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 Posted: Sat Nov 07, 2009 7:19 pm
Recommended Reading List
As always, read with your grain of salt. Then we move onto fiction, which may or may not suck depending on taste.
Descriptions are mostly the original recommended own, with some editings included. If you would like to add something, please add it as a reply, and include which category it belongs in, or if a new category needs to be made.
General Paganism
The Pagan Religions of the Ancient British Isles: Their Nature and Legacy by Ronald Hutton: An excellent overview of Real Neolithic/Early British religion
The Triumph of the Moon: A History of Modern Pagan Witchcraft. Read this one. It’s awesome.
A Book of Pagan Prayer by Ceisiwr Serith
Books by Joseph Campbell, particularly The Power of Myth
The Dark Archetype: Exploring the Shadow Side of the Divine by Denise Dumars and Lori Nyx. And excellent book for those who follow or work with the Darker Godforms
An Encyclopedia of Archetypal Symbolism by The Archive for Research in Archetypal Symbolism. Not only does it help you make connections between myths and gods you never thought of before, it includes stories from all over the world, not just the standard Greek/Egyptian/Germanic mix with a bit of Hindu for flavor. Plus it’s got lots of pretty pictures.
The Way of the Shaman by Michael Harner, which although more than a bit “New Age” in content has some useful information for the beginner and compares and contrasts the shamanic experience in different cultures.
Mind Games by Masters and Houstns, which although hard to find is an excellent resource on guided meditation, trance states and creative visualizations.
An Introduction to Ritual Magic by Dion Fortune and Gareth Knight. It’s short, illustrative and extremebly helpful.
Practical Solitary Magic by Nancy B. Watson. It’s fairly straightforward and nondenominational.
The Second Circle: Tools for the Advancing Pagan by Venecia Rauls. It’s primary emphasis is on doing things and on giving you tools to learn more, rather than simply handing you recipes. It suggests means of research, dscusses personal symbology and exploring the interconnectedness of reality in many ways. This is a book that teaches you to fish instead of giving you a fish.
Drawing Down the Moon: Margot Alder. Standard read, dated, but informative of the movement in history.
The Spiral Dance by Starhawk: Another standard of the genre. Reclaiming-based, skip the history section but very good.
Earth Path by Starhawk
Pagan Anger Magic: Positive Transformations from Negative Energies by Tammy Sullivan
Books by Yasmine Galenorn: Crafting the Body Divine, Dancing With the Sun, Embracing the Moon, Sexual Ecstacy and the Divine
A History of Pagan Europe by Nigel Pennick and Prudence Jones
The Idiots Guide to Paganism by Carl McColman: Quick read, but better than you’d think.
Paganism by Joyce and River Higginbotham: An introduction to Paganism by going through a bunch of different paths. Seeing the forest and the trees.
Wiccan Beliefs and Practices by Gary Cantrell: User found it to be a very useful reference.
Exploring the Pagan Path: Wisdom from the Elder: collection of essays on topics covering everything from ethics and basics to group organization and social responsibility.
A World Full of Gods: An Inquiry into Polytheism by John Michael Greer, explores the philosophical underpinnings of polytheism. Overreaches occasionally, but very good.
The Circle Within by Diane Sylvan: loved for practical application of neopagan principals.
Apple Branch by Alexei Kondratiev for Celtic religions and recons. More academic.
The Wiccan Bible by Anne-Marie Gallaher: general knowledge paganism
When, Why …If by Robin Wood, useful tool for developing personal ethics and decision making
The Epic of Gilgamesh/Enuma Elish – mythology, and important ones.
Witchcraft
The Elements of Ritual by Deborah Lipp. And overview of theology and practice surrounding circle casting, emphasis on the four elements.
Hedge Witch by Rae Beth
Persausions of the Witch’s Craft: Ritual Magic in Contemporary England by T.M Luhrmann
Scott Cunnigham: General reference, solitary practices.
The Veil’s Edge: Exploring the Boundaries of Magic by Willow Polson: Good, but chapters on Fae have a lot of errors
The Element Encyclopedia of 5000 Spells by Judika Illes: Reference for how spells work and are made.
Spellcaster edited by Elen Hawk and Martin White: Fundementals of magic and ethical questions.
Complete Book of Amulets and Talismans by Migane Gonzalez-Wippler
Marion Green’s work. Mixed reviews, but best read in the context of general witchcraft
Witchcraft: Theory and Practice by Ly de Angeles
Wicca for Beginners by Thea Sabin (again, read in context of religious witchcraft)
Craft of the Wild Witch: Green Spirituality and Natural Enchantment by Poppy Palin
The Goodly Spellbook by Lady Passion and Diuvei: avoid the first section on history, but the skills and spells section are good.
Mind Games: The Guide to Iner Space by Robert Masters and Jean Houston: deep trance meditation and creative visualization
A Compendium of Herbal Magick, The Master Book of Herbalism by Paul Beyerl
Evolutionary Witchcraft by T. Thorrn Coyle: Anderson Feri Tradition, heavy practical focus and intended for use by a large audience without breaking down the context that it was created in. Not a beginner text, heavy on personal development and skills. Feri is another Initatory Mystery Religion and strongly influenced Reclaiming.
The Witching Way of the Hollow Hill by Robin Artisson
The Crone’s Book of Magical Words by Valerie Worth
The Crone’s Book of Charms and Spells by Valerie Worth
The Way of the Wyrd by Brian Bates
Mastering Witchcraft by Paul Huson
Call of the Horned Piper by Nigel Jackson
I know that some ( or all /shrug) of these authoris are unpopular within circles here. But I personally thnk they can help in someway. They are mostly foundational in natural witchcraft is about experience.
Ceremonial Magick
Modern Magick by Donald Michael Kraig: Flawed and lightweight, but useful as an introduction to the Golden Dawn.
Circles of Power and Paths of Wisdom by John Michael Greer: Two books that should be read together covering both magick and qabalah in a masterly way.
The Ritual Magic Manual by David Griffin: More advanced, indepth look into the standard Golden Dawn rituals beyond the Lesser Banishing of the Pentagram
3 Books of Occultic Philosophy by Agrippa
The Complete Golden Dawn System of Magick by Israel Regardie (New Falcon Edition)
Hermetica by Thoth
The Magus by Francis Barret
The Lemegeton
The Book of Thoth by Aleister Crowley
Learning Ritual Magic by Greer, Vaughn, and King: Practical book taking the form of an 8 week training course
The Chicken Qabalah of Rabbi Lamed Ben Clifford by Lon Milo DuQuette: Hermetic Qabalah, funny, informative and apparently dense.
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Posted: Sat Nov 07, 2009 7:27 pm
Smaller/specialized reading lists:
Chaos Magic
Books by Peter J Carroll
Postmodern Magic by Patric Dunn: Basic Text
Condensed Chaos by Phil Hine: Light-hearted overview and practical advice
The Book of Lies edited by Richard Metzger
Other
The Physic Vampire Codex by Michelle Belanger: Written inside of the community, explanation and techniques on energy manipulation, ethics and emotional condsiderations.
Anything by Joseph Epes Brown: Native American Religions, both specific and general.
Kemetic
Ancient Egyptian Religion: An Interpretation by Henri Frankfort
Egyptian Religion by Siegfried Morenz: Tought read but worth it
The Mechanics of Ancient Egyptian Magical Practice by Robert Ritner
Primary Sources
Faulkner, R. O., The Ancient Egyptian Pyramid Texts )Oxford University Press, 1969)
Faulkner, R. O., The Egyptian Book of the Dead: The Book of Going Forth by Day (Chronicle Books, 1999) Ogden Goelet (Editor), Eva Von Dassow, James Wasserman.
Faulkner, R. O., The Ancient Egyptian Coffin Texts, Vol. I, Spells 1-354 (Aris & Phillips, Ltd. 1973)
Faulkner, R. O., The Ancient Egyptian Coffin Texts, Vol. II, Spells 355-787 (Aris & Phillips, Ltd. 1977)
Academic Sources
Note: For a really nice bibliography, please see the article titled: "A Beginner's Guide to Egyptology 2001" by Donald P. Ryan in the Summer 2001 issue of KMT, Volume 12, Number 2. (KMT is a magazine about all thing Egyptian, from an academic point of view. It is a very good resource for current theories and research in Egyptology.)
Allen, James P., Middle Egyptian: An Introduction to the Language and Culture of Hieroglyphs (Cambridge University Press, 1999). This book is introduction to the ancient Egyptian system of hieroglyphic writing and the language known as Middle Egyptian.
David, Rosalie, The Ancient Egyptians. 2nd rev. ed. (Sussex Academic Press, Brighton, UK, 199 cool . This book traces the evolution of religious beliefs and practices within the historical and political contexts of the major periods of Egypt's civilization.
Hart, George, A Dictionary of Egyptian Gods and Goddesses (Routledge & Kegan Paul, London, 1986). A comphrehensive dictionary of the the deities of ancient Egypt.
Hornung, Erik; Baines, John (translator), Conceptions of God in Ancient Egypt: The One and the Many (Cornell University Press, 1982). The book discusses aspects of divinity, the iconography and characteristics of the gods, and the relationship between gods and believers in ancient Egypt.
Lesko, Barbara S, The Great Goddesses of Egypt (University of Oklahoma Press, 1999). The book presents in depth histories of the cults of seven major Egyptian Goddesses.
Meeks, Dimitri and Favard-Meeks, Christine; G. M. Goshgarian (translator), Daily Life of the Egyptian Gods (Cornell University Press. 1996). This book describes the ancient Egyptian gods' community and the structures of their society.
Pinch, Geraldine, Magic in Ancient Egypt (University of Texas Press, Austin, 1994). This book examines the magical techniques, practitioners, surviving magical texts, and objects used in magic in ancient Egypt.
Shafer Byron E (editor), Religion in Ancient Egypt (Cornell University Press. 1991). An examination of religion in ancient Egypt, stressing the experience of the individual believer.
Assmann, Jan. The Search for God in Ancient Egypt.
Shaw, Ian. The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt.
Naydler, Jeremy. Temple of the Cosmos.
Gardiner, Alan. Egyptian Grammar.
Wilkinson, Richard H. Symbol & Magic in Egyptian Art.
Redford, Donald B. The Ancient Gods Speak: A Guide to Egyptian Religion.
Clark, Rosemary. The Sacred Tradition in Ancient Egypt.
Clark, Rosemary. Sacred Magic Of Ancient Egypt.
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Posted: Sat Nov 07, 2009 7:28 pm
Authors, Novels and Fiction: Or really, your tastes may vary
The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley
The Chronicals of Narnia by CS Lewis
A Wrinkle in Time and A Wind in the Door by Madeline L’engle
Juniper and Wise Child by Monica Furlong
The Earthsea Series by Ursula K Leguin
Sweep Series by Cate Tierman
Lynn V Andrews
Cakes and Ale for the Pagan Soul: Spells Recipes and Reflections from Neopagan Elders and Teachers
American Gods, The Sandman, and really just Neil Gaiman in general
Mary Renault
The White Raven by Diana Paxon
Daughter of the Forest by Juliet Marillier
Earth's Children series, by Jean M. Auel
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Posted: Sat Nov 07, 2009 7:36 pm
Scorpletts Wicca Reading List
Author: Scorplett
Title: My Suggested Reading list
WICCA ORIENTED AND BY REAL WICCAN AUTHORS
The Alex Sanders Lectures – Alex Sanders
Witchcraft Today – Gerald Gardner
The Meaning of Witchcraft – Gerald Gardner
A Witches Bible (or ‘What Witches Do and Eight Sabbat’s for Witches) – Stewart Farrar
Wicca- The Old in the New Age – Vivienne Crowley
Charge of the Goddess - Doreen Valiente
Circle of Fire – Sorita D'Este
Lid off the Cauldron – Patricia Crowther
Rebirth of Witchcraft – Doreen Valiente
Dancing with Witches – Lois Bourne
Religion Without Beliefs – Fred Lammond
NEO-PAGANISM AND ECLECTIC WITCHCRAFT
Witchcraft for Tomorrow – Doreen Valiente
Witchcrafting – Phillis Currot
Elements of Ritual – Deborah Lipp
Spiral Dance – Starhawk
Drawing Down the Moon – Margot Adler
Magical Rites from the Crystal Well - Ed Fitch
Coven Craft: Witchcraft for Three or More - Amber K
Ethics and the Craft - John J. Coughlin
The Truth About Witchcraft - Hanz Holzer
The Paganism Reader - Chas Clifton
TRADITIONAL WITCHCRAFT
Mastering Witchcraft – Paul Huson
Conversations with a Witch – Lois Bourne
The Forge of Tubal Cain - Ann Finnin
The Crooked Path Journal (Various Contributors)
Hedge Rider - Eric de Vries
Sorgitzak: Old Forest Craft - Veronica Cummer
ACADEMIC HISTORIES OF WICCA AND WITCHCRAFT
Triumph of The Moon – Ronald Hutton
Wiccan Roots: Gerald Gardner and the Modern Witchcraft Revival (also as: Gerald Gardner and the Cauldron of Inspiration: An Investigation into the Sources of Gardnerian Witchcraft)– Philip Heselton
Her Hidden Children: The Rise of Wicca And Paganism in America - Chas S. Clifton
The Pickengill Papers-The Origin of the Gardnerian Craft - W.E. Liddell
WITCHCRAFT AND MAGIC IN EUROPE: (a 6 Volume series), edited by Bengt Ankarloo and Stuart Clark
Vol 1 Biblical and Pagan Societies
Vol 2 Ancient Greece and Rome
Vol 3 The Middle Ages
Vol 4 The Period of the Witch Trials
Vol 5 The 18th & 19th Centuries
Vol 6 The 20th Century
Early Modern Witches: Witchcraft Cases in Contemporary Writing Edited by Marion Gibson
HISTORICAL WITCHCRAFT TEXTS
Malleaus Mallifacarum
The White Goddess – Graves
The new Golden Bough – Frazer
Aradia: Gospel of the Witches – Leyland
A Witchcult in Western Europe – Murray
REFERANCE TEXTS
ABC of Witchcraft – Doreen Valiente
The Witches God – Farrar
The Witches Goddess – Farrar
Spells to Change Your Life - Lois Bourne
Spells and how they work – Farrar
PSYCHOLOGY TEXTS (i.e Lots of Jung!)
Man and His Symbols – Carl Jung
The Undiscovered Self - Carl G. Jung
The Archetypes and The Collective Unconscious - Carl G. Jung
Synchronicity: An Acausal Connecting Principle - Carl G. Jung
Psychology and Religion (The Terry Lectures Series) - Carl G. Jung
BIOGRAPHIES
King of the Witches – June Johns
Fire Child: The Life & Magic of Maxine Sanders 'Witch Queen' - Maxine Sanders
Fifty Years of Wicca – Frederic Lammond
Diary of a Witch - Sybil Leek
Gerald Gardner: Witch - Jack L Bracelin
High Priestess – Patricia Crowther
Witch Amongst Us – Lois Bourne
Witches Speak – Aronld and Patricia Crowther [RARE BOOK]
CEREMONIAL MAGICK AND OCCULT/MYSTICISM TEXTS
Magick in theory and practice – Crowley
The Kabbalah unveiled – Mathers
The Tree of Life: An Illustrated Study in Magic - Israel Regardie
The Training & Work of an Initiate - Dion Fortune
FICTION
Sea Priestess - Dion Fortune
High Magic’s Aid – Scire (Gerald Gardner)
Witches Were For Hanging (Paperback) FICTION – Patricia Crowther
OPEN SOURCE
There are a fair few books that are available open source if you don't mind reading off a computer screen! Some of them might be a little heavy going for the beginner, but they are all classic texts on Wicca and Witchcraft
The Golden Bough
by Sir James George Frazer
http://www.sacred-texts.com/pag/frazer/index.htm
The Witch-Cult in Western Europe
by Margaret Alice Murray
http://www.sacred-texts.com/pag/wcwe/index.htm
Aradia; Gospel of the Witches
by Charles G. Leland
http://www.sacred-texts.com/pag/aradia/index.htm
Etruscan Roman Remains in Popular Tradition
by Charles Godfrey Leland
http://www.sacred-texts.com/pag/err/index.htm
Letters on Demonology and Witchcraft
by Sir Walter Scott
http://www.sacred-texts.com/pag/scott/index.htm
The Sorceress (La Sorcière) by Jules Michelet
translation by Afred Richard Allinson
http://www.sacred-texts.com/pag/sor/index.htm
Witchcraft Today (PDF) - by Gerald Gardner
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/wisewoman/WiccaWitchcraftToday.pdf
The Meaning of Witchcraft - Gerald Gardner
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/wisewoman/TheMeaningofWitchcraft.doc
High Magics Aid - A 'fictional' book by Gerald Gardner
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/wisewoman/HighMagicsAid.doc
Gerald Gardner: Witch - attributed to Jack Bracelin but actually written by Idries Shah http://homepage.ntlworld.com/wisewoman/GeraldGardnerWitch[1].rtf
God of the Witches (PDF) - by Dr Margaret Murray,
http://www.thewica.co.uk/godwitch.pdf
The following are some rare and out of print books by the Crowthers.
The Secrets of Ancient Witchcraft With the Witches Tarot by Arnold Crowther (Hardcover - Jun 1974)
Witchcraft in Yorkshire by Patricia Crowther (Unknown Binding - 1973)
From Stagecraft to Witchcraft: The Early Years of a High Priestess by Patricia Crowther
The Zodiac Experience: Initiation Through the Twelve Signs – Patricia Crowther
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Posted: Sun Nov 08, 2009 1:59 pm
maenad nuri Evolutionary Witchcraft by T. Thorrn Coyle: Anderson Feri Tradition, heavy practical focus and intended for use by a large audience without breaking down the context that it was created in. Not a beginner text, heavy on personal development and skills. Feri is another Initatory Mystery Religion and strongly influenced Reclaiming. She has another, Kissing the Limitless, that I have heard good things about.
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Posted: Sun Nov 08, 2009 8:57 pm
For Thelema:
Book 4
You have to read this is for nothing else than the interlude.
The Message of The Master Therion
This is a very straight forward overview of The Law.
Magick in Theory and Practice
Huge overview of magick, will and the foundational philosophy within Thelema.
Liber XXV
Having the revamped Lesser Banishing Ritual is useful.
Fiction:
The Dresden Files
There are some very subtle concepts present within the books- and they're great reads.
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Posted: Tue Nov 10, 2009 4:58 am
Nines19 maenad nuri Evolutionary Witchcraft by T. Thorrn Coyle: Anderson Feri Tradition, heavy practical focus and intended for use by a large audience without breaking down the context that it was created in. Not a beginner text, heavy on personal development and skills. Feri is another Initatory Mystery Religion and strongly influenced Reclaiming. She has another, Kissing the Limitless, that I have heard good things about. It is very good. I have it. I'm not ready for it smile
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Posted: Wed Nov 11, 2009 8:01 am
The World of Shamanism: New Views of an Ancient Tradition by Roger Walsh
Revamp the word to not reflect a single tradition and you have an excellent book. It even has a chapter on appropriation.
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Posted: Sun Nov 22, 2009 4:49 pm
I'd have a question someone hopefully could answer to. Anyone here happen to be familiar with the book called Blood and Mistletoe - the History of the Druids in Britain, by Ronald Hutton? I managed to get it in my hands, and I'd really like to know how factual the information presented in it is, since I've found it very difficult to find any real information concerning the subject.
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Posted: Sun Nov 22, 2009 5:03 pm
Arrowlake Riddler I'd have a question someone hopefully could answer to. Anyone here happen to be familiar with the book called Blood and Mistletoe - the History of the Druids in Britain, by Ronald Hutton? I managed to get it in my hands, and I'd really like to know how factual the information presented in it is, since I've found it very difficult to find any real information concerning the subject. Hutton is good. Go for it. I haven't read that one, but it is the companion to the book Druids, which detailed the ways that they have been evoked since the originals.
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Posted: Sun Nov 22, 2009 11:19 pm
maenad nuri Hutton is good. Go for it. I haven't read that one, but it is the companion to the book Druids, which detailed the ways that they have been evoked since the originals. Wonderful, thanks!
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Posted: Wed Dec 16, 2009 12:05 pm
I've got a book question: on another board someone recommended Deep Ancestors: Practicing the Religion of the Proto-Indo-Europeans, by Ceisiwr Serith
This title intrigues me, because I once took an interdisciplinary seminar on PIE, which was mainly linguistic but it gave me an interest in the subject. Also the title is similar to a genetics book I picked up recently. I'm a little dubious as to how much of a religious structure can be reconstructed in this case, and I've also never read anything by this author. Does he know his stuff? Is he thorough? Has anyone read this particular title and been horribly offended by it?
Thanks for any help! smile
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Posted: Thu Jan 07, 2010 12:21 am
I will most definately have to check out some of these books. I am pleased to see that there is no Silver Ravenwolf on here, not that I saw anyway.
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Posted: Thu Jan 07, 2010 9:05 am
ShadowCatSoul I will most definately have to check out some of these books. I am pleased to see that there is no Silver Ravenwolf on here, not that I saw anyway. That's a bit like being pleased to see there's no Infancy Gospel of Thomas in the Catholic Canon. confused
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Posted: Fri Jan 08, 2010 12:41 am
TeaDidikai ShadowCatSoul I will most definately have to check out some of these books. I am pleased to see that there is no Silver Ravenwolf on here, not that I saw anyway. That's a bit like being pleased to see there's no Infancy Gospel of Thomas in the Catholic Canon. confused No idea what that is...
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