Suggested Reading

The following is a list of books suggested by Spiraling Heart Coven members.

Basic Bibliography

• Adler, Margot. Drawing Down the Moon: Witches, Druids, Goddess-Worshippers in America Today. Penguin USA, Revised and expanded 1997. A well-known journalist’s study of the modern Pagan movement. Already out of date on some topics, but still an essential classic.
• Amber K .True Magick . Llewellyn, 1991. Introduction to the basics of magick, written in a readable, clear style. Excellent choice as a first book, or as an overview for non-Wiccan relatives or friends.
• Buckland, Raymond. Witchcraft from the Inside. St. Paul: Llewellyn Publications, 1971.
• Campanelli, Pauline. The Wheel of the Year: Living the Magickal Life. Llewellyn, 1989. Seasonal activities and recipes. We can't all live in the country, but we can dream about it.
• Cunningham, Scott. Wicca: A Guide for the Solitary Practitioner. Llewellyn, 1990. A BOS and guide for the solitary beginner. General eclectic Craft principles and ethics.
• Crowley, Vivianne. Wicca: The Old Religion in the New Age. Thorson’s, revised edition 1996. An excellent introduction (from the perspective of a Witch who is also a Jungian therapist) to British Traditional Craft.
• Eisler, Riane. The Chalice and the Blade: Our History, Our Future. San Francisco: Harper and Row,1988.w. sociology, sex role-history, social evolution, history of the patriarchy, social history. The most important book since Darwin's "Origin of Species."
• Farrar, Janet & Stewart. Eight Sabbats for Witches and Rites for Birth, Marriage and Death. Bookpeople, 1988. And The Witches' Way: Principles, Rituals and Beliefs of Modern Witchcraft. Bookpeople, 1984. Materials from the authors’ Alexandrian Tradition. These two titles have been published in one paperback volume, A Witches’ Bible Compleat, by Magickal Childe; although this edition is more easily available, the authors recommend that readers avoid buying it because of difficulties over their royalties.
• Farrar, Janet & Stewart. The Witches' Goddess: The Feminine Principle of Divinity. Phoenix Publishing, l987. And The Witches' God: Lord of the Dance. Phoenix Publishing, l989. Basic mythological background for Wiccans.
• Gardner, Gerald. Witchcraft Today. UK. Ryder & Company, 1954.
• Orion, Loretta. Never Again the Burning Times. Waveland, l995. A study of modern Pagan belief systems, often used in anthropology or sociology classes.
• Starhawk. The Spiral Dance: A Rebirth of the Ancient Religion of the Great Goddess. Harper, 1989. This classic of feminist spirituality has been a bestseller among Witches for more than twenty years.
• Valiente, Doreen. Natural Magick. . Phoenix Publishing, 1985. And An ABC of Witchcraft Past and Present. Bookpeople, 1988.

Further Reading

• Buckland, Raymond. The Tree: The Complete Book of Saxon Witchcraft. NY: Samuel Weiser Inc., 1974
• Eliade, Mircea. Shamanism: Archaic Techniques of Ecstasy. Princeton: Princeton Univ. Press, 1972 (Bollingen Series LXXVI). [all of Eliade's works in comparative religion are invaluable]
• Gimbutas, Marija. The Goddesses and Gods of Old Europe, Myths and Cult Images. Berkeley: Univ. of
• Matthews, Caitlin & John. The Western Way. Vol. I: The Native Tradition., Vol. II: The Hermetic Tradition. The London: Arkana, 1985 and 1986
• Melton, J. Gordon. Magical Religion in the United States. Evanston, IL: The Institute for the Study of American Religion, 1979

It is also worthwhile to investigate the works of the following, as many Witches have derived some of their practices from them:
Robert Graves
Sir James Frazer
Margaret Murray

**This material varies in reliability in a strict academic sense; all of it has provided mythic grist for the Witches' mill.