You might be curious why I didn't make the book titles links to Amazon
or some such. It's simple -- I don't like Amazon. I also have a
limited use for other big chain bookstores. They have made a point of
systematicly destroying local bookstores through what I consider
unfair competition and manipulation of their marketshare. I don't
like that. Check out your local occult shop. Aside from supporting
your community you'll be getting to know some folks. If you must shop
online, check out the used bookseller sites such as Abe Books.
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Recommended Introductory Texts
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Be a Goddess! A Guide to Celtic Spells and Wisdom for
Self-Healing, Prosperity and Great Sex by
Francesca
DeGrandis. -- Yes, the title has an element of silliness
to it. That's part of the point. The title is in deadly
earnest, too. No, that's not a contradiction. Nor is it a
paradox -- there are no paradoxes. If you think there's a
paradox, either one of the premises is false, or there's
something you don't understand about them.
| The Sprial Dance: A rebirth of the Ancient Religion of the
Great Goddess by Starhawk
-- This book is probably responsible for more people discovering
Wicca than any other two books combined. It contains a wealth
of information presented in a lively and engaging fashion.
It's a pity that the vision presented is poisoned by Starhawk's
difficulty accepting the God on equal footing with Goddess
-- and men on equal footing with women. Even with its flaws,
which do decrease slightly each decade when a new edition is
released, the book is worth reading.
| Wicca, A Guide for the Solitary Practitioner by Scott
Cunningham. -- Scott broke some very important ground with this
book. While many books before it mention Solitary practise as
a valid Wiccan Priesthood, Scott was the first to give it the
focus it truly deserves.
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More Advanced Texts
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Witches Bible Complete by Janet and Stewart Farrar --
This is a fairly definitive description of Alexandrain Wicca, which is
to say that it's strikingly close to a fairly definitive description
of Gardnerian Wicca as well.
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Focus on Men and the God
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Gods In Every Man by Jean Shinoda Bolen
| The Flowering Rod by Kenny Klein
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Focus on Women and the Goddess
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Godesses In Every Woman by Jean Shinoda Bolen
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Divination
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78 Degrees of Wisdom: A Book of Tarot by Rachel Pollack
| Futhark by Edred Thorson
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Herbalism
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Nota Bene:Herbalism, a forerunner of modern
medicine is a field in a state of flux. What was yesterday's
well-known medical principle is today's quackery, and yesterday's
panacea is today's poison... sometimes. Medical information about
herbs gets outdated. Don't rely on these books as if they are
the Physicians Desk Reference. (For that matter, take the PDR with a
grain of salt.) These books remain useful, though, for discussions on
how to identify the herbs in the wild and how to use them in incenses
and the like.
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Cunningham's Encyclopedia of Magical Herbsby Scott Cunningham
| Culpeper's Complete Herbalby Nicholas Culpepper
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Our Roots
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Witchcraft for Tomorrow
| An ABC of Witchcraft Past and Present
| The Rebirth of Witchcraft
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by Doreen Valiente, who had front row seats to the birthing and
childhood of our religion. Witchcraft for Tomorrow also
contains a small Book of Shadows for Valiente's vision of
solitary practise which may be the first such in publication.
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Witchcraft Today by Gerald Gardner
| Crafting The Art of Magick by Aiden Kelley -- This was
easily the most controversial book on Wicca to be published in the
last 20 years. Kelley has been the target of much vitriol and
criticism for asserting that available evidence indicates that Wicca
as such did not exist before being constructed by Gardner in 1939.
Interestingly, the criticisms have been of his alleged "hidden
agendas," his methodology, his reasoning, and assertions that a lack
of data proving the existence of pre-Gardnerian Wicca are unsurprising
given persecutions and secrecy. Conspicuously absent from all this,
though, is actual refutation of his claims.
| Vangelo: The Gospel of the Witches by Godfrey Leland
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Our Distant Cousins: Other Pagan Religions
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