A list of books I recommend. THIS LIST WILL CONSISTENTLY CHANGE. The books are listed in no particular order, although they are fairly decently categorized and anything in italics is one I prefer highly for one reason or another. Clearly there are many books that should be on this list, which I have not had enough experience with to list, but more will come.
* – means the text has a fair amount of discredited or unreliable information.
*REFERENCE* – means the text should be read only for its context rather than its information. Most if not all of the information is unreliable.
Practical Witchcraft and Magic
Witches’ Potions and Spells by Kathryn Paulsen (1971)
Crone’s Book of Charms and Spells by Valerie Worth (2002)
Crone’s Book of Magical Words by Valerie Worth (2002)
The Galdrabok (16th and 17th centuries)
The Greek Magical Papyri translated by Hanz Dieter Betz in (1986)
Hermetic Magic: The Postmodern Papyrus of Abaris by Stephen E. Flowers (2009) [I haven’t studied his history in depth so * the first half of the book but the practice is a good base on the PGM]
Pow-Wows: or Long Lost Friend by John George Hoffman (1820)
Nummits and Crummits: Devonshire customs, characteristics and folklore by Sarah Hewett (1900)
Carmina Gadelica" (Vol. I & II) by Alexander Carmichael (1900)
*Grimoire of Arthur Gauntlet edited by David Rankine (2011)
Gaelic Charms, Incantations, and Blessings Among the Hebrides by William Mackenzie (1895)
Witchcraft History and Witch Trials
The Night Battles by Carlo Ginzburg (1966)
Under the Devil’s Spell by Matteo Duni (2007)
Cunning-folk and Familiar Spirits by Emma Wilby (2006)
The Confession of Isobel Gowdie (1662)
Witchcraft and Magic in the Nordic Middle Ages by Stephen A. Mitchell (2011)
Irish Witchcraft and Demonology by St, John D. Seymour (1913)
Thinking With Demons by Stuart Clark (1999)
Ecstasies: Deciphering the Witches’ Sabbath by Carlo Ginzburg (1989)
*Neopolitan Witchcraft by J.B. Andrews (1897)
Ancient Criminal Trials In Scotland compiled by Robert Pitcairn (1833)
Witchcraft, Healing, and Vernacular Magic in Italy by Sabina Magliocco (2004)
Arcana Mundi: Magic and the Occult in Greek and Roman Worlds, Georg Luck (1985)
Religion and the Decline of Magic by Keith Thomas (1971)
Witchcraft and Inquisition in Early Modern Venice by Jonathan Seitz (2011)
The Creation and Sacrifice of Witches in Classic Maya Society by Lisa J. Lucero and Sherry A. Gibbs (2007)
Paganism, Folklore, Witch Stories:
The Pagan Religions of the Ancient British Isles by Ronald Hutton (1993)
Superstitions and Folk Remedies by Charles Dillon (2001)
The World of the Druids by Miranda Green (1997)
*The Golden Bough by Sir James Frazer (1890)
The Kalevala compiled by Elias Lönnrot (1888)
Táin Bó Cúalnge or the Cattle Raid of Cooley (apx. 12th century)
The Silver Bullet: and Other American Witch Stories edited by Hubert J. Davis (1975)
Icelandic Folktales and Legends by Jacqueline Simpson (1972)
Witchcraft in the Central Balkans I: Characteristics of Witches T. P. Vukanović (1989)
Myths and Legends of Our Own Land by Charles M. Skinner (1896)
*Ancient Legends, Mystic Charms, and Superstitions of Ireland by Lady Francesca Speranza Wilde (1887)
Sami Mythology and Folk Medcine
by Aage Solbakk
Teutonic Myth and Legend
by Donald A. Mackenzie (1912)
The Key of Gold: 23 Czech Folk Tales
by Joseph Baudis (1922)
Witchcraft in Early North America
by Alison Games (2010)
Shamans, Witches, and Maya Priestsby Krystyna Deuss (2013)
Contemporary Witchcraft and Magic
*Mastering Witchcraft: A Practical Guide for Witches, Warlocks, and Covens by Paul Huson (1970)
Triumph of the Moon by Ronald Hutton (2001)
Trials of the Moon [a criticism of the former] by Ben Whitmore (2010)
Witchcraft Today by Gerald Gardner (1954)
Witchcraft for Tomorrow by Doreen Valiente (1978)
*The Meaning of Witchcraft by Gerald Gardner (1959)
Magick in Theory and Practice by Aleister Crowley (1976)
*REFERENCE* Aradia: Gospel of the Witches by Charles Leland (1899)
*REFERENCE* The Witch Cult in Western Europe by Margaret Murray (1921)
Liber Nul and Psychonaut by Peter J. Carroll (1987)
American Conjure and Hoodoo
Mules and Men by Zora Neale Hurston (1935)
Drums and Shadows managed by Mary Granger (1940)
Hoodoo In America by Zora Neale Hurston (1931)
Herbs
The Magical and Ritual Uses of Herbs by Richard Alan Miller (1983)
Medieval to Early-Modern Texts
Discoverie of Witchcraft – Reginald Scot (1584)
The Poetic Edda (~13th Century)
The Prose Edda (~13th Century)
The Black Pullet (La Poule Noire) (appx. 18th century)
The Greater Key of Solomon (14th or 15th century)
The Lemegeton (17th century)
The Faerie Queene by Edmund Spencer (1596)
The Malleus Maleficarum by Heinrich Kramer and James Sprenger (1487)
Recommended Reading
Published
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