The Well Read Witch

Reading when you live outside.

A Reading List for the Traditional Witch:

For a few years I've been meaning to finally get my reading list typed out, and I figure as the Old Hag settles her icy bottom down for a spell, I might as well. Here is the master list, many I've read, most are on my to do list. Please feel free to suggest any additions, for this is by no means a complete list. Check back! I add frequently.

The Foundational Texts:

Aradia or the Gospel of the Witches of Italy - Charles G. Leland
The Secret Commonwealth: An Essay on the Nature and Actions of the Subterranean (and for the Most Part) Invisible People, Heretofore Going Under the Name of Elves, Fauns, and Fairies - Robert Kirk
The Fairy-Faith in Celtic Countries - W.Y. Evans-Wentz
The Golden Bough -  James George Frazer
The Greater Key of Solomon  - Samuel L. Macgregor Mathers
The Complete Art of Witchcraft: Penetrating the Secrets of White Magic - Sybil Leek
Fifty Years in the Feri Tradition- Cora Anderson
High Magic’s Aid - Gerald Gardner
Mastering Witchcraft: A Practical Guide for Witches, Warlocks & Covens - Paul Huson
Natural Magic - Doreen Valiente
Rebirth of Witchcraft - Doreen Valiente
Witchcraft for Tomorrow - Doreen Valiente
Witchcraft: a Tradition Renewed - Doreen Valiente and Evan John Jones
The Writings of Roy Bowers - (Robert Cochrane)
Apocalyptic Witchcraft - Peter Grey

Traditional Witchcraft:

The Roebuck in the Thicket - Evan John Jones & Robert Cochrane, editor Mike Howard
The Robert Cochrane Letters: An Insight into Modern Traditional Witchcraft - Robert Cochrane and Evan John Jones
The Forge of Tubal Cain - Ann Finnin
The Pillars of Tubal Cain -  Nigel Aldcroft Jackson & Michael HowardLiber Nox: A Traditional Witch's Gramarye - Michael Howard
Call of the Horned Piper - Nigel Aldcroft Jackson
Masks of Misrule - Nigel Jackson
Grimore for Modern Cunning Folk - Peter Paddon
Letters from the Devil's Forest - Robin Artisson
The Witching Way of Hollow Hill - Robin Artisson
The Horn of Evenwood - Robin Artisson
Azoetia: Grimoire of the Sabbatic Craft -  Andrew D. Chumbley
Opuscula Magica. Volume I: Essays on Witchcraft and the Sabbatic Tradition - Andrew D. Chumbley and Daniel A. Schulke
The Devil's Dozen-Thirteen Craft Rites of The Old One - Gemma Gary
Cecil Williamson's Book of Witchcraft-A Grimoire of the Museum of Witchcraft - Steve Patterson
Serpent Songs - Editor:  Nicholaj de Mattos Frisvold

Specific Cultural Traditions:

Balkan Traditional Witchcraft - Radomir Ristic
Practical Magic in the Northern Tradition -  Nigel Pennick
Irish Witchcraft and Demonology - St. John D. Seymour
The Devil's Plantation: East Anglian Lore, Witchcraft & Folk-Magic- Nigel Pearson
Traditional Witchcraft a Cornish Book of Ways - Gemma Gary
The Black Toad - Gemma Gary

General Craft:

Wheel of the Year - Pauline Campanelli
Witches All - Elizabeth Pepper
Irish Witchcraft from an Irish Witch - Lora O'Brien
Magical Ritual Methods - William G. Gray
Seasonal Occult Rituals - William G. Gray
Ecstasies: Deciphering the Witches' Sabbath - Carlo Ginzburg and Raymond Rosenthal

History:

The White Goddess: A Historical Grammar of Poetic Myth - Robert Graves
The History of the Devil: The Horned God of the West - R. Lowe Thompson
Witchcraft and Society in England and America, 1550-1750 - Marion Gibson
Cunning-Folk & Familiar Spirits: Shamanistic Visionary Traditions in Early Modern British Witchcraft and Magic - Emma Wilby
Witchcraft in Tudor and Stuart England - Alan MacFarlane
Singing With Blackbirds: The Survival of Primal Celtic Shamanism in Later Folk -Traditions by Stuart A. Harris Logan
The Pattern Under the Plough - George Ewart Evans. Faber and Faber.
The Secret Teachings of All Ages - Manly P. Hall.
Shamanism: Archaic Techniques of Ecstasy - Mircea Eliade
Witchcraft in Europe, 400-1700: A Documentary History - Alan Charles Kors and Edward Peters
Shamans Sorcerers and Saints: A Prehistory of Religion - Brian Hayden
Myths and Symbols in Pagan Europe - H.R. Ellis Davidson
The Pagan Religions of the Ancient British Isles: Their Nature and Legacy - Ronald Hutton
Popular Magic: Cunning-folk in English History - Owen Davies

The Know How:

Complete Book of Incense, Oils & Brews - Scott Cunningham
Hoodoo, Herb and Root Magic - cat yronwode
Practical Candleburning Rituals: Spells and Rituals for Every Purpose - Raymond BucklandMagic and Husbandry- The Folk-Lore Of Agriculture; Rites, Ceremonies, Customs, And Beliefs Connected With Pastoral Life And The Cultivation Of The Soil; With Breeding And The Care Of Cattle; With Fruit-Growing, Bees, And Fowls – Lewis Dayton Burdick

Wortcunning: For Info on plants see my other site, it's literally a giant bibliography.

Witchcraft Medicine: Healing Arts, Shamanic Practices, and Forbidden Plants - Claudia Müller-Ebeling, Christian Rätsch, and Wolf-Dieter Storl
Pharmako Trilogy -  Dale Pendell
Magical Herbalism by Scott Cunningham
Cunningham’s Encyclopedia of Magical Herbs by Scott Cunningham
The Herb Book by John Lust
Herbal Medicine-Maker’s Handbook: A Home Manual by James Green
Magical and Ritual Use of Herbs - Richard Alan Miller
Blackberry Cove Herbal: Healing With Common Herbs in the Appalachian Wise-Woman Tradition -Linda Ours Rago
Leechcraft: Early English Charms, Plant-lore and Healing - Stephen Pollington
Witches, Midwives, and Nurses: A History of Women Healers  - Barbara Ehrenreich and Deirdre English

Folklore:

A Dictionary of English Folklore - Jacqueline Simpson and Steve Roud
Make Merry In Step and Song: A Seasonal Treasury of Music, Mummer's Plays & Celebrations in the English Folk Tradition - Bronwen Forbes

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