Recommended Reading/Dewey Decimal System Guide

[Onikara Nightshade]

Thanks for this thread guys. I hope to add quite a few of these to my library someday. Right now I have Wicca: The Guide for the Solitary Practitioner and Cunningham's Encyclopedia of Magical Herbs (I just bought this one tonight) I love reading and this thread is very helpful.  

[Korealia]

Getting a little more advanced:

"An ABC of Witchcraft Past and Present", "Witchcraft for Tomorrow", "The Rebirth of Witchcraft", "Natural Magic" by Doreen Valiente

"Wicca", "Wicca: The Old Religion in the New Age", "Principles of Wicca", "The Magickal Life" by Vivianne Crowley


"The Study of Witchcraft: A Guidebook to Advanced Wicca" by Deborah Lipp

"Ancient Ways: Reclaiming Pagan Traditions", "Rites of Passage: The Pagan Wheel of Life", "Circles, Groves & Sanctuaries: Sacred Spaces of Today's Pagans" by Dan and Pauline Campanelli

"Bonewits's Guide to Witchcraft And Wicca", "Real Magic: An Introductory Treatise on the Basic Principles of Yellow Light", "Witchcraft: A Concise Guide or Which Witch Is Which?", and really anything by Isaac Bonewitts

"The Triumph of the Moon" by Ronald Hutton (a scholar, not a pagan)

"Drawing Down the Moon" by Margot Adler

there's a lot that's been referred to me, but most of these I've read a lot of the works by the authors, and their stuff is well-researched and all. some of it's dry, some of it's really good.

Korealia

Are you tired of all the Wicca 101 books that you find on the bookshelf?

This is NOT a Wicca 101 book.

This book is written with a casual style that is easy to read. It is very informative and touches on a lot of subjects that those who seek the path of Wicca should know. The chapters are more like guidelines, telling you thing your probably ought to know (about history, roots, anthropology, psychology, and a myriad more) but it never occured to you to learn. Not only after every chapter does it give recommended reading (and homework), she doesn't just - throw out a list of books. Each book is explained, it's Pros and Cons, and seems more meaningful than just throwing out a book list.

If you're past buying a lot of the '101' crap off of the 'new age' shelf, grab this one. It will take you further.

 

[Esselean]

Oh here it is
Sorry
I must be going blind or something
Should I re-post mine here???  

[too2sweet]

No problem...that would be great!!  

[Violet Song jat Shariff]

Mmm, I know I'm only one person, but I wouldn't recommend DJ Conway or Edain McCoy to anyone. Both give shoddy historical research in their books Conway plays the "Wicca is ye olde relygyon!" card, and McCoy creates a whole new, baseless "Celtic" tradition-whoring out her heritage culture...which to any knowledgeable Celt is a huge no-no.

Conway's books on different magical traditions are essentially the same rituals with the respective culture copy-pasted in where needed. Her book on Norse Magic is quite off-base.

I'm not so sure about Fiona Horne either. I've heard from others that her tone is condescending and she spends most of her book looking down on Wicca.  

[doistu]

Amazon is a brilliant place to get books online very cheaply smile

I agree with the Silver Ravenwolf bit...I got 3 of her books when I was starting out as they were the most accessible to me and I was gravely disappointed by her disrespect and her dogmatic ways. She encourages children to lie to their parents and dictates her way is "the way".  

[Cariaith]

I have a quick question, are all the books based on Gardners point of view, or are there some non related to Garnderians or Alexandrians? If yes, would you be so kind on telling me which ones?  

[too2sweet]

Hey Cariaith!!

There are quiet a few books on the list that I am not familiar with, and in general I cannot speak to what the authors' backgrounds are (trad, neo-pagan, witch, etc...). The following are books from the list that have been recommended to Trad Seekers, so they would be the most closely related to the Trad paths.

* A Witches' Bible: The Complete Witches Handbook by Janet Farrar and Stewart Farrar
* Books by Gerald B. Gardner (The Meaning of Witchcraft, Witchcraft Today)
* "An ABC of Witchcraft Past and Present", "Witchcraft for Tomorrow", "The Rebirth of Witchcraft", "Natural Magic" by Doreen Valiente
* "Wicca", "Wicca: The Old Religion in the New Age", "Principles of Wicca", "The Magickal Life" by Vivianne Crowley
* "The Triumph of the Moon" by Ronald Hutton (a scholar, not a pagan)
* "Drawing Down the Moon" by Margot Adler
* Aradia: Gospel of the Witches by Charles G. Leland
* The Golden Bough by Sir James George Frazer
* The Witch-Cult in Western Europe by Margaret Murray
* God of the Witches by Margaret Murray

As far as the rest of the books, in theory, any book that actually talks about Wicca has to be based at least somewhat on Gardner's work, since he created the religion. However there are plenty of books out there that have drifted away from Traditional Wicca, and have more or less re-created the religion into something completely different than what it was originally. Any one of them could possibly offer differing points of view. If I had a better understanding of exactly what you were looking for, I might be able to help a little better. PM me if you want to.

biggrin  

[Inzumi_May]

i got a book a couple months back called "the teen book of shadows" by patricia telesco ... and i found to be a good read it has a nice chapter about how to break down in telling your parents about wicca i found it too be very helpfull razz