****** - Verified Buyer
4.5
This leather bound journal with Coptic binding is very attractive. The deckle edge pages are obviously handmade and all of the luxurious feel of this book is built right in. This would be a nice gift for your favorite journaler or diary keeper.I was not too impressed with the seven Medieval Stones" on the locking cover. While they correspond with the seven chakaras, I sincerely doubt they are actual stone and probably closer to resin. For this I subtracted one star.This is a really classy item... looks so natural! I'm extremely impressed with the overall quality.The pages are very rough, and one page even has a hole in it. But they are clearly hand made and so any irregularities end up looking great.The leather cover is very stiff, but I'm sure it will relax over time.I'm not a big fan of the stones, I get it, but that's just not my thing.Overall, if you're looking for a good journal that you will write in regularly, the handmade pages may not work best for you. But, if you're looking for a cool book, that presents well, this is absolutely it!This leather journal makes an excellent book of shadows. It's sturdy and thick, with plenty of pages. Those pages, however, are heavily distressed, lending them an authentic appearance but making them difficult to write on. I recommend testing your pen(s) on the very last page before committing to one's use and writing in the beginning pages. Books of shadows are a bit tricky, too, because you should be cognizant of what you will write before you write it; it's not just a normal journal for stream of consciousness random thoughts. I highly recommend writing your spell or ritual down on ordinary unlined loose paper (so you can work on keeping your lines straight on unlined paper) before committing it to these pages. Once you write in this, you can't undo it. I don't even think a product exists that could hide/erase pen marks from this type of paper and you can't just rip a sheet out and toss it.It's high quality and beautiful, but I can't quite place my finger on what I see on the front cover. I know there's a moon with a fairy on the back, but there are too many unclear possibilities for the front. It sometimes looks like an elvish lady with her back turned towards me, the chakra stones aligned with her spine. But I have no idea if that's what they intended. Perhaps it's because the leather cover is black, but it's so hard to tell what I'm looking at.No matter, it's still gorgeous just the way it is. Just take care and choose your words carefully.The pen is still mightier than the sword.I am repeating words here that I wrote in my review of a similar item.What a unique journal. This has all of the look and feel of a very old tome. I love the leather binder and the wonderful over-all appearance of this book. It just looks like whatever is written in it will be profound and have deep significance to future followers of my philosophy. It seems almost a shame to put down anything that is not beautifully done copperplate script with embellishments and flourishes. Gosh; now that I have set that high of a standard, it is likely that future followers will scratch their collective heads in puzzlement as to why I did not write a solitary thought within the very fine pages of my journal. This is a classy gift for cerebral classy people. Very nicely done.
