(Part 3) Top products from r/witchcraft

The Following list is taken from the Witches & Warlocks FB page. (This is Christian Day's group)

Witches and Warlocks Recommended Reading List
This is a collection of books recommended by our admins and participants in the group. Books must be approved by the admins so if you'd like to see one added to the last, please post it in the comments at the bottom of this list and, if it's something we think is appropriate, we'll add it! We provide links to Amazon so folks can read more about the book but we encourage you to shop at your local occult shop whenever possible! :)


BEGINNER'S WITCHCRAFT BOOKS

Buckland's Complete Book of Witchcraft
by Raymond Buckland
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0875420508

Drawing Down the Moon: Witches, Druids, Goddess-Worshippers, and Other Pagans in America
by Margot Adler
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0143038192

Grimoire of the Thorn-Blooded Witch: Mastering the Five Arts of Old World Witchery
by Raven Grimassi
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1578635500

The Inner Temple of Witchcraft: Magick, Meditation and Psychic Development
by Christopher Penczak
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0738702765

The Kybalion: The Definitive Edition
by William Walker Atkinson (Three Initiates)
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1585428744

Lid Off the Cauldron: A Wicca Handbook
by Patricia Crowther
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1861630328

Mastering Witchcraft
by Paul Huson
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0595420060

Natural Magic
by Doreen Valiente
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0919345808

Natural Witchery: Intuitive, Personal & Practical Magick
by Ellen Dugan
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0738709220

Old World Witchcraft: Ancient Ways for Modern Days
by Raven Grimassi
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1578635055

The Outer Temple of Witchcraft: Circles, Spells and Rituals
by Christopher Penczak
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0738705314

Power of the Witch: The Earth, the Moon, and the Magical Path to Enlightenment
by Laurie Cabot
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0385301898

Solitary Witch: The Ultimate Book of Shadows for the New Generation
by Silver RavenWolf
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0738703192

Spirit of the Witch: Religion & Spirituality in Contemporary Witchcraft
by Raven Grimassi
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0738703389

Witch: A Magickal Journey
by Fiona Horne
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0007121326

Witchcraft for Tomorrow
by Doreen Valiente
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0709052448

Witchcraft Today
by Gerald Gardner
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0806525932
The Witches' Craft: The Roots of Witchcraft & Magical Transformation
by Raven Grimassi
http://www.amazon.com/dp/073870265X
The Witching Way of the Hollow Hill
by Robin Artisson
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0982031882

WITCHCRAFT HISTORY AND RESOURCE BOOKS

Aradia or The Gospel of the Witches
by Charles Godfrey Leland
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0982432356

Encyclopedia of Mystics, Saints & Sages: A Guide to Asking for Protection, Wealth, Happiness, and Everything Else!
by Judika Illes
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0062009575

The Encyclopedia of Witches, Witchcraft and Wicca
by Rosemary Ellen Guiley
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0816071047

Etruscan Roman Remains
by Charles Godfrey Leland
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1494302519

The God of the Witches
by Margaret Murray
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0195012704

The Weiser Field Guide to Witches, The: From Hexes to Hermione Granger, From Salem to the Land of Oz
by Judika Illes
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1578634792

ADVANCED BOOKS ON WITCHCRAFT AND MAGIC

Blood Sorcery Bible Volume 1: Rituals in Necromancy
by Sorceress Cagliastro
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1935150812

The Deep Heart of Witchcraft: Expanding the Core of Magickal Practice
by David Salisbury
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1780999208

Teen Spirit Wicca
by David Salisbury
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1782790594

Enchantment: The Witch's Art of Manipulation by Gesture, Gaze and Glamour
by Peter Paddon
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1936922517

Initiation into Hermetics
by Franz Bardon
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1885928122

Letters from the Devil's Forest: An Anthology of Writings on Traditional Witchcraft, Spiritual Ecology and Provenance Traditionalism
by Robin Artisson
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1500796360

Magical Use of Thought Forms: A Proven System of Mental & Spiritual Empowerment
by Dolores Ashcroft-Nowick and J.H. Brennan
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1567180841

Magick in Theory and Practice
by Aleister Crowley
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1500380679

The Plant Spirit Familiar
by Christopher Penczak
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0982774311

Protection and Reversal Magick
by Jason Miller
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1564148793
Psychic Self-Defense
by Dion Fortune
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1578635098
The Ritual Magic Workbook: A Practical Course of Self-Initiation
by Dolores Ashcroft-Norwicki
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1578630452
The Roebuck in the Thicket: An Anthology of the Robert Cochrane Witchcraft Tradition
by Evan John Jones, Robert Cochrane and Michael Howard
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1861631553

The Satanic Witch
by Anton Szandor LaVey
http://www.amazon.com/Satanic-Witch-Anton-Szandor-LaVey/dp/0922915849
Shadow Magick Compendium: Exploring Darker Aspects of Magickal Spirituality
by Raven Digitalis
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B003VS0N5K
The Tree of Enchantment: Ancient Wisdom and Magic Practices of the Faery Tradition
by Orion Foxwood
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1578634075
The Underworld Initiation: A journey towards psychic transformation
by R.J. Stewart
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1892137038

HERBALISM, CANDLES, INCENSE, OILS, FORMULARIES, AND STONES

A Compendium of Herbal Magic
by Paul Beyerl
http://www.amazon.com/dp/091934545X

Cunningham's Encyclopedia of Magical Herbs
by Scott Cunningham
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0875421229

The Enchanted Candle: Crafting and Casting Magickal Light
by Lady Rhea
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0806525789

The Enchanted Formulary: Blending Magickal Oils for Love, Prosperity, and Healing
by Lady Maeve Rhea
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0806527048

Incense: Crafting and Use of Magickal Scents
by Carl F. Neal
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0738703362

Magickal Formulary Spellbook Book 1
by Herman Slater
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0939708000

Magickal Formulary Spellbook: Book II
by Herman Slater
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0939708108


SPELLCASTING AND SPELLBOOKS
Crone's Book of Charms & Spells
by Valerie Worth
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1567188117

Crone's Book of Magical Words
by Valerie Worth
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1567188257

Encyclopedia of 5,000 Spells
by Judika Illes
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0061711233

Everyday Magic: Spells & Rituals for Modern Living
by Dorothy Morrison
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1567184693

Pure Magic: A Complete Course in Spellcasting
by Judika Illes
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1578633915
Utterly Wicked: Curses, Hexes & Other Unsavory Notions
by Dorothy Morrison
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0979453313
The Voodoo Hoodoo Spellbook
by Denise Alvarado
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1578635136

The Voodoo Doll Spellbook: A Compendium of Ancient and Contemporary Spells and Rituals
by Denise Alvarado
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1578635543


THE ANCESTORS AND WORKING WITH THE DEAD
The Cauldron of Memory: Retrieving Ancestral Knowledge & Wisdom
by Raven Grimassi
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0738715751

The Mighty Dead
by Christopher Penczak
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0982774370

Speak with the Dead: Seven Methods for Spirit Communication
by Konstantinos
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0738705225
The Witches' Book of the Dead
by Christian Day
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1578635063
_____
TAROT

78 Degrees of Wisdom
by Rachel Pollack
http://www.amazon.com/dp/157863408

The vast majority of the 'witchcraft' books are reconstructionist and 100% shit made up and adapted from myths and legends.

Wicca was created in 1954 and any book remotely connected to "wicca" is 100% reconstructionist, basically the opinion of the author or whoever taught them.

Some authors, Cunningham for example, are far more well respected but in the end you aren't practicing something people did 100 years ago, 1000 years ago, 10,000 years ago. If it's in a book like that it's almost certainly someone's personal folk-magic.

The exceptions to this would be stuff based on earlier sources, like Solomonic magick which mostly draws from texts like Clavicula Salomonis Regis (Lesser Key of Solomon) which is a compiled grimoire or 140 spells from the mid 1600's which may or may not be based on texts from the 1400-1500s.

Unless a book is claiming to be newly divined/gifted information but then it is absolutely someone's interpretation of magick or the alleged interpretation of spirits/entities they were contact with.

Magic(k)/witchraft/druidry/asatru isn't like Christianity where you have a documented history going back 1700 years (Counsel of Nicaea and then moving on to any particular denomination's history which may be tens of years old or 1700ish years old) where you have a documented history.

Just like organized religion, magic(k)/witchraft/whatever is something that is very personal. You adapt what works for you, you adopt what calls to you.

You want to start somewhere? Start with mythology.

• https://www.amazon.com/Myths-Legends-British-Richard-Barber/dp/1843830396/
  
  
• https://www.amazon.com/Early-Irish-Myths-Penguin-Classics/dp/0140443975
  
  
• https://www.amazon.com/Celtic-Myths-Legends-Peter-Berresford/dp/0786711078
  
  
• https://www.amazon.com/Poetic-Edda-Lee-M-Hollander/dp/0292764995
  
  
• https://www.amazon.com/Edda-Everymans-Library-Snorri-Sturluson/dp/0460876163
  
  
• https://www.amazon.com/Bulfinchs-Mythology-Legends-Charlemagne-Chivalry/dp/0440308453
  
  
• The Iliad and the Odyssey, just search Amazon for a copy with reviews that speak to you
  
  
• https://www.amazon.com/DAulaires-Greek-Myths-Ingri-dAulaire/dp/0440406943
  
  
• https://www.amazon.com/Pushkins-Fairy-Tales-A-Pushkin/dp/5938934176
  
  
• https://www.amazon.com/Russian-Folktales-Collection-Afanasyev-Dual-Language/dp/048649392X
  
  
  That's a good start.
  
  
  I'd also find the Audubon society book for trees and the like in your area, you should be able to find one for your region on Amazon used for 5-10$. Becoming aware of the plant life in your area will help you be able to find materials from the earth instead of coughing up money to some 'new age' shop or witchcraft supplier like 13Moons or Azure Green for a horribly overpriced piece of wood or herb.

Do what you feel is right. I made a Bast statue in high school with paper clay and have kept it over my desk for years (now it's in my parents house).

One book that could be of some help is by S. Ali Myers: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1508957150/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_mUusDbFCC9V1V

That book talks a bit about deities and helps you to find out which ones match with you by using numerology. However, if you have this strong feel that you are connected to Bast then go ahead with that intuition.

Also, a good book about ancient Egyptian mythology that I've found is this one: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0141021764/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_CVusDb5TZWTWJ

And once again go with your intuition. Bast is an amazing deity and energy. I work with her as Bast and Sekhmet, and she has been amazing. I wish you the best with her too.

I definitely think in these terms. In fact, my favorite explanation of magic in Doctor Strange was this same notion of programming experience. A book you might enjoy regarding the nature of experience is called Visual Intelligence by Donald Hoffman (linked below) which is about how the brain constructs reality according to rules, not facts. There's also a few good interviews with him on this subject (also linked below).

I find myself circling around a couple of ideas about magic from the standpoint of being locked in my brain in a programmed universe. The first is that I can learn to operate outside of my brain ( instead of relying on my input sensory devices like eyes/ears etc) and work perhaps astrally or I can put a lot of hard work into inferring what the rules of experience are and looking for the source code while only having access to the gui, so to speak.

In any case, I can't figure out where the basis for ritual fits in here. I could actually go on and on with this subject. I kind of have this notion (very rough) that I wish I could work on with others, that cultures around the world were given keys of knowledge and a basic truth and when combined, they form a complete practice of sorts. The Magicians sort of touched on this in the books regarding the Five Tertiary Circumstances, that to correctly execute a spell you had to know the phase of the moon, nearest body of water etc. But I would venture to say that my list of Circumstances would be more like: Astronomical position, local mineral composition, state of your inner energy channels, correct use of mudras (or similar channeling tool) etc.

I haven't learned a lot about sigils but I am interested in them after reading how they work for you.

https://www.amazon.com/Visual-Intelligence-How-Create-What/dp/0393319679/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_14_t_0?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=5PQZVRDXP99B4MXR4D9T

https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2016/04/the-illusion-of-reality/479559/

Fairy-Faith in Celtic Countries by Walter Evans-Wentz, who was a fascinating character in his own right.

Examines the beliefs in the Celtic regions of Wales, Ireland, Scotland, Isle of Man, Cornwall and Britanny in regards to the fey at the very beginning of the 20th c.

Here's the table of contents:http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/celt/ffcc/

The book is widely available online: the amazon cite includes a free version on kindle, project gutenberg also has it online.

It's a classic.

If you want a compendium of little people, fairies, gnomes etc. A Field Guide to the Little People is wonderful.

Katharine Brigg's An Encyclopedia of Fairies: Hobgoblins, Brownies, Bogies, & Other Supernatural Creatures is another classic.

You must read at least one of R.J. Stewart's books on the subject of faery healing.

This makes me feel like we need a thread to talk about what we’re currently reading. I think that’d be cool.

I’m reading Magic, Witchcraft and Religion and re-reading Urban Shaman right now. First one’s a textbook so it’s really dry but it’s fascinating anyway. Second one is a personal favorite I keep going back to. And I was just gifted In the Devil’s Snare which I’ve been meaning to read for a while, so I’ve got my hands full too.

My favorite books are the following:
About the Goddess:

When God Was a Woman

The Great Cosmic Mother: Rediscovering the Religion of the Earth

The White Goddess: A Historical Grammar of Poetic Myth (FSG Classics)

On occult knowledge:

The Kybalion by The Three Initiates

On sigils:

Practical Sigil Magic: Creating Personal Symbols for Success

As silly as it mat seem, this is a really GOOD book

I apologize because I know this isn't really what you're asking for, but - /r/raisedbynarcissists may have some helpful resources for you if you're healing from a relationship with a Narc. Also several books by Susan Forward, including this one.

First, learn ordinary knots. The Ashley Book of Knots is the standard reference guide.

When you have learned regular knots you can begin doing magic knots. One handy guide book is Cord Magic: simple spells for beginners to witchcraft by Raven Willow.

​

"The Witch's Guide to Life" by Kala Trobe.
https://www.amazon.com/Witchs-Guide-Life-Kala-Trobe/dp/0738702005

Paganism: An Introduction to Earth- Centered Religions https://www.amazon.com/dp/0738702226/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_ycoNDb4NAQ3MC

Look up a book called The Urban Primitive.
https://www.amazon.ca/dp/0738702595/ref=cm_sw_r_sms_apa_i_70GUDbVV3CER6

Physicians of Myddfai (mediaevil Welsh herbal cures): http://www.amazon.com/Physicians-Myddfai-Rhiwallon/dp/1479347116/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1452802247&sr=1-1
Paul Beyerl's "Master Book of Herbalism" - highly recommended: http://www.amazon.com/Master-Book-Herbalism-Paul-Beyerl/dp/0919345530/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8
"Poisonous Plants and Fungi" - for the specialist! (UK based): http://www.amazon.com/Poisonous-Plants-Fungi-Illustrated-Guide/dp/0112427189/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1452802576&sr=1-1

Please stop projecting. My point all along is to NOT have bias, to examine history objectively, from MORE THAN just male-centric OR female-centric perspectives.

As for evidence, it's readily available and I should not need to spoon feed you. You've already given evidence of cherry picking what you want to see and ignore what is plainly stated next to it. Specifically, the link you've removed from your post after I pointed out it supported what I said - confirming you're ok with burying inconvenient facts when it punctures personal bias.

But, here ya go, some of objective research, all one needs to do is actually look for it:

Here is one of many resources that indicate men constituted the majority accused in Normandy. Males outnumbered women 15 to 10 and eventually, "defendants in witchcraft cases, becoming almost a male monopoly by 1625." At the start in 1564, women were 40% of the accused, by 1659 only 9% of the accused were women.

See also, "Toads and Eucharists: The Male Witches of Normandy", (a review of it, Google doesn't seem to have preview).

Some other examples where ratios differ from the accepted generalization include: 52% of accused in Burgundy were men, 49% in Finland were male, 46% were men in Scotland; in Estonia men constituted 60% percent, and over 90% of the accused in Iceland were male. (See "The Witch-Hunt in Early Modern Europe" by Brian Levack.)

The numbers of male witch persecutions increased elsewhere too. Valerie Kivelson states, "many places, particularly in the Baltic and Scandinavia, but also pockets within Western Europe, where men, not women, comprised a large fraction even the majority of the accused".

A chapter from "Male Witches in Early Modern Europe" by Lara Apps (herself a feminist) sums up the egregious flaw in seeing female-centric as being complete or requires misandry in order to downplay the scope of persecutions. Note,

• "the prevailing view in witchcraft studies is that male witches were rare exceptions to the rule and are less important and interesting, as historical subjects, than female witches ... Whereas almost everything else, it seems, about witchcraft and witch-hunting (especially anything to do with women) has been dissected under many different microscopes, these hypotheses regarding male witches, put forward in the 1970s, have been absorbed as comfortable verities and allowed to stand virtually untested. ... the examples discussed in this chapter indicate clearly that the conventional wisdom regarding male witches is faulty on empirical grounds and fails utterly to account for the complexity of witchcraft cases involving men."
  
  and
  
  
• "One of the most dangerous assumptions, methodologically speaking, is to impart too much significance to the often-cited fact that women comprised 75 to 80 per cent of those tried for witchcraft in early modern Europe. This figure represents an estimate that covers continental Europe, the British Isles, and the American colonies, over a period of roughly three hundred years: it masks the crucial fact that ratios of male to female witches were extremely variable."
  
  Brian A. Pavlac of Kings College, author of "Witch Hunts in the Western World: Persecution and Punishment from the Inquisition through the Salem Trials compiled an online Ten Common Errors and Myths about the Witch Hunts, which includes errors like "The Witch Hunts specifically targeted women", and "The Witch Hunts were an attempt at 'femicide' or 'gendercide,'".
  
  As I said before, one of many variables that influenced who was more likely persecuted when & where is religious denominations and developments within them.
  
  A wealth of knowledge is to be found if a person goes outside their echo chamber and prejudices.