Welcome to another installment in my giant annotated bibliography series!!
You can find the rest of it here.
This particular section focuses on spellbooks and other books that primarily contain rituals and ceremonies.
I’m only including books that I’ve successfully worked spells from in this list. Also, while I try to provide beginner-accessible recommendations, be aware that some of these books verge into intermediate or even advanced territory. Your mileage, as always, may vary.
Magick, like most things, is what you put into it.
The Goodly Spellbook, by Dixie Deerman and Steve Rasmussen. The title sounds horribly fluffy, but this is a hidden gem. It explains obscure concepts like alternative alphabets and potential uses of musical notes, as well as plant lore and other bits and pieces. Definitely worth checking out. It’s way more than just “a book of spells.”
Encyclopedia of 5,000 Spells, by Judika Illes. The title sounds trite to some, but it delivers. This book has spells from almost every culture and spiritual philosophy, as well as a very detailed formulary. I read it when I’m bored sometimes, too, just because I always learn some tidbit from it.
Book of Spells, by Nicola Pulford. In most editions, this book is absolutely gorgeous and describes spellcasting traditions from a variety of perspectives and traditions. Recommended for those who already understand the basics, as this book jumps straight into spellcasting and gives only a small amount of information about how things work.
1001 Spells, by Cassandra Eason. This book is notable in that it skips with preliminaries and dives right into the spells. For that reason, it’s best suited to those who already have experience with magick. Many of the spells are short, require few ingredients, and are highly practical.
Pastel Spells, by Rose Orriculum. This book takes a very postmodern, utilitarian approach to magick while still having a great deal of flair, inspiration, and beauty. I would almost call it chaos magick, but with more poetic aspects. Unsure if that’s what @orriculum was going for, but I like it, and I recommend it.
The Big Book of Practical Spells, by Judika Illes. This book contains many of the same good features seen in Ms. Illes’s other works, but is significantly more easily digested for beginners. Ms. Illes doesn’t water things down, but she does explain them very well – this would be a great first book for a newbie!
The Modern Witchcraft Spellbook, by Skye Alexander. This book features a large section of basic information at the beginning. The spells, included later in the book, are not overly-fancy nor do they require a bunch of unobtainable props. Of note is the Animal Token spell, which I found very creative and helpful.
The Modern Witchcraft Book of Love Spells, by Skye Alexander. Love spells are a controversial topic, but most witches would agree that certain kinds are almost always helpful. This book mostly avoids messy issues of mind control and emphasizes consent. It provides ample solutions for a lovestruck witch, and is worth picking up if emotional magick interests you at all.
Magic When You Need It, by Judika Illes. This book contains 150 spells total. Quite a few of them enter truly gray areas regarding manipulation, but I can imagine situations where most would be useful. For example, the author includes spells for banishing bad neighbors and a very effective “Gag the Gossips” spell. For intermediate spellcasters.
Protection and Reversal Magick, by Jason Miller. This gets a little unnerving at times, but it gives good advice on protective spellcraft. Take with a grain of salt, though – some of this has the potential to make you feel paranoid.
Give these a look, and maybe you’ll find them helpful!
I’ll be posting more installments in this series of book recommendations, organized by topic. You can find all the ones so far here, under my #annobib tag.
Also, if you buy the books via the links above, I get some pocket money which I will
notspend on Red Bull energy drinks and Zebra Mildliners.Really.
Candlelight-magick 