The Book List (good books to read)

[Rustig]

Loagaeth

Mitsh

Loagaeth

BOOKS?! *spits drink out* heart My favorite! Don't forget "The Three Books of Occult Philosophy"!

If you feel so inclined, it'd be a great help if you do a minireview of Agrippa's books, maybe even look out somewhere where you can download'em? If not, that's okai, but I figure a bookworm would sure like to mention the good and bad points of something like the Three Books. XD

I would love to do that! Where would I put the review, in its own topic on the forum?

Put it right here in this thread, and I'll add the books to the list at the top of the list, then I'll link to your post so folk can read yer review. =D  

[Loagaeth]

Mitsh

Loagaeth

Mitsh

Loagaeth

BOOKS?! *spits drink out* heart My favorite! Don't forget "The Three Books of Occult Philosophy"!

If you feel so inclined, it'd be a great help if you do a minireview of Agrippa's books, maybe even look out somewhere where you can download'em? If not, that's okai, but I figure a bookworm would sure like to mention the good and bad points of something like the Three Books. XD

I would love to do that! Where would I put the review, in its own topic on the forum?

Put it right here in this thread, and I'll add the books to the list at the top of the list, then I'll link to your post so folk can read yer review. =D

Excellent! When I get a chance, I will type of something engaging about the book. biggrin  

[Raistlin of Krynn]

I'm so suprised that there has not been one mention of anything written by Aleister Crowley or Isreal Regardie...

Crowley's writings in "The Book of Thoth", "777", "The Equinox", "Book 4", "the Book of the Law", and "Gematria" are beneficial to all interested in modern occultism.

Regardie's book "The Golden Dawn" is an amazing compendium of Golden Dawn Rituals and other Occultist knowledge. "The Middle Pillar", "A Garden of Pomegranites", and "The Tree of Life" deal mostly with Kabballah, which is the basis of most if not all of Western Hermeticism/Occultism.  

[Rustig]

Raistlin of Krynn

I'm so suprised that there has not been one mention of anything written by Aleister Crowley or Isreal Regardie...

Crowley's writings in "The Book of Thoth", "777", "The Equinox", "Book 4", "the Book of the Law", and "Gematria" are beneficial to all interested in modern occultism.

Regardie's book "The Golden Dawn" is an amazing compendium of Golden Dawn Rituals and other Occultist knowledge. "The Middle Pillar", "A Garden of Pomegranites", and "The Tree of Life" deal mostly with Kabballah, which is the basis of most if not all of Western Hermeticism/Occultism.

Indeedy~. If you fancy having a bash at reviewing his works (just a couple of lines talking about what's awesome about them, what's not so awesome about them, and why anyone should read them) that'd be positively stellar. Entirely optional, mind. <3  

[Nuadu]

Well, I think the easiest way for me to link to my personal working library is to direct you all to my LibraryThing. I also have about 100 relevant books, relating mostly to Pagan studies, from my thesis bibliography if anyone is interested (though I'm sure there are a hand full of repeats from the above).  

[Nuadu]

Some Good Reading

Aurum Solis
Melita Denning and Osborne Phillips:
The Magical Philosophy series - consisting of
Book I: Robe and Ring
Book II: The Apparel of High Magic
Book III: The Sword and the Serpent
Book IV: The Triumph of the Light
Book V: Mysteria Magica

Books I and II are available in one volume through Castle Books as The Foundation of High Magick. Books III and V are currently in reprint by Llewellyn under the above names. Book IV is still out of print (and the only one of the above I don't have right now, ah well.

Planetary Magick

Also by Denning and Phillips. Not officially part of the Magical Philosophy series, but it should be, its pure Aurum Solis material.

Phillips, Osborne: Aurum Solis: Initiation ceremonies and inner magical techniques

The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn
I am not going to include every book on the GD here, only those books that I consider either essential or for the beginner or just really interesting or useful, from my own 15 or so years experience in this system. I will makes notes as necessary.

Cicero, Chic and Sandra Tabatha:
Secrets of a Golden Dawn Temple - This one is on constructing and using the various implements and tools a GD magician and temple would (should?) have. Not necessarily necessary but useful.

Self Initiation into the Golden Dawn Tradition - Ok, not actually essential but it is an excellent reference book, especially if you don't have Regardie (below).

They have a lot more books which you certainly can read, and many of them are quit interesting, but none of them actually necessary. I would avoid their Essential Golden Dawn unless you are not planning on getting SI or Regardie, as there is nothing new in this one (or in much of their stuff, Chic doesn't believe in publishing any of the unpublished material. Fortunately, Pat Zalewski does (see below).

Gilbert, R.A.:
If you are interested in the history of the GD get any of his books. Mr. Gilbert is the custodian of a number of private collections of GD material, so he has access to stuff that, quite literally, no one else does. His most recent (and thus most available) is:

A Golden Dawn Scrapbook

Greer, John Michael:
Unfortunately, most of Greer's ceremonial magical books are out of print right now. He is currently the head of an hermetically inspired druid order in the US.

Circles of Power - GD style ritual magic with a lot of the GDness taken out. An excellent book.

Inside a Magical Lodge - Got what it takes to start and run your own temple or order? Here are some suggestions just in case wink

Paths of Wisdom - An excellent introduction (and a little beyond) to hermetic qabalah. Much better than Dion Fortune's stuff.

King, Francis (ed):
Ritual Magic of the Golden Dawn - Actually a misleading title, as it actually contains the "Flying Rolls" of the RR et AC, the GD's second order of Adepts. So, somewhat advanced material here.

Regardie, Israel:
The Golden Dawn - Currently in its 6th edition, still in print.

Zalewski, Pat and Chris:
Unfortunately these are out of print.

The Equinox and Solstice Ceremonies of the Golden Dawn - This discusses the Equinox ceremony of the GD and the Corpus Christi/Consecration of the Vault of the Adepti ceremony of the RR et AC.

The Magical Tarot of the Golden Dawn - Privately published, you'd have to e-mail Pat to see if he still has copies (yes, I have his e-mail address around somewhere).

Zalewski, Pat:
Golden Dawn Rituals and Commentaries, vols. 1-3 - Contains all of the GD initiation rituals, plus the Adeptus Minor ritual, including the magical stuff that goes on behind the scenes. Also privately published.

Kabbalah of the Golden Dawn - This came into reprint as a hard cover for a while, I have no idea if its still available.

Talismans & Evocations of the Golden Dawn - Quite advanced but also actually in print.

There are a number of other books by Pat that are quite good, but also very advanced and not really necessary to the average practitioner (unless you're a geek like I am).

Thelema
As a note, I'm only including things that I have read here, there are a lot of books on the subject and, as I don't really collect books on Thelema, I may have left some things out that others might consider crucial.

Crowley, Aleister (aka "Uncle Al"):
777 and Other Qabalistic Writings of Aleister Crowley - All of the GD's correspondences. The name is misleading as Crowley only added a little to these, the rest he nicked from his time in the GD and his GD mentor.

The Book of the Law: Liber AL vel Legil Sub Figura CCXX - If you are going to understand anything about Thelema, you need to read its primary sacred text. Yeah, that would be this. Available online in lots of place.

The Book of Thoth - Crowley's tarot book. Probably one of the best books written on the subject of the heremtic tarot. Not at all easy to read though.

The Equinox - vols 1-10. Way out of print, very expensive if you can find even one of the reprints. This essentially has a large number of essays, rituals, poems, reviews, etc. Primarily written by Crowley but also by some others. Also has info on the A.'.A.'. and the O.T.O.

Liber Aleph vel CXI: The Book of Wisdom or Folly - This gets skipped over by a lot of people, however it really leads to some insight concerning Uncle Al and his thoughts and magical system.

Magick in Theory and Practice - Crowley's magical system, as derived from the GD. This was my first book on ceremonial magic, don't let it be yours. In order to understand much of Crowley's stuff you need to have some foundation in the GD, so get either Regardie or Self-Initiation first, then tackle this one. I don't know if its still in print as a stand alone, otherwise it is part of Book Four, which is currently in print, but on the expensive side.

Moon Child - Fiction, but worth the read. This is Crowley's A.'.A.'. fiction.

Diary of a Drug Fiend - Also fiction, this is his O.T.O. fiction.

Enochian
Casaubon, Meric: Dr. John Dee's Actions with Spirits - If you are interested in Enochain magic at all, then get this, as it is primary source material.

James, Geoffrey: The Enochian Magick of Dr. John Dee - Despite being from Llewellyn it is quite good, giving a great deal of primary source material.

Laycock, Donald C.: The Complete Enochain Dictionary - Culled from Dee's original material, as well as additions by the GD, AS and AA.

Ben Rowe (aka Josh Norton II): Until his relatively recent passing (and probably even after) Rowe was was on the foremost Enochain magicians around. His work can only be found online: http://www.hermetic.com/browe/index.html and http://www.hermetic.com/browe-archive/

Kabbalah/Jewish Mysticism/Occultism
Green, Arthur: A Guide to the Zohar - A guide that goes along with Matt's translation. A good bit of history in here too.

Jassen, Alex and Noegel, Scott:
Jewish Magic Bibliography - Yes, technically an online resource, but its a bibliography of non-online resources (er, books, articles, etc). A wonderful bibliography. Mind you a bunch of this stuff is in German and Hebrew, but such is life.

Kaplan, Aryeh (trans):
The Bahir
The Sefer Yetzirah
Meditation and Kabbalah

Klein, Eliahu (trans): Kabbalah of Creation - A translation of part of Sefer Etz Chi’iam, one of the most important Kabbalistic books written down by the chief disciple of Rabbi Isaac Luria, the most important Kabbalist since the author of the Zohar a few hundred years earlier. Unfortunately the other translation of Sefer Etz Chi’iam is both very expensive and out of print (not to mention hard to find).

Mathers, S.L.: The Kabbalah Unveiled - A translation into English of a translation into Latin of a part of the Zohar originally written in Aramaic. This translation is not actually that useful for understanding the Kabbalah, especially as Mathers doesn't bother to separate his notes and interpretations from the original text, but it does give a good deal of insight into Mathers' understanding of the Kabbalah which is the basis of the GD's qabalah.

Matt, Daniel (trans): The Zohar - Currently vols 1-3 have been published, I believe there are going to be 15 vols. of this.

Scholem, Gershom: Major Trends in Jewish Mysticism - Dr. Scholem was one of the first academics to take the study of Kabbalah seriously. While some of his work is now out dated much of it is not, and all of it is important. Unfortunately, in order to legitimize his work he tended to make verbal attacks on modern magical qabalah, but such is life. Well, anything by Scholem really.

Weinstein, Avi (trans): Gates of LIght: Sha'are Orah - Contemporary to the Zohar, though from a slightly different school. My understanding of the sefirot is greatly derived from here. Originally written by Rabbi Joseph Gikatilla.

Dion Fortune
There wont be a lot of comment on these, I'm not a huge Fortune fan and its been years since I've read anything by her besides fiction.

The Mystical Qabalah - Nowhere nearly as good as Greer's work, but interesting for some historical reasons, especially the "race theory" that was popular then.

The Training and Work of an Initiate

What is Occultism?

Sane Occultism

Any of her fiction. They don't really work well as novels, but they are still good reading.

General
Agrippa, H.C.: Three Books of Occult Philosophy - Probably one of the most important books on medieval occultism, much of the material in the GD, AS and AA are derived from here.

Hermes Thrice-Grand:
The Emerald Tablet - One of the foundation texts of modern ceremonial magic and western alchemy.

The Corpus Hermeticum - Another one of those foundation texts. I highly recommend Brian P. Copenhaver translation of this if you are looking for something that is not just in the public domain. This has an excellent introduction and extensive notes. The Walter Scott editions should be avoided as largely usless (and if I recall correctly, strangly translated into English with a pseudo-Scottish dialect . . . don't ask me why).

Kieckhefer, Richard: Magic in the Middle Ages - Pretty much what it says, and excellent book.

King, Francis: Modern Ritual Magic - A modern history on the subject.

Leitch, Aaron: Secrets of the Magickal Grimories - Hmm, well, its worth the read if you are interested in grimoric magic, though I tend to disagree with some of his basic historical premises. Personally, I'd skip the first four chapters, but thats me.

McIntosh, Christopher: The Rosicrucans - Excellent history on the various Rosicrucian movements.

Peterson, Joseph (ed.) The Lesser Key of Solomon - probably the only worth while edition of the Key; an actually critical and scholarly edition this.  

[Nuadu]

Pagan-relevant parts of my thesis (or dissertation for the Americans in the room) bibliography. While the articles may be out of reach for some of you (though check your library's database) many of these books are available for purchase (and, again, check your library!). abebooks.com and addall.com are my usual suggestions for book hunting.

Not all of these are directly related to modern Paganisms but I think even those that are not are quite interesting and are at least indirectly related to things Pagan.

--------------------------
ACKERMAN, R., 2002. The Myth and Ritual School: J. G. Frazer and the Cambridge Ritualists. NY: Routledge.

ACKERMAN, R., 1991. The Cambridge Group: Origins and Composition, CALDER, WILLIAM M., III, ed. In: The Cambridge Ritualists Reconsidered: Proceedings of the First Oldfather Conference, 27-30 April 1989 1991, Scholars Press pp. 1-19.

ACKERMAN, R., 1975. Frazer on Myth and Ritual. Journal of the History of Ideas, 36(1), pp. 115-134.

Ackerman goes on a good deal about James Frazer and Jane Harrison. Frazer you all probably know. Harrison is less well known in Paganism but more or less invented the idea of the year-spirit which Holly King and the Oak King seem to have been based upon. The year-spirit is a development of Frazer's vegetative dying-god that goes beyond the scope of Frazer's idea.

ADLER, M., 2006. Drawing Down the Moon. 3rd edn. NY: Penguin Books. Do I really need to say anything? The did take out all the fun nekkid pics though.

ALBANESE, C.L., 2002. Reconsidering Nature Religion. 1st edn. Harrisburg, PA: Trinity Press International.

ALBANESE, C.L., 1990. Nature Religion in America: From the Algonkian Indians to the New Age. 1st edn. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.

These two books, especially the earlier one, are quite important. Albanese traces the idea of 'nature' in modern Western thought, which isn't quite as natural as you might think.

BADO-FRALICK, N., 2000. Coming to the Edge of the Circle: A Wiccan Initiation Ritual. Doctor of Philosophy edn. Columbus, OH: Ohio State University. Nikki's PhD dissertation. This is now available in an edited book version, I think through Oxford University Press, same title as the dissertation.

BAINES, J., 1991. Egyptian Myth and Discourse: Myth, Gods, and the Early Written and Iconographic Record. Journal of Near Eastern Studies, 50(2), pp. 81-105. This should be read in conjunction with Goebs below. Interesting stuff on thinking about myth in both narrative and non-narrative forms.

BELL, C., 1997. Ritual: Perspectives and Dimensions. NY: Oxford University Press.

BELL, C., 1992. Ritual Theory, Ritual Practice. New York: Oxford University Press.

Bell is considered by some (not me) to be the most cutting edge theorist on myth. Good stuff, but a number of hidden agendas I think.

BERGER, H.A., 1999. A Community of Witches: Contemporary Neo-Paganism and Witchcraft in the United States. 1st edn. Columbia, SC: University of South Carolina. Not very good actually, overly reductionistic when it comes to what Paganism is, and attempts at universal theory based on the study of a single coven.

BERGER, H.A., LEACH, E.A. and LEIGH, S., 2003. Voices From the Pagan Census: A National Survey of Witches and Neo-Pagans in the United States. 1st edn. Columbia, SC: University of South Carolina. Interesting but dated, still, very useful and even important.

BLAIN, J., 2004. Tracing the In/Authentic Seeress: From Seid-Magic to Stone Circles. In: J. BLAIN, D. EZZY and G. HARVEY, eds, Researching Paganisms. Walnut Creek, CA: AltaMira Press, pp. 217-240.

BLAIN, J., EZZY, D. and HARVEY, G., 2004. Introduction. In: J. BLAIN, D. EZZY and G. HARVEY, eds, Researching Paganisms.1st edn. Waulnut Creek, CA: AltaMira Press, pp. 1-12.

BOWMAN, M., 2000. Nature, the Natural and Pagan Identity. http://www.uni-marburg.de/religionswissenschaft/journal/diskus/bowman_2.html edn. Bath, England: DISKUS WebEdition.

CARPENTER, D.D., 1996a. Emergent Nature Spirituality: An Examination of the Major Spiritual Contours of the Contemporary Pagan Worldview. In: J.R. LEWIS, ed, Magical Religion and Modern Witchcraft. Albany, NY: State University of New York, pp. 55-72.

CARPENTER, D.D., 1996b. Practitioners of Paganism and Wiccan Spirituality in Contemporary Society: A Review of the Literature. In: J.R. LEWIS, ed, Magical Religion and Modern Witchcraft. Albany, NY: State University of New York, pp. 373-406.

CHEAL, D. and LEVERICK, J., 1999. Working Magic in Neo-Paganism. Journal of Ritual Studies, 13(1), pp. 7-19. Some interesting stuff here on common Revivalist Pagan ritual praxes.

CHRIST, C., 2003. She Who Changes: Re-Imagining the Divine in the World. 1st edn. NY: Palgrave MacMillan. Fascinating but poorly thought out, mostly an attack on religions that don't do things her way.

CHUVIN, P., 1990. A Chronicle of the Last Pagans. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

CLIFTON, C., 2006. her hidden children: The Rise of Wicca and Paganism in America. 1st edn. Lanham, MD: AltaMira Press. Very interesting, deals with both the coming of Wicca to the U.S. and builds on Albanese's idea of nature in a Pagan context.

CLIFTON, C.S., 2004. Drugs, Books, and Witches. In: J. BLAIN, D. EZZY and G. HARVEY, eds, Researching Paganisms. 1st edn. Walnut Creek, CA: AltaMira Press, pp. 85-96.

CORNFORD, F.M., 1996. A Ritual Basis for Hesiod's Theogony . In: R. SEGAL, ed, Ritual and Myth: Robertson Smithe, Frazer, Hooke, and Harrison. NY: Garland Publishing, Inc., pp. 45-66.

COWAN, D.E., 2005. Cyberhenge: Modern Pagans on the Internet. NY: Routledge. I have issues with his methodology, but its an interesting read.

COWAN, D.E., 1998. Too Narrow and Too Close: Some Problems with Participant Observation in the Study of New Religious Movements. Method & Theory in the Study of Religion, 10(4), pp. 391-406.

DAVIS, M., January 27, 2002, 2002-last update, from man to witch: Gerald Gardner 1946-1949 [Homepage of www.geraldgardner.com], [Online]. Available: http://www.geraldgardner.com/index/Gardner46-49.PDF [June 16, 2004].

DOTY, W.G., 2000. Mythography: The Study of Myths and Rituals. 2nd edn. Tuscaloosa, AL: University of Alabama Press. An excellent introduction to the study of myth.

ELIADE, M., 1991. Towards a Definition of Myth. In: Y. BONNEFOY, ed, Greek and Egyptian Mythologies. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, pp. 3-5.

ELIADE, M., 1963. Myth and Reality. NY: Harper and Row.

ELIADE, M., 1970. Shamanism: Archaic Techniques of Ecstasy. 2nd edn. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. Problematic. Eliade was an historian, not an anthropologist. He has been recently criticized for having more or less invented the modern anthropological (and popular) idea of the shaman, which doesn't really represent the practices of any actual group of people.

EWING, K.P., 1994. Dreams from a Saint: Anthropological Atheism and the Temptation to Believe. American Anthropologist, 96(3), pp. 571-583. Very important; punches holes in the idea that one can actually approach topics in a completely neutral fashion. So much for anthropology as an objective science.

EZZY, D, 2004. Religious Ethnography: Practicing the Witch’s Craft. In: J. BLAIN, D. EZZY and G. HARVEY, eds, Researching Paganisms. Walnut Creek, CA: AltaMira Press, pp.113-128.

FAIVRE, A., 1994. Access to Western Esotericism. Albany, NY: SUNY Press. Very interesting, especially for establishing Wicca as an esoteric religion. He doesn't actually do that, but I will get around to the article one of these days. This will open up the study of Wicca, and related Paganisms, to areas outside of the usual suspects. Alas, some hidden methodological issues and agenda, but workable and workaroundable. Yes, I know thats not a word.

FEINSTEIN, D. and KRIPPNER, S., 1988. Personal Mythology: The Psychology of Your Evolving Self. Los Angeles, CA: Jeremy P. Tarcher, Inc.

FOWLER, R.L., 1991. Gilber Murray: Four (Five) Stages of Greek Religion, CALDER, WILLIAM M., III, ed. In: The Cambridge Ritualists Reconsidered: Proceedings of the First Oldfather Conference, 27039 April 1989 1991, Scholars Press pp.79-95.

FOX, R., 1986. Pagans and Christians. NY: Knopf Publishing Group.

FRAZER, J.G., 1959. The New Golden Bough. T. GASTER, ed. NY: Criterion Books, Inc. An edited and much foreshortened version of the Golden Bough.

FRAZER, J.G., 1998. Introduction to Apollodorus, 'The Library'. In: R. SEGAL, ed, The Myth and Ritual Theory. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishers Inc., pp. 379-80.

GALLAGHER, E.V., 1994. A Religion without Converts? Becoming a Neo-Pagan. Journal of the American Academy of Religion, LXII(3), pp. 851-867.

GARDNER, G., 2004. Witchcraft Today. Fiftieth Anniversary Edition. NY: Citadel Press. One of the classics on witchcraft and Wicca. Also some interesting articles at the end by Hutton and friends.

GOEBS, K., 2002. A Functional Approach to Egyptian Myth and Mythemes. Journal of Ancient Near Eastern Religions, 2(1), pp. 27-59.

GRAVES, R.P., 2003. Robert Graves and the White Goddess: An Introduction. In: I. FIRLA and G. LINDOP, eds, Graves and the Goddess: Essays on Robert Graves's The White Goddess. 1st edn. Cranbury, NJ: Rosemont Publishing & Printing Corp., pp. 13-24. Good stuff about how Graves developed the idea of the White Goddess.

GRAVES, R., 1966. The White Goddess. 4th edn. NY: Farrar, Straus and Giroux. Gardner was greatly influenced by Graves, they even held written correspondences over several years. This is where the Holly King/Oak King cycle appears to have its origins, as it is not found in any of Gardner's stuff before the publishing of Graves.

GREENWOOD, S. 2006. The Encyclopedia of Magic and Witchcraft: An Illustrated Historical Reference to Spiritual Worlds. 2nd edn. London, England: Hermes House.

GREENWOOD, S., 2005. The Nature of Magic: An Anthropology of Consciousness. 1st edn. Oxford, England: Berg.

GREENWOOD, S., 2000. Magic, Witchcraft and the Otherworld: An Anthropology. 1st edn. Oxford, England: Berg.

Greenwood's stuff is interesting and quite useful. She even seems to go native a bit; naughty anthropologist.

GRIMES, R.L., 1989. Of Words the Speaker, of Deeds the Doer. The Journal of Religion, 66(1), pp. 1-17.

GRIMES, R.L., 1982a. Beginnings in Ritual Studies. Washington D.C.: University Press of America, Inc.

Grimes is good for ritual studies, though caveat emptor.

HANEGRAAFF, W.J., 1998. New Age Religion and Western Culture: Esotericism in the Mirror of Secular Thought. NY: State University of New York Press. Interesting stuff on the New Age, but his understanding of Paganism is non-existent. His methodology is highly questionable as well, and stems from old school religious studies (i.e. all textual, wouldn't want to actually talk to living people after all, ewwww, Pagan cooties!). A problem all too common in the Academy actually.

HARRINGTON, M., 2004. Psychology of Religion and the Study of Paganism. In: J. BLAIN, D. EZZY and G. HARVEY, eds, Researching Paganisms. 1st edn. Walnut Creek, CA: AltaMira Press, pp. 71-84.

HARRINGTON, M., 2002. The Long Journey Home; a Study of the Conversion Profiles of 35 British Wiccan Men. Revista de Estudos da Religiāo, 2, pp. 18-50.

HARRISON, J., 1963. Themis. 2nd edn. London, England: Merlin Press.

HARROW, J., 2004. Looking Backward: Gardner's Sources. In: G.B. GARDNER, Witchcraft Today. 3rd edn. NY: Citadel Press Books, pp. 165-172.

HARVEY, G., 1999. Coming home and coming out Pagan (but not converting). In: BYRANT, M. DARROL' LAMB, CHRISTOPHER, ed, Religious Conversion: Contemporary Practices and Controversies. 1st edn. London, England: Cassell, pp. 233-246.

HEELAS, P., 1996. The New Age Movement. Oxford, England: Blackwell Publishers Ltd.

HUMPHREY, C. and LAIDLAW, J., 1994. The Archetypal Actions of Ritual: A Theory of Ritual Illustrated by the Jain Rite of Worship. NY: Oxford University Press.

HUTTON, R., 2004. Living With Witchcraft. In: J. BLAIN, D. EZZY and G. HARVEY, eds, Researching Paganisms. 1st edn. Walnut Creek, CA: AltaMira Press, pp. 171-187.

HUTTON, R., 2004. A Starting Point. In: G.B. GARDNER, Witchcraft Today. 3rd edn. NY: Citadel Press Books, pp. 161-164.

HUTTON, R., 2000. Paganism and Polemic: The Debate over the Origins of Modern Pagan Witchraft. http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m2386/is_1_111/ai_62685559 edn. Abingdon, UK: Folklore.

HUTTON, R., 1999. The Triumph of the Moon: A History of Modern Pagan Witchcraft. 2nd edn. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press.

HUTTON, R., 1993. The Pagan Religions of the Ancient British Isles: Their Nature and Legacy. 1st edn. Oxford, England: Blackwell Publishers.

Do I really need to say anything about Hutton? Yes? Ok then: READ HIM.

JONES, P. and PENNICK, N., 1995. A History of Pagan Europe. London, England: Routledge.

JUNG, C.G. and KERÉNY, C., 1963. Essays on a Science of Mythology. 2nd edn. NY: Harper Torchbooks.

KELLY, A.A., 1992. An Update on Neopagan Witchcraft in America. In: J.R. LEWIS and J.G. MELTON, eds, Perspectives on the New Age. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press, pp. 136-151.

KIECKHEFER, R., 2000. Magic in the Middle Ages. 2nd edn. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.

KING, F., 1989. Modern Ritual Magic: The Rise of Western Occultism. 3rd edn. Dorset, England: Prism Press.

KUPPERMAN, J.S., 2004-last update, towards a definition of initiation: emic and etic views of initiation in the western mystery tradition. [Esoterica], [Online]. Available: http://www.esoteric.msu.edu/VolumeVI/Initiation.htm [July 29, 2004.]

KUPPERMAN, J.S., 12 December, 2003, 2003-last update, by names and images: golden dawn egyptian mythology [Homepage of Journal of the Western Mystery Tradition], [Online]. Available: http://www.jwmt.org/v1n1/names.html [2 June, 2006].

Don't know this guy at all . . noo nee noo nee noo

LELAND, C.G., 2003. Aradia or the Gospel of the Witches. Franklin Lakes, NJ: New Page Books. The basis for some of Gardner's Wicca. Alas, much like the Murray thesis, debunked.

LEHRICH, C.I., 2003. The Language of Angels and Demons: Cornelius Agrippa's Occult Philosophy. 1st edn. Boston, MA: Brill. Not really Pagan, but its probably true that without Agrippa there would be no Revivalist Paganisms as we understand them today. Lots of interesting stuff. Expensive, try ILL.

LEWIS, J.R. and RABINOVITCH, S.T., 2002. The Encyclopedia of Modern Witchcraft and Neo-Paganism. 1st edn. NY: Citadel Press.

LINDOP, G., 2003. The White Goddess: Sources, Contexts, Meanings. In: I. FIRLA and G. LINDOP, eds, Graves and the Goddess: Essays on Robert Graves's The White Goddess. 1st edn. Cranbury, NJ: Rosemont Publishing & Printing Corp., pp. 25-39.

LUHRMANN, T.M., 1989. Persuasions of the Witch's Craft. 2nd edn. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. A classic actually. Also the cause for 2 decades of Pagan mistrust of anthropologists in the UK. Interesting but highly flawed in so many, many ways.

MAGLIOCCO, S., 2004. Witching Culture: Folklore and Neo-Paganism in America. Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press.

MAGLIOCCO, S., 1996. Ritual is my Chosen Art Form: The Creation of Ritual as Folk Art among Contemporary Pagans. In: J.R. LEWIS, ed, Magical Religion and Modern Witchcraft. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press, pp. 93-119.

MASON, H., 1980. Myth as an "Ambush of Reality". In: A.M. OLSON, ed, Myth, Symbol and Reality. Notre Dame, IN: Notre Dame Press, pp. 15.

NYE, M., 2000. Religion, Post-Religionism, and Religioning: Religious Studies and Contemporary Cultural Debates. Method & Theory in the Study of Religion, 12(4), pp. 447-476.

NYE, M., 1999. Religion is Religioning? Anthropology and the Cultural Study of Religion. Scottish Journl of Religious Studies, 20(2), pp. 193-234.

Nye doesn't really have anything to do with Paganism, but interesting never the less, about different ways in which to understand the idea of religion.

PEARSON, J., 2001. "Going native in reverse": the insider as researcher in British Wicca. Nova Religio, 5(1), pp. 52-63.

PEARSON, J., 2000. Wicca, Esotericism and Living Nature: Assessing Wicca as Nature Religion. Pomegranate: The Journal of Pagan Studies, (14), pp. 4-15.

PEARSON, J., 1998. Assumed Affinities : Wicca and the New Age. In: J. PEARSON, R.H. ROBERTS and G. SAMUEL, eds, Nature Religion Today: Paganism in the Modern World. Edinburgh, Scotland: Edinburgh University Press, pp. 45-56.

My former advisor. Some interesting and important stuff here.

PHARAND, M., 2003. Greek Myths, White Goddess: Robert Graves Cleans Up a "Dreadful Mess". In: I. FIRLA and G. LINDROP, eds, Graves and the Goddess: Essays on Robert Graves's The White Goddess. 1st edn. Selinsgrove, PA: Susquehanna University Press, pp. 183-191.

PIKE, S.M., 2004. New Age and Neopagan Religions in America. NY: Columbia University Press.

PIKE, S.M., 1996. Rationalizing the Margins: A Review of Legitimation and Ethnographic Practice in Scholarly Research on Neo-Paganism. In: J.R. LEWIS, ed, Magical Religion and Modern Witchcraft. Albany, NY: State University of New York, pp. 354-372.

RABINOVITCH, S.T., 1996. Spells of Transformation: Categorizing Modern Neo-Pagan Witches. In: J.R. LEWIS, ed, Magical Religion and Modern Witchcraft. Albany, NY: State University of New York, pp. 75-91.

REID, S. L. M., 2001. Disorganized Religion: An Exploration of the Neopagan Craft in Canada. Doctor of Philosophy edn. Ottawa, Canada: Carleton University. Important for studying people who may believe things similar to what you believe.

REES, K., 1996. The Tangled Skein: the Role of Myth in Paganism. In: C. HARDMAN and G. HARVEY, eds, Paganism Today. 1st edn. London: Thorsons, pp. 16-31.

SALOMONSEN, J., 2004. Methods of Compassion or Pretension? The Challenges of Conducting Fieldwork in Modern Magical Communities. In: J. BLAIN, D. EZZY and G. HARVEY, eds, Researching Paganisms. Walnut Creek, CA: AltaMira Press, pp. 43-58.

SALOMONSEN, J., 2002. Enchanted Feminism: The Reclaiming Witches of San Francisco. New York: Routledge.

These two above are very important for methodology and approaching the study of people who may think differently than you do.

SNOEK, J.A.M., 2003. Grimes' Deeply into the Bone, a non-American comment. http://www.rzuser.uni-heidelberg.de/~es3/e-journal/buecher/snoek.pdf edn. Heidelberg, Germany: Heidelberger e-Journal für Ritualwissenschaft.

SNOEK, J.A.M., 1987. Initiations : A Methodological Approach to the Application of Classification and Definition Theory in the Study of Rituals. Pijnacker: Dutch Efficiency Bureau.

STRENSKI, I., 1996. The Rise of Ritual and the Hegemony of Myth: Sylvain Lévi, the Durkheimians, and Max Müller. In: L.L. PATTON and W. DONIGER, eds, 1st edn. Charlottesville, VA: University Press of Virginia, pp. 52-81.

SUTCLIFFE, R., 1995. Left-Hand Path Ritual Magick: An Historical and Philosophical Overview. In: C. Hardman and G. HARVEY, eds, Paganism Today. 1st edn. London, England: Thorsons, pp. 109-137.

TAMBIAH, S.J., 1990. Magic, Science, Religion, and the Scope of Rationality. 1st edn. NY: Cambridge University Press.

WALLIS, R.J., 2004. Between the Worlds: Autoarchaeology and Neo-Shamans. In: J. BLAIN, D. EZZY and G. HARVEY, eds, 1st edn. Walnut Creek, CA: AltaMira Press, pp. 191-216.

WALLIS, R.J., 2003. Shamans/neo-Shamans: Ecstasy, Alternative Archaeologies and Contemporary Pagans. 1st edn. London, England: Routledge.

YORK, M., 2003. Pagan Theology. 1st edn. NY: New York University Press.

YORK, M., 2000. Defining Paganism. Pomegranate: The Journal of Pagan Studies, (11), pp. 4-9.

YORK, M., 1995. The Emerging Network: A Sociology of the New Age and Neo-pagan Movements. 1st edn. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.

Nice guy, Michael, some interesting stuff. Disagree with a lot of it, such as the entire premise of Pagan Theology, but still interesting stuff.  

[Squireof the son]

I'm really surprised that everyone missed this book: Entangled minds by Dean Radin. Extrasensory experiences in a quantum reality. It explains psi and stuff like that using quantum theory(you'll know what i'm talking about if you studied or seen/read timeline).I'm only on chapter 3,but it seems rational,and kinda intresting.  

[Cunning Witch Angus]

Wassail!

Here is a list of books about Traditional Witchcraft. Hope it will be useful indeed.
This is a list that I took from a forum that I visit frequently. Not all of these I have read, a lot I have on order.

I'll * the books that you can find at the bookstore, usually. Most are found in the Poetry, Mythology, and Anthropology sections
The ones with (x) are considered the best.

NOVELS:
"Confessions of a Pagan Nun" Kate Horsley
"Harvest Home" Thomas Tryon (will have to buy used)
"The Spiral Dances" R. Garcia y Robertson (buy used)
"Pan's Garden" by Algernon Blackwood
"The White People" by Arthur Machen

MYTH:
"The Dark Spirit" by Bob Curran
"The Victorian Fairy Tale Book" (*) Michael Hearn
"Irish Fairy and Folk Tales" (*) WB Yeats
"Strange and Secret Peoples" Carole Silver
"The Secret Lives of Elves and Faeries" (*) John Matthews
"The White Goddess" (*) Robert Graves

HISTORY:

"The Triumph of the Moon" (x) Ronald Hutton
"Witches, Druids and King Arthur" Ronald Hutton
"Cunning-Folk" (x) Owen Davies
"Ecstasies: Deciphering the Witches' Sabbath" (x) Carlo Ginzburg
"The Way of Wyrd" (x) Brian Bates
"The Real Middle Earth" (x) Brian Bates
"Dreamtime" (x) Hans Peter Duerr
"Hamlet's Mill" (*)(x) Giorgio de Santillana
"The Golden Bough" (*) (x) Sir James George Frazer
"The Sacred and the Profane" (*)(x) Mircea Eliade
"In the Dark Places of Wisdom" (x)Peter Kingsley
"Witchdom of the True" (x) Edred
"Witches, Werewolves and Fairies" Claude Lecouteux
"The Night Battles" Carlo Ginzburg
"The Lancashire Witches" Poole ed.
"Reality" (x) Peter Kingsley
"Wiccan Roots" Philip Hesselton

PRACTICE:

"The Witching Way of the Hollow Hill" (x) Robin Artisson
"Helsongs" (x) Robin Artisson
"The Horn of Evenwood" (x) Robin Artisson
"Mastering Witchcraft" Paul Huson
"The Crone's Book of Charms and Spells" (*) Valerie Worth
"The Crone's Book of Magical Words" (*) Valerie Worth
"The Pillars of Tuban Cain" Nigel Jackson and Nigel Pennick
"Call of the Horned Piper" (x) Nigel Jackson
"Masks of Misrule" (x) Nigel Jackson
"Secrets of East Anglian Magic" Nigel Pennick
"Compleat Vampyre" Nigel Jackson
"The Roebuck in the Thicket" (x) Robert Cochrane and Evan John Jones
"The Underworld Initiation" (x) RJ Stewart
"The Living World of Faery" (x) RJ Stewart
"Power Within the Land" RJ Stewart
"Earth Light" RJ Stewart
"Hedgerider" Eric de Vries  

[erinnightwalker]

i have a bunch of books and essays saved on my computer, if anybody wants a copy. mostly older works (i think i have the three books of agrippa in here somewhere.....) and chaos magick. i haven't read them all so its read at your own risk, but they have been swept for viruses. my personal favorite right now is psychic self defense. oh, and i have a copy of The Faerie Queen and Kublai Khan.

edit- i also have 3 agrippa books, stuff on alchemy, etc etc. just pm if you are interested  

[log_bx]

The Hedge Witch by Rae Beth (1992) is probably one of the most dog earred books in my collection.

I would also recommend readings on the construction of "witchcraft" through out Europe in the 15th and 16th centuries to gain a more open view on how misconceptions were spread. Two of my favorites are: Languages of Witchcraft: by Stuart Clark and Devil in the Shape of a Woman by Carol Karlsen.  

[Elfshaman]

Wow you guys know alot of books. ok i only have a few cause i just started but two good reference books are Encyclopedia of Magical Herbs by scott cunningham and also his book on stones called Crstal, Gems and Metal magic. they probably arent the fansiest or anything but they are simple and well organized to allow you to find the herbs or stones you're looking for as well as he gives a quick 101 course on how to prepare and use herbs and stones.  

[Nattfodd]

Raistlin of Krynn

I'm so suprised that there has not been one mention of anything written by Aleister Crowley or Isreal Regardie...

Crowley's writings in "The Book of Thoth", "777", "The Equinox", "Book 4", "the Book of the Law", and "Gematria" are beneficial to all interested in modern occultism.

Regardie's book "The Golden Dawn" is an amazing compendium of Golden Dawn Rituals and other Occultist knowledge. "The Middle Pillar", "A Garden of Pomegranites", and "The Tree of Life" deal mostly with Kabballah, which is the basis of most if not all of Western Hermeticism/Occultism.

The Book of Thoth -- An excellent reference guide to learn, quite in a straight fashion, the Tarot of the Egyptians and the symbolism that lies in tarot decks associated. It also lists astrological correspondences, has charts, and pictures of the Lady Frieda Harris deck.

777 -- haven't read it. My ex has it.

The Equinox -- The Equinox is out of print, and scoring yourself an original copy of all ten volumes is going to set you back a lot of bread. There are small pieces of it out there, like the Blue Equinox, but I'd suggest getting Regardie's Gems from the Equinox. It supplies the necessary material for A.'. A.'. students and has a lot of great stuff.

Book Four -- Since Magick Without Tears isn't in print at the moment, Book Four is your best bet for introduction into Crowley's systems. It is, however, kind of vague, and if you're used to normal bookstore Witchcraft volumes, you may have a really hard time grasping the system and context in the beginning.

The Book of the Law -- A great piece to have, if for nothing more than amusement at the language and claims made therein. However, Liber AL is available in Gems from the Equinox and in some editions of Book Four, so if you're low on money, you might not want to get multiple editions.

As far as the Golden Dawn book you mentioned,

I highly recommend The Complete Golden Dawn System of Magic (New Falcon press I think?) as it's much more complete and scholarly in nature compared to Lewellyns edition.  

[Cunning Witch Angus]

The thing I love about my Borders is that I am the only patron to read the Aliester Crowley books XD I just sit in the the chair and read to my hearts content, they never leave!  

[astrenose]

I highly recommend this book.

"Life After Death?" by Mulford Q. Sibley