My Recommended List

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Comment by Leisha on June 27, 2012 at 9:25

*sheepish grin* I can't stand Marian Green's "A Witch Alone". I've read it multiple times now, and there's just something about the book that grates on my nerves. I think the clue to why it doesn't work well for me is what she says outright in the introduction: <i>Some wish to be part of covens, to share ceremonies and regular meetings with like-minded folk in the comfort of their homes. Others, however, have heard wilder music, playing to an older beat, and wish to reunite with Mother Nature, alone, out of doors, under the light of the stars and changing moonlight, in a simpler way. It is for those people I am writing this book. </i>

I fall squarely in the first category--coven life, ceremonies and meetings with like-minded folk, comfort of the home. Check, check, and check. Reunite with Mother Nature, alone, out of doors, under the light of the stars and changing moonlight? Not so much, no...especially the first bit. I have no need to reunite (or worship, as she later suggests) Mother Nature. I am part of nature, both Mother and Father. The idea that the only way or even the best way to be a witch is to be outside worshipping nature doesn't work well with my worldview. I think the only way I'd feel comfortable with putting "A Witch Alone" on the list is if it is read concurrently with Christopher Penczak's "City Magick"--with the understanding that the vast majority of witches today will fit somewhere in the middle of those two extremes. 

"Devoted to You" is on my list of "someday reads", but sadly it has not come out in eBook format yet. Since I'm avoiding the purchase of any more treebooks at this point, it's one that will have to wait. As I haven't read it yet, it's one I can't recommend, though. :)

Thanks for the feedback!

Comment by Lark on June 27, 2012 at 7:23

Good list, but I'm surprised you didn't include Marian Green's "A Witch Alone" in the Foundations section.  I still think after all these years that it may be the best single book to read for someone beginning to explore Wiica and/or Witchcraft.

In the 201 section I might also include Judy Harrow's book "Devoted to You" for an excellent overview of developing a personal relationship with Deity.

Comment by Leisha on June 26, 2012 at 8:06

Years ago, I had Scott Cunningham on the list, but the Thea Sabin book is just as approachable as Scott's work, but falls in line with a lot of my personal beliefs as well as covering material that Scott skims over, so out it went. 

I didn't include Ronald Hutton because I think the age of all witchcraft is Celtic is thankfully coming to an end (just as the all witchcraft is Egyptian motif of the 1970s has disappeared into the beyond). His book is excellent if you want to practice a Celtic path, but if not, it is not really all that useful, and it is a difficult one to approach (which is part of the reason I didn't include something like Margot Adler's Drawing Down the Moon--great book, but difficult to approach).

I left Rae Beth's stuff off of the list because I haven't read any of her books. I've picked up Hedgewitch a couple times at the bookstore, flipped through it, and put it back because it just didn't catch my interest. 

For Paul Beyerl, I have a couple of his herbal books on the shelf downstairs, and I think they're great reference books, but not something one would sit down and read. The books I put on the list had to have readability--they have to be something that you would read cover to cover and do things with along the way. I've never sat down to read a Paul Beyerl book--I just pick it up, flip through it, get the information I need, and put it back. (Another example of a good book like that which wouldn't be recommended reading but would be recommended reference is Melody's Love is in the Earth, which covers stone work and although it doesn't include pictures, I think it is much more comprehensive than Judy Hall's books.)

Regarding the Fontana book, I haven't seen it, but I did pull up a half dozen pages of preview on Amazon to get a feel for the book. Just like I don't recommend dream dictionaries, I don't recommend books about symbols for people, especially if they are starting out, because I think symbols *must* be personal in order to be effective. So a book like that, while a pretty coffee table book, wouldn't be something I would find useful to personally recommend if folks want to learn what brought me to how I practice.  For something like that, more focused might be Buckland's Signs, Symbols, and Omens or Carl Liungman's Dictionary of Symbols (the latter being great if you want to work with "non-magical" symbols in a magical setting).

Thanks for the recommendations. I'd love to see each member have their own recommended reading list on this site... just to see what comes up over and over again and what differences there are out there.

Comment by MoonCrone on June 26, 2012 at 1:29

Brilliant list, thank you for sharing.  

I have read several of those myself plus many more not on the list but then my path has been less specific and has included Spiritualism, Hinduism, Hebalism, Druidry and Kemet over the years.

Out of your list here I really rated Sybil Leek, Raymond Buckland, Janet Farrar and Gaving Bone, and Paulo Coelho.

I usually recommend those myself (plus a few others) when giving training to a novice (if they haven't come across them already) 

A lot of the research our group does includes reliable websites as much as books, and we like to visit other groups across country to swap "best practice" so it's not all done by reading alone, but I feel reading is essential.

I will keep an eye out for some of those authors you list that I have not yet come across.

I see you have not included Ronald Hutton, Scott Cunningham, Rae Beth, or Paul Beyerl or Judy Hall in your list but then I guess it depends on if you employ the use of herbs and crystals in your work, and it may be that they are less popular where you are, and their work may be more or less covered in some of the books you list here that I have not yet read myself.

There is one little book I would like to draw attention to if it's OK, and that's called The Language of Symbols written by a chap called David Fontana, artwork by Hannah Firmin, published by Duncan Baird.  It is an A to Z of symbols and their meanings, our group do quite a lot of work with symbols and this little book has been a wonderful source of reference for that work.  It doesn't just cover Wicca or Witchcraft it covers so much more and I would say it's a must for anyone on a spiritual path, from novice to somebody who has 301 under their belts for a decade or more.