Anyone know any good books on Witchcraft?

[shadowkat]

Friend of mine is researching the topic and asked for a few good books on it. Anyone who knows anything that I can pass on to her - let me know.

Thanks!

Only one could think of was Margot Adler's "Drawing Down the Moon".

Comments

[fara-shimbo.livejournal.com]

Starhawk's books are good. Can't remember the titles, but I think there are two.

[petzipellepingo.livejournal.com]

History of witchcraft or the Wicca religion?

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

I think Witchcraft - she's thinking of writing a book about witchs - fantasy novel.

[petzipellepingo.livejournal.com]

202.114 W 2006

Savage breast : one man's search for the goddess
Ward, Tim, 1958-
xx, 399 p. : ill. ; 22 cm.

133.4 L 2003

The elements of ritual : air, fire, water & earth in the wiccan circle 1st ed.
Lipp, Deborah, 1961-
xi, 273 p. : ill. ; 24 cm.

133.4 G 2003

Sacred stones of the goddess : using earth energies for magical living
Gillotte, Galen, 1952-
p. cm.

135.3 R 2002

Dreams of the goddess : discovering the divine while you sleep
Ross, Scarlett.
222 p. : ill. ; 21 cm.

133.43 D 2001
Goddess initiation : a practical Celtic program for soul-healing, self-fulfillment, and wild wisdom 1st ed.
De Grandis, Francesca.
xii, 334 p. ; 20 cm.

299 S 2001

The twelve wild swans : a journey to the realm of magic, healing, and action : rituals, exercises, and magical training in the reclaiming tradition 1st ed.
Starhawk.
326 p.

299 S 1999

The spiral dance : a rebirth of the ancient religion of the great goddess 20th anniversary ed., with new introd. and chapter-by- chapter commentary.
Starhawk.
x, 326 p. : ill. ; 23 cm.

291.14 D 1998

Goddess unmasked : the rise of neopagan feminist spirituality
Davis, Philip G., 1950-
xi, 418 p. ; 24 cm.

133.43 C 1998

Book of shadows : a modern woman's journey into the magic and wisdom of witchcraft 1st ed.
Curott, Phyllis.
p. cm.

305.42 B 1998

Summoning the fates : a woman's guide to destiny 1st ed.
Budapest, Zsuzsanna Emese, 1940-
xi ; 242 p.


291.2 W 1997

Embracing the goddess within : a creative guide for women
Waldherr, Kris.
111 p. : col. ill. ; 19 cm.

B BOLEN 1994
Crossing to Avalon : a woman's midlife pilgrimage 1st ed.
Bolen, Jean Shinoda.
x, 303 p. : ill. ; 22 cm.

299.93 A 1990
The woman of Wyrrd : the arousal of the inner fire
Andrews, Lynn V.
x, 214 p. ; 25 cm.


291.211 S 1987

The Great Cosmic Mother : rediscovering the religion of the earth 1st ed.
Sjoo, Monica, 1938-
ix, 501 p. : ill. ; 24 cm.

291.448 S 1987

The women's spirituality book 1st ed.
Stein, Diane, 1948-
xvi, 262 p. : ill. ; 23 cm.

291.211 N 1983
Motherpeace : a way to the goddess through myth, art, and tarot 1st ed.
Noble, Vicki.
x, 276 p., 16 p. of plates : ill. (some col.) ; 24 cm.

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

Thanks!

[superplin.livejournal.com]

Does she want to know about the actual practices, the origins, or something else? And does she have a specific kind of witchcraft in mind, or just generally speaking?

If she is writing a book and wants to know about practices, it depends a lot on whether she is focusing on a specific tradition, or kitchen witches, etc. However, a few books that come to mind:

- Marian Green's A Witch Alone
- Deborah Lipp's The Way of Four
- Patricia Crowther's Lid Off the Cauldron
- for more cultural background, especially for the British/Celtic strains of witchcraft, there's Hutton's Triumph of the Moon

Most of these are skewed towards Wicca, in the traditional sense. For more neo-eclectic Wicca, she could check out books by Scott Cunningham; Starhawk's Spiral Dance has a mix of practices, largely-discounted history (although I think the latest edition acknowledges the inaccuracies), and politics; and there are a number of books on hedgewitches/kitchen witches, etc., i.e., those who practice without a religious component.

I've no idea which (if any) of these would be most useful, but that's all I can think of right now.

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

She's considering writing a novel that does what was recently attempted by the British series "Hex" but better. (The series tackled witchcraft but failed to create a mythology - that's the problem with so many tv shows, they don't bother to research first.)

So I think what she is probably hunting is history, magical practices, and folklore/legends.

I'll give Whedon credit - I think they actually did research it a bit, since Willow clearly just practices Witchcraft and is not a wicca at first, and Tara is a Wicca. But hard to tell.

I did research it several years ago - but concentrated mostly on Druidism, which is quite different, and Witchcraft (from the political/historical standpoint)as well as Wicca, but not the magical practices per se.

Thanks for the suggestions! Very helpful. Will pass them on.

[harmonyfb.livejournal.com]

I highly recommend The Triumph of the Moon by Ronald Hutton (for a history of, rather than a primer on).

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I forwarded it onwards.

[ruthless1.livejournal.com]

Felicitas Goodman, an anthropologist, has written a very interesting book on meditation postures found in terra cotta figures and cave paintings around the world. It's called Where the Spirits Ride the Wind and her findings are quite fascinating. Although this is not witchcraft per se - more of a book on shamanic postures, it has loads of information since the figures she talks about are from all over the world. There are follow up books on this subject - Ecstatic Body Postures that are a little bit more up to date. I think these books might be a good resource for a fantasy novel because they describe in detail what some of the inner workings of these meditations are. It's really interesting stuff.