Recommend Reading List

[Ingwe]

Anything by Scott Cunningham is worth reading, he did "write the book" on wicca. It still bothers me that he's male... but whatever... lol.

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Why would it bother you that Scott was male? Wicca is not a women's religion, it is a religion which honors the divine in both male and female. And after all, it was Gerald Gardner (another male) who first introduced Wicca to the world, and Ray Buckland (another male) who, along with his wife, brought Wicca to the US. We like our menfolks and value them as representations of the God.

-Lark-

Completely agree with you Lark

Anyway, as for books:

Withcraft Today – Gerald Gardner, a must read since he was the founder
A Witches Bible – Janet and Stewart Farrar
Wicca: A Guide for the Solitary Practitioner – Scott Cunningham (found it a very easy approach, maybe a good one for beginners)
Hedge Witch — A Guide to Solitary Witchcraft – Rae Beth

[reikihealer83]

Hi All,

I just got Natural Witchery from the library and I am looking forward to reading it. I also got the Crystal Bible and I am looking forward to reading that too. Should be fun:-)

[JBRaven]

a wiccan bible by a.j. drew is very theological and has a huge appendix of deities in the back. some of what he says isnt very logical, but overall its good.

earth, air, water, and fire by cunningham is really good too.

I Love these books! A wiccan bible byAj Drew is the gretest because it gives you more than other wiccan how to book. It is a must

Another I would recommend that isn't a witch book so to speak is "the dancing Wu Li Master" it has to do with quantum physics. It is a pretty easy read because it was written in laymens terms.

[Buttercup]

I haven't read many books on magic and Wicca,but from the ones I've read I would definitely suggest the following:

1)Cunningham's books.I especially liked the "Spell Crafts" books he has written together with David Harrington. It is about crafting things to use them magically (brooms,spell bottles,potpourris,spell boxes etc). It's a really good book if you're into making things yourself and it has many introductory info on magic. It's not a Wiccan book,it's a book on magic though. I also liked "Wicca: a guide for the solitary practitioner". It was the first book I read on Wicca and it really put things into a good perspective for me,both for Wicca and magic.

2)"The real Witches' Garden" by Kate West if you're into gardening of any form.

3)"Element encyclopedia of 5000 spells" and "Element encyclopedia of witchcraft" by Judika Illes,as well as "the complete book of incense,oils and brews" by Scott Cunningham. I know I mentioned Cunningham's books above,but I put this one here since these three are in the category of reference books rather than study books. If you're looking for something like that as well,to help you with your spells etc. I would strongly recommend them.

As for books about the different paths etc. I'm looking for something like that myself,so I hope other members have some recommendations!

[LorriePaige]

Here is my suggested reading list:

Composing Magic by Elizabeth Barrette

Crafting Magick by Susan Pesznnecker

The Everything Wicca & Witchcraft Book by Skye Alexander

Llewellyn's Sabbats Almanac

Christian Wicca by Nancy Chandler Pittman

The Virtual Pagan by Lisa McSherry

Magickal Connections, subtitled Creating a Lasting and Healthy Spiritual Group by Lisa McSherry

Moon Magick by D.J. Conway

Sabbats, subtitled A Witch's Approach to Living the Old Ways by Edain McCoy

Animal Talk by Penelope Smith

Wheel of the Year, subtitled Living the Magical Life by Pauline Campanelli

Christian Voodoo by Eric Gibbons

The Gospel of the Nazirenes edited by Alan Wauters and Rick Van Wyhe

[Ingwe]

After reading your post I just wonder, does anyone read Withcraft Today from Gerald Gardner? After all Wicca was introduced by him, is almost like being a Christian and not read the Bible

[LorriePaige]

After reading your post I just wonder, does anyone read Withcraft Today from Gerald Gardner? After all Wicca was introduced by him, is almost like being a Christian and not read the Bible

I never read that one. I'll have to check it out.

[Buttercup]

After reading your post I just wonder, does anyone read Withcraft Today from Gerald Gardner? After all Wicca was introduced by him, is almost like being a Christian and not read the Bible

Part of the "bonus" of choosing a different religion when you are older is that you actually read the books that are considered sacred or wise for this religion. I haven't met a Christian yet (apart from priests) who has bothered to actually read at least the New Testament.No offence to Christians,I have no problem with any religion whatsoever,just something I've noticed,having grown up in an Orthodox country with the Church constantly mingling in all aspects of ethics and politics(often with disastrous effects).
By the way,I've haven't read this one yet either,but it's aleady in my wishlist for when I get my hands on some money again(ebay and amazon have become noticably richer lately and I think I have something to do with it )

[Ingwe]

But it's kinda strange people don't read the first wicca book writen by his founder ... Anyway, when I was a Christian I read the entire Bible, so sometimes when I talk with Christians I'm very confortable to talk with them and use their words against them lol

BTW, Buttercup I have Withcraft Today on .pdf file, so I don't mind to send it to you or anyone else that wishes to read it, just send me a PM if you want it

[Radiance]

Sabbats, subtitled A Witch's Approach to Living the Old Ways by Edain McCoy

This is one of my favorites. I also enjoyed Circle Round: Raising Children in Goddess Traditions by Anne Hill, Diane Baker and Starhawk.

[[wind_wolf]]

get reference texts for herbs and crystals, deietys and spirts then honestly my suggestion is make your book of shadows for each whitch has a diferent breed of magic. *note i sugest reading crystal books herb book and diety/spirit book to form your own veiw.

[Penelope]

I've been enjoying Truth or Dare by Starhawk, which is more about liberation psychology and group dynamics than anything else, but gives a lot of insight into ritual and mythology as well. You might have some frustrations with it as it goes a bit in the Golden Age of Matriarchy direction at times, but in general it is well researched.

[Aleana]

I would NEVER advise ravenwolf. She has some ok material, but enough of it is questionable that a new witch shouldn't read it.

Anything by Buckland, DJ Conway (watch out for his major anti-christianity thing, though), scott cunningham, or Starhawk is good.

[Witch13]

Ravenwolfs silver broomstick was one the second book i read about witchcraft, and i found it very nice! Thats my opinion.

[Godsmack]

I really love the Temple of Witchcraft series by Christopher Penczak. As a matter of fact, he is my favorite author.
The Inner Temple of Witchcraft is for those who wish to start in Wicca/Witchcraft. There is a total of, I believe, 6 books. I haven't gotten through all of them, yet, lol.
Ascension Magick by Christopher Penczak was one of the first books I had read on magick and the occult. It was very interesting and one of the best books I had ever read.
Scott Cunningham is great for beginners, too. The first book I ever read on Wicca was "Wicca for the Solitary Practitioner" by Scott Cunningham. Great book to start off with.
Another good book was Modern Magick: Eleven Lessons in the High Magickal Arts by Donald Michael Kraig. Its for more advanced magicians, but a great book in and of itself.
I haven't heard of many of the authors you've all mentioned, lol.

Love and Light,

Blessed Be.