There are lots and lots of books out there about Wicca. Which ones are good for beginners? Here’s a list highlighting some of the best. “Wicca: A Guide for the Solitary Practitioner” by Scott Cunningham is probably the best book to start out with as it provides a solid foundation in the ideas that are the basis of Wicca, along… Read more »
There are lots of books about the history of witchcraft. Many do not even mention modern practitioners, let alone witchcraft religions like Wicca. Some do mention modern practitioners but fail to fact-check claims resulting in some of the worst speculations being reported as fact. Here are some books about the history of witchcraft, ancient and modern, that tend towards being… Read more »
The Kybalion is a classic text providing the basis for what is known as the Hermetic tradition. It was first published in 1912 and is now in the public domain. Other formats of this book can be downloaded in electronic format from Project Gutenberg.
An introductory book for learning about Tarot from an early popular author & publisher. The cards used for illustrations are from the Rider-Waite-Smith deck, which was first published in 1910 only eight years before this book came out in 1918. Other formats of this public-domain book are available from Project Gutenberg.
Witches are known for their use of plants for working magick. Incenses, brews and potions, oils, powders, washes, even magically charged foods are all ways of employing Green Magick. One of the most popular books on herbs, their properties and uses was published back in the 1600s. The book proved useful to magickal practitioners as well thanks to listing the… Read more »
Many magickal practitioners use altered states of consciousness, often called trance, as a way to tap energies and connect with beings that are usually beyond our everyday reality. Trance allows us to draw from the inexhaustible well of inspiration. It allows us to commune with the Divine, and to work wonders. In Wicca, Gardner taught that there were eight main… Read more »
We modern Pagans are a rather literate lot. In addition to the many handbooks, theoretical works, folklore collections, poems, songs, rituals, and workbooks in print, there are also quite a few illuminating biographies and autobiographies. Reading about the lives of others following magickal and Pagan spiritual paths can help us understand better what came before and where our community might… Read more »
Like with many categories of modern occultism, particularly among spiritual or religious groups, there is a lot of debate about what makes someone a part of the group and what excludes someone from that group. The category of traditional witchcraft sees its fair share of this type of debate – if you ask a group of thirteen witches to define… Read more »
[Note: this article has been edited since it was first posted to include new books on the topic.] Some magickal practitioners focus on working with non-physical entities, whether these entities are described as elementals, faeries, ghosts, ancestors, angels, demons, saints, loa, intelligences, or deities. Different systems have different ways of categorizing and classifying — some are very strict about putting… Read more »
TRADITIONS, SUPERSTITIONS, AND FOLK-LORE, (Chiefly Lancashire And The North Of England:) Their affinity to others in widely-distributed localities; their eastern origin and mythical significance. by CHARLES HARDWICK (Originally published in 1872) Available courtesy Project Gutenberg. Other formats available for download at http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/39934