Reading List
This is a general bibliography and is in no way intended to be seen as exhaustive or even inclusive of all seminal texts. It is hoped that the list will provide a student of Wicca with a number of high quality books from which to begin to build a reliable magical library.
General Wiccan Texts
Buckland, Raymond, The Complete Book of Witchcraft, Llewellyn, 2003. Buckland has created a generic version of Wicca that can be easily used by those wishing to set up their own covens. The work includes a large selection of basic ceremonies and often encourages readers to take a creative plunge once they have got the hang of things.
Crowley, Vivianne, Wicca: A Comprehensive Guide to the Old Religion in the Modern World, Element, 2003. Crowley was a student of Alex Sanders and tells many an entertaining story on the lecture circuit about her early experiences of Wicca. Nowadays she is a lecturer at the University of London as well as a Wiccan High Priestess and teacher of the Craft. This book provides a solid and accessible introduction to Wicca.
Cunningham, Scott, A Guide for the Solitary Practitioner, Llewellyn, 1995. Deceptively short and simple, this book contains many beautiful ceremonies suitable for the solitary Witch.
Farrar, Janet and Stewart, A Witches’ Bible, The Complete Witches’ Handbook, Phoenix Publishing Inc., 1996. Written by one time Alexandrian Witches, and very much with Gardnerian/Alexandrian coven practice in mind. Their work incorporates some of the best thought out ceremonial material around and is well worth a look.
Green, Marian, A Witch Alone: Thirteen Moons to Master Natural Magic, Element, 2002. Green’s book is one of the best known guides to solitary Witchcraft.
Grimassi, Raven, The Encyclopaedia of Wicca and Witchcraft, Llewellyn, 2000.
Guiley, Rosemary Ellen, The Encyclopaedia of Witches and Witchcraft, Checkmark Books, 1999.
Starhawk, The Spiral Dance: A Rebirth of the Ancient Religion of the Great Goddess, Harper, 1989. This is the best selling book on Wicca ever. It is both poetic and lucid with many meditative and spiritual exercises. Be warned though that its history of Wicca would make many a historian throw up their arms in despair.
Valiente, Doreen, An ABC of Witchcraft, Past and Present, Hale, 1986. A convenient alphabetical format makes this an easy reference work.
The Goddess and God
Anderson, William, Green Man, The Archetype of our Oneness with the Earth, Harper Collins, 1990. An underrated book that should have a place on every Wiccan bookshelf as it explores the Green Man and the idea of a male vegetation deity throughout history.
Farrar, Janet and Stewart, The Witches’ Goddess: The Feminine Principle of Divinity, Hale, 1987. An excellent book that sets the divine feminine in historical context (from a Wiccan point of view) and provides detailed coverage of many female deities. A number of useful rites and ceremonies are included as well.
Farrar, Janet and Stewart, The Witches’ God, Phoenix Publishing Inc 1989. A similarly excellent work that achieves the same depth of coverage for the Witches’ God.
Historical Background
Hutton, Ronald, Stations of the Sun: A History of the Ritual Year in Britain, Oxford paperbacks, 2001. Hutton’s well researched book exposes many myths that Wiccans base their rituals on. The response of many Witches has been to re-examine their seasonal celebrations and incorporate some of his findings into their practices.
Hutton, Ronald, The Pagan Religions of the Ancient British Isles: Their Nature and Legacy, Blackwell, 1993. A ground breaking look at religious beliefs in the British Isles from the Stone Age to the coming of Christianity.
Hutton, Ronald, The Triumph of thbe Moon: A History of Modern Pagan Witchcraft, Oxford Universty Press, 1999. This is the most thorough and balanced history of Wicca yet produced. Always fair and judicious, Hutton lays bare a number of Wiccan myths. If there is one book that you buy on the history of Witchcraft then this is it.
Maxwell-Stuart, P. G., Witchcraft, A History, Tempus, 2000. Maxwell-Stuart looks at Witchcraft in Greece, Rome and the Christian era as well as the present day.
Russell, Jeffrey B., A History of Witchcraft: Sorcerers, Heretics and Pagans, Thames and Hudson, 1991. Russell surveys Witchcraft throughout different times and societies and includes a couple of chapters devoted to Wicca.
Spiritual Psychology
Assagioli, Roberto, Psychosynthesis: A Collection of Basic Writings, Arkana, 1993. Assagioli has many thngs to say about human psychology and the levels of the mind as well as the importance and function of the human will.
Crowley, Vivianne, Jungian Spirituality, Thorsons, 1998. A famous Witch’s take on Jungian psychology and how it relates to spirituality.
Jung, C. G. ed., Man and his symbols, Picador, 1978. Jung’s work is essential reading for all interested in Wicca and magic.
Magic and Ritual
Cicero, Chic and Sandra Tabatha, Self-Initiation into the Golden Dawn Tradition, Llewellyn, 2003
Fortune, Dion, Applied Magic, Weiser, 2000. A useful introduction to this work is given by well-known occult author Gareth Knight.
Crowley, Aleister, 777 and other Qabalistic Writings, Weiser, 1986. The main source for correspondences used in today’s magical world.
Levi, Eliphas, A.E. Waite trans, Transcendental Magic: Its Doctrine and Ritual, Bracken Books, 1995.
MacGregor Mathers, S.L. trans., The Key of Solomon the King, (Clavicula Salomonis), Weiser, 1990. This is perhaps the most famous and widely used of all ancient magical grimoires and has served as a basis for Golden Dawn magical rites as well as those of Wicca. You will find much between its pages that works and much that, quite frankly, is of little worth. You will also find concoctions of the “blood of bat, ear of dog” variety, which, perhaps needless to say, no Wiccan subscribes to or recognises. Used with care it can be a fascinating thing to explore.
Regardie, Israel, edited and annotated by Chic Cicero and Sandra Tabatha Cicero, The Middle Pillar, The Balance Between Mind and Magic, Llewellyn, 2003. A book that amongst many other things shows how Chakras and Kabbalah can be combined.
Regardie, Israel, The Tree of Life, An Illustrated Study in Magic, ed. Chic and Sandra Tabatha Cicero, Llewellyn, 2003. This is still the best introduction to the subject of magic both for its scope and erudition and, although written by a master of Golden Dawn magic, it is nonetheless of great interest to Wiccans. The version annotated by the Cicero’s is the one to get as it keeps the old magus’ words fresh and alive.
Valiente, Doreen, Natural Magic, St Martin’s Press, 1975.
One of the greatest books on magic ever written is Aleister Crowley, Magick, edited, annotated and introduced by John Symonds and Kenneth Grant, Guild publishing 1986. It should be borne in mind that the reader will have to put up with Crowley’s occasional tirades against women and racist attitudes. One should also be very wary of some of his teachings on the Kabbalah (particularly the eleven Kabbalistic knocks) as they are purposely misleading. Also his comments about child sacrifice refer to sperm and not ”male children”. All these factors make it not really suitable for a beginner but it has been put here for the sake of completeness.
Influential Texts on the Development of Wicca
Blavatsky, Helena Petrona, Isis Unveiled, Theosophical University Press, 1972.
Blavatsky, Helena Petrona, The Secret Doctrine, A Synthesis of Science Religion and Philosophy, Theosophical University Press, 1984.
Both books were originally published in the nineteenth century.
Fortune, Dion, The Cosmic Doctrine, Red Wheel/Weiser, 2003.
Fortune, Dion, The Esoteric Philosophy of Love and Marriage, Red Wheel/ Weiser, 2000.
Frazer, Sir James, The Golden Bough, A History of Myth and Religion, one volume edition, Chancellor, 2000. A free On-line version can be found here: http://www.bartleby.com/196/ , please note this is the 1922 edition.
Graves, Robert, The White Goddess, Faber and Faber, 2000. Grave’s White Goddess is one of the bedrocks on which modern Wicca is founded. In this book the idea of the Celtic Tree Calendar is born.
Leland, Charles G, .Aradia, Gospel of the Witches, Phoenix Publishing Inc, 1999. This text was widely used by Doreen Valiente as a source of inspiration for a number of Wiccan rituals and prayers. Many Wiccans today make use of the creation myth that it contains.
Murray, Margaret, The God of the Witches, Oxford University Press, 1970. As students will be aware Murray’s work is widely discredited by academics but it is still an interesting read for Witches who want to have knowledge of works that inspired Gerald Gardner and Doreen Valiente in their development of modern Wicca.
Wallis Budge, E. A., Egyptian Magic, Arkana, 2003. This little book was written by the foremost Victorian Egyptologist in 1899. Budge is perhaps most famous for having translated the Egyptian Book of the Dead or Book of Coming Forth by Day, as it should more correctly be referred to. The role Budge has played (albeit completely unwittingly) in modern magic is a story untold. His works have been drawn on frequently and often without acknowledgement by many occultists. If read between the lines, Egyptian Magic gives details of many magical practices of value and is also a fascinating historical read.
Healing
Brennan, Barbara Ann, and. Smith, Jos A, Illus., Hands of Light: Guide to Healing Through the Human Energy Field, Bantam, 1993. Brennan looks at “bioenergetic” healing – and gives specific techniques in working with the human energy field.
Krieger, Dolores, The Therapeutic Touch: How to Use Your Hands to Help to Heal, Prentice Hall & IBD, 1992. The bestselling work from one of the top exponents of Touch Therapy.
Herbs
Cunningham, Scott, Encyclopaedia of Magickal Herbs, Llewellyn, 1985.
Metcalfe, Joannah, Herbs and Aromatherapy, Bloomsbury Books, London, 1993. Useful book to consult when thinking of adding herbs and essential oils to baths.
Astrology
Parker, Julia and Derek Parker’s Astrology, The Definitive Guide to Using Astrology in Every Aspect of Your Life, DK, 2004. An excellent introduction to Astrology.
Cashford, Jules, The Moon: Myth and Image, Cassell Illustrated, 2003. An exploration of the myths, symbols and poetic images which have been inspired by the Moon.