A lot of people come to me for recommended reading. I am going to start posting books I have read and what I thought of the book. I am a huge reader and I read about 100 books per year (I don’t own a T.V. and I don’t have kids). I always tell baby witches to read, read, and then read some more.
It is the best way to learn and there is no end to the books available these days. I tell them to pick 1 or 2 topics they are interested in and roll with it. Deities, elements, crystals, herbs, runes, voodoo, etc. Find what you like and learn about it, then move on from what you don’t. Witchcraft is a craft and not all things will resonate with you. If it doesn’t resonate, then put the book down and choose your next topic. That has been one of THE BEST methods I have used to build my practice. So here we go!
Hekate
Evoking Hecate: The Goddess of Magick 7/10 A concise manual on how to evoke Hekate using the techniques of Chaos magic, with 12 included sigils. I follow the Titan goddess Hekate and this was a great resource on her names and background but I wasn’t able to apply much to my own craft which is why I rated it down. I don’t use sigil magic and I don’t use chaos magic. It is a great book for information but you may be hard pressed to apply it to your craft if you don’t practice the same as the author. Otherwise, a great resource of information on Hekate!
Sea/ Water Magic
Sea Magic: Connecting with the Ocean’s Energy 10/10 I found this book to be a great introduction book into sea magic. It described all kinds of water location magic and covered spells and meditations. It also delved into correspondences and mythical creatures from the water.
Witchcraft
The Witch’s Cottage 9/10 I think this is a great book for new and seasoned witches alike. It delves into how to add witchy touches to every room of your home. The book is quaint and gives great tips on cleaning, maintaining, and witchifying your home. I took a lot of notes and have added special touches around my home based on little tips and tricks from this book.
Egypt
Egyptian Gods: The Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt 7/10 This book was very thorough and touched on both minor household gods and the more well known deities. It covered religion, inventions, fashion, history, and social constructs. I would recommend this for anyone interested in the Egyptian pantheon.
8/10 This was a series of 7 books and it was a great introduction to the more prominent members of the Egyptian pantheon. I liked this series because, although it did have over lap between the 7 books, it delved into myths I had never heard before. Like Greek mythology, Egyptian mythology can become repetitive after reading about it for so long. This series was refreshing in that it was very detailed and delved into much of the mythology, drama, and even more importantly, what it meant and how the Egyptians would have interpreted it. I hope the author continues to put out books for the various other god/desses of Egypt.
Egyptian Magic 10/10 This book was very well written and a must for anyone following the Egyptian pantheon. It covers a study of the remains of the native religious literature of ancient Egypt. It covers the power of magical names, spells, enchantments, formulæ, figures, amulets, and performance of ceremonies accompanied by the utterance of words of power, to produce supernatural results. While I could not apply it to my own craft, it was a phenomenal and knowledgeable read.
The Classics
Frankenstein 10/10 This is a classic that is well written and never gets old. I always recommend people read the originals because there is a lot of thought that goes into the science and ethics of creation. I think this book touches on the darker side of human nature and it is important to understand the dark so that you can understand the light.
Demonology and Angels
The Dictionary of Demons: Names of the Damned 9/10 This was a great resource for anyone interested in demons. This books covers just about every Christian and Middle Eastern demon ever mentioned. I personally do not work with demons but I love writing and this gave me a lot of information and ideas for writing demons into my work. For anyone who decides to work with demons, this would be an great resource.
Plants of the Devil 10/10 This book was a great resource in herbal magic. If you are into devil worship, this would be a good book for your. If you just want to understand where certain plant names came from and why they were associated with evil, this would be a good book for you. And finally, if you are interested in looking up ingredients for a curse, this may be a good resource for you. Between the historical content and the herbal knowledge, I enjoyed this book immensely.
Fairy Tales
Grimm’s Fairy Tales 9/10 I always recommend the classics because they are often a bit darker than Disney’s version but they are also closely related to the original stories that people grew up on 100’s of years ago. They also include all of the stories and include a myriad of mythical creatures that you don’t often hear about.
Erotic Tales of Medieval Germany 10/10 So to begin with, some of these tales are WILD. They are not erotic in any way, shape, or form, but could be considered racy in medieval times. All of these tales are based off of medieval texts. They are very well written in today’s vernacular and some of them have more drama than today’s unrealistic shows. The drama and intrigue were top notch. I absolutely loved these tales. I add them to my witchy blog because I feel that you should have a very well rounded reading of history and folk tales and some of these do contain magic!
Romance of the Feudal Chateaux 8/10 This is a great book that covers stories of French castles. It is well written and is filled with great stories that get the imagination going. I include this because I feel like these types of stories inspire us in our art and make great reading for children. It gave me great ideas for writing and got me in the mood for my craft.
Holidays
The Old Magic of Christmas: Yuletide Traditions for the Darkest Days of the Year 10/10 A great book about Yule witches and ghosts and some of the original traditions of Yule and where they come from. I really enjoyed this book a lot it has great ideas for celebrating Yule and even a few cookie recipes and crafts.
Alchemy and the Occult
The Story of Alchemy 10/10 This book was phenomenal in addressing the beginnings of alchemy, its history, and the symbols and associations of alchemical symbols. I very much enjoyed this book and how detailed it was.
Aspects of Occultism 6/10 This book discusses evocative magic, the sites of Druid worship, parallels between Christianity and the Qabalah, the astral plane, auras, spiritual healing, power cycles, and our relationship with the Higher Self. The information was good, however, the book was a little dry. I rated it a little lower because although I did learn a lot, I was not able to apply as much of the information to my craft.
The Little Book of Secret Societies 50 of the World’s Most Notorious Organizations and How to Join Them 7/10 A great book on many of the secret societies of the world including pagan and alchemical. It had a lot of great background information on people and topics that come up often in Wiccan practice. Each page is devoted to one society and they don’t spend a ridiculous amount of time on each one. I rated it down only because I couldn’t apply it to my craft very much despite the good information.
Other
Coraline (movie) and Coraline (book): 10/10 This is a great movie and book that takes some of the lore of witchcraft, spirits, and hagstones, and combines it all into one absolutely incredible story. The book is a bit different and so well written that even if you have watched the movie, I still highly recommend you take the time to read the book. The book is a young adult novel and not large so you could probably finish it in a day.
From our altar to yours, with love from the sea,
