting formal training, and is frequently tempted to snoop and over-reach beyond her readiness, having it in cipher also protects her from trying things before she has the skills or maturity to grok it.

[Jazzminesong]

Mine is physical, but everything in it was typed on a computer and printed out. I interact better with it when I have the actual paper to look at and make notes on, but I use it more when I've been able to play with fonts and layouts that make it nicer to look at. Also, because my practice and beliefs are in always in process, sometimes I have to change things, and I would rather be able to change just what I need and reprint, rather than having to rewrite the whole thing. I probably wouldn't do that, so my Almanac (what I call mine) would get out of date and wouldn't be useful anymore.

I have pretty much the same answer. I just like the way it looks and how easy it is to change things.

[Somnious]

Mine is physical because I feel typing it out is a little too impersonal for me. But, it's a very basic lay out. I've seen some really awesome BOS lately that have amazing calligraphy and hand drawn pictures by the owner. I think I might get into that soon, as soon as I eventually bind my first book. I'd would prefer it be larger than the average 8x11 format so I can actually get in and do all the detail work without being too cramped.

[Micheál]

Really depends on personal preference,and what you prefer, unless your's is part of a certain tradition, in which case most of the time it's strictly hand copied word for word, spelling mistakes and all. Mine are definitely physical. I'm just not a fan of storing things on the computer, and am even contemplating a kindle just for pdfs because I hate reading from a computer screen.

[Ravens_Tears]

I've got notebooks, journals, binders that together make up my BOS. I also have files on the computer. I am using my scrap booking software to create the book I really want. When the basic book is done it will be turned into a searchable pdf for my tablet and I will look into how much it will cost me at Staples to have one professionally printed and bound.

[MrsLynch]

I have a bunch of notes and snippets from websites I've saved on Evernote (from StarlitNox's suggestion above) but I also have a binder with a bunch of paper in it I do my deeper reflection and more personal stuff. There isn't a whole lot right now, since I just started it :P

[SicilianRose]

I am so happy that I found this thread prior to posting my question. Before reading this I was wondering if having a IPad as a BOS was ok. So that question is now answered. I started writing in a leather bound book but the arthritis in my hand started acting up horrifically.

Here are my other questions........Does anyone else use their Ipad as a BOS? If so what program/application do you use. I know about EverNote being used but are there any other applications/programs in use?

[Aine Llewellyn]

I don't have a BOS. I have a few journals and such, but nothing that is a BOS. Since I'm not a magical practitioner or Wiccan I don't feel the need for one.

I keep a daily journal full of sometimes quite idiotic ramblings on what happens in my life; the journal and daily writing is mainly an exercise in discipline. I also keep a poetry/divine inspiration journal in which I write out all my half-mad ramblings. In another I scribble out the foundation of my tradition, and in another I keep the plans for a future temple I want to build. I don't have any correspondences or the like, and the only journal with rituals is the one for the tradition because the tradition is highly structured.

[Shaedema]

Currently I have one physical book that I'm trying to get my information into. I have several journals. And I my newest project is to get all the information I have onto the computer. I think I'll give Evernote a try.

[Benvarry]

I have a Dropbox folder. There's too many informations for me to consider writing it out by hand - sometimes I paraphrase or lift entire ebook chapters (not copyright since no one will ever see it, of course).