A Book of Shadows is a personal thing. But as I am an artist, I have put much more of myself into my book than is normal. It contains many drawings done with a real goose quill, by candlelight. Thus, it is very tightly linked to me.
Any enemy who laid their hands on it could use it as a magickal link to do me all sorts of nasty curses and whatnot.
Naturally, this bothers me.
So, the first page contains the ward diagram. It has been charged like a talisman, and lies lurking like an occult booby trap.
First off, you will note that it has been artistically designed to look rather hideously ominous. The rather ostentatious inverted pentagram is a heavy-handed hint that something bad is in the offing.
The oblong of hieroglyphs extending from the center is in Pentateuch symbols. Freely translated, they say: "To the person who would use this book of magick to destroy Nyrath..."
The runes along the pentagram say in English: "To person who use this book to harm Nyrath, BEGIN FORGET, BEGIN BLIND, BEGIN PAIN!"
In the lower left point of the pentagram is the Pentateuch symbol for "Begin Forget". In the lowest point is the Pent symbol for "Begin Sight Not". In the lower right point is the Pent symbol for "Begin Pain".
The symbol to the left of the Begin Forget symbol means "Confusion" (the circle with the curved arrow). The symbol to the right of the Begin Forget symbol is the sigil of Bora, who brings amnesia (the cross with all the semicircles). The idea is that the enemy who has this ward blow up in their face will not be able to remember any of the knowledge contained in the book of shadows.
The symbol to the left of the Begin Sight Not means "Blindness" (the sideways Y and v). The symbol to the right of the Begin Sight Not is the sigil of Han, who brings Blindness (the big letter Z).
The symbol to the left of the Begin Pain means "Agony" (incomplete triangle with arc). The symbol to the right of the Begin Pain is the sigil of Zic, who brings electric shock (horned triangle).
The symbol below the upper left point means "magical protection by infliction" (the tiny T in the circle). The symbol below the upper right point means "inflict" (the tiny T being hit by the mallet).
The symbol above the upper left point is the sigil of Shax, a demon from the Legemon of Solomon, who's office is to take away the sight hearing, or understanding of any man or woman at the command of the magician.
The symbol above the upper right point is the sigil of Andromalius, a demon from the Legemon of Solomon, whose office is to bring back both a thief and the goods that are stolen, and to punish all thieves.
So, you see how with a bit of artistic talent, and a little effort, a most impressive deterrent to would be enemies can be created.