Please post here your recommendations about good books, tapes, or other
sources of info about paganism, etc.

219 responses total.

        The Spiral Dance by Starhawk
        Dreaming the Dark by Starhawk
        Positive Magic by Marion Weinstein
        The Truth about Witchcraft Today by Scott Cunningham
        Living Wicca by Scott Cunningham
        The Family Wicca Book by Ashleen O'Gaea
        the _Practical...Magic_ serie by Ray Buckland, for instance, 
                _Practical Candleburning Magic_
        Cunninghams Magical Encyclopaedias by Scott Cunningham, ie
                Cunninghams Encyclopedia of Magickal Herbs
        Wicca: A guide for the Solitary Practioner by Scott Cunningham
        

        _Drawing_Down_the_Moon_ by Margot Adler.  A good
text for beginners on the various and sundry neo-pagan religions
out there.

        For the Qabalists out there, anything by Israel Regardie
is pretty good, though I do get tired of his "All religions are
equally valid, but min'es more equal than yours" attitude.

        And for any other Qabalist Wiccans out there, definitely
check out "The Goddess and the Tree" and "The Witches Tarot" by
Ellen Cannon Reed.

anything by John & Caitland Mathews is very good reading for Pagans.

Did John Mathews write "Celtic Shaman??"

Yes...same John Mathews...
Fox

From the ADF study manual I'll recommend the following...
INTRODUCTION TO MAGIC: "Real Magic" by I. Bonewits, "Ritual Magic Workbook" by
D. Ashcroft-Nowicki, "A Magician Prepares" by I. Bonewits, & "Beginning 
Practical Magic" by I. Corrigan.

CELTIC FOLK MAGIC: "Carmina Gaedalica" by A. Carmichael, "Silver Bough" by M.
MacNeil, "The Year in Ireland" by K. Danaher, & "A Celtic Miscellany" by K.
H. Jackson.

ASTROLOGY 101: "Teach yourself Astrology" by Mayo, "The Only Way to Learn 
Astrology, Vols. 1 & 2" by M. March & J. McEvers, "The Case for Astrology" by
West & Toonder, "Astrology, Psychology, and the Four Elements" by S. Arroyo, 
"Koch Book of Tables" by Michelson, "The Inner Sky" by S. Forrest...ect...

RUNES: "Futhark" & "Runelore" by E. Thorsson, "Rune Games" by Osborn & 
Longland, 
"Rune Magic" by D. Tyson

OGHAM: "Ogham, Tree-Lore & The Celtic Tree Oracle" by E. Darkstar, "Guide
to Ogham" by D. McManus, "The Celtic Tree Oracle" by C. Murray, "The Book of
Ballymote", "Auraicept na N-Eces" by G. Galder.

INTRO TO NEOPAGANISM: "Drawing Down the Moon" by Adler, "The New Polytheism" b
by Miller, "Witches, Pagans & Magic in the New Age" by Marron

INTRODUCTION TO WICCA: "Spiral Dance" by Starhawk, "Witchcraft for Tomorrow"
by Valiente, "Rebirth of Witchcraft" by Valiente, "Eight Sabbats for Witches"
& "The Witch's Way" by Farrar, "Wicca: A Guide for the Solitary Practitioner"
by Cunningham, "A History of Witchcraft: Sorcerers, Heretics, & Pagans" by
Russell.

GODDESS WORSHIP: "Laughter of Aphrodite" by Christ, "Changing of the Gods" by
Goldenberg, "To Know" by Jade, "Book of Goddesses & Heroines" by Monaghan,
"The Witches' Goddess" by Farrar, "The Once & Future Goddess" by Gadon,
"The Goddesses & Gods of Old Europe" by Gimbutas, "The Moon and the Virgin"
by Hall, "Eleusis: Archetypal Image of Mother & Daughter" by Kerenyi, "Kali,
the Feminine Force" by Mookerjee, "The Great Mother" by Neumann, "Book of the
Goddess Past & Present" by Olson, "The Hebrew Goddess" by Patai, "Alone of All
Her Sex" by Warner, "Inanna: Queen of Heaven & Earth" by Wolkstein & Kramer.

CELTIC PAGANISM: "Celtic Heritage" by Rees, Celtic Mythology" by MacCana, 
"Gods & Heroes of the Celts" by Sjoestedt, "The Mabinogion", "Tain Bo 
Cualnge" by O'Rahilly, "The Celts" by Chadwick, "The Celts" by Kendrick, "The
Celts" by Powell, "Women of the Celts" by Markale, "Beyond the Inhabited 
World" by Thwaite, "Histories, Germania, Brittaia" by Tacitus, "Pagan Celtic
Britain" by Ross, "The Battle for Gaul" by Caesar (Wisemans trans.), "THe 
Celtic World" by Cunliffe, "Gods of the Celts" by Green, "Guide to Earl Irish
Law" by Kelly

SHAMANISM: "Shamanism" Archaic Techniques of Ecstacy" by Eliade, "The Way of
the Shaman" & "Hallucinogens & Shamanism" by Harner, "Shamanic Voices" by
Halifax

There's tons more if anyone has any specific requests...
Fox

I like almost all the books mentioned that I have seen (most of them, except
for the goddess worship stuff- too political for me), except in the area of
Ogham.  Of those, the only ones I'd trust are the McManus and the Galder.
I'd really like to see the "Guide to Early Irish Law".  Do you have it?

Most of my favorite books are in the above listing, except for two nice, simple
texts that give outlines for rituals:
"The Book of Pagan Ritual" and "Magickal Rites from the Crystal Well".  I've
seen some more recent texts on modern pagan life, etc., but haven't had the
time or cash to look into them further, so I don't want to list any yet.

Rune Magic is very good.

I'm living in a heavy Amish/Mennonite area and the bookstores don't
have much--philly is a bit far...anyone have some address to
write to?  it seems in my move many of my books "mysteriously disappeared"

Ouch!  What a kick in the pants!

A few occult books which I have found interesting are "Book 4" by
Aleister Crowley (as well as his "Magick in Theory and Practice" and
his "Confessions," which are interesting and at times very humorous),
"The Great Book of Magical Art, Hindu Magic and Occultism" by De Laurence
(my copy is quite old, from the 1930's), and Ziegler's "Tarot:  Mirror of
the Soul," which describes the Crowley Tarot deck.

On the more amusing side, let me HIGHLY recommend two things:

"The Witch's Broomstick Manual" -- A small tome by Yaj Nomolos (spell it
backwards) which is a guide for constructing your witch's broom, or
"bessom," as well as flight instructions.  It is listed in the 1994 
"Books in Print" catalog.  Very funny, lots of good illustrations, both
historical and contemporary, of witches riding brooms.  It is also 
somewhat interesting.

"Seduction Through Witchcraft" -- This has got to be one of the most
amazing and interesting of cheezy witchcraft collectibles.  In 1971,
Louise Huebner, the "Official Witch of Los Angeles," pressed this record
album from segments of her book "Power Through Witchcraft".  The entire
album is Huebner (who sounds like she's right out of "Macbeth")
giving instructions for casting spells while in the background eerie,
spacey, cosmic music and sounds can be heard.  I bought this one for a
dime at a flea market in Ann Arbor.  I'm hooked on it--I love it!  I've
even taped it for friends.  If you ever find a copy, it's well worth it!

Since my own interest in occultism is more on the historical/symbolical
side, the following is an informal list of Grimoires.  Most of these can
be obtained (sooner or later) by the persistant book buyer.  At least I
hope this is true, because my own collection is quite small.

"The Book of Secrets of Albertus Magnus"  Best, Michael R., and Frank H.
        Brightman, editors.
"The Black Pullet"  [stresses the use of talismans and rings. Also
        called "Treasure of the Old Man of the Pyramids" and "Black
        Screech Owl"]
"The Book of the Sacred Magic of Abramelin the Mage"  Mathers, S. L.
        MacGregor, translator and editor [found by Mathers in the Arsenal
        Library in Paris.  Greatly influenced Crowley]
"The Book of Black Magic and of Pacts"  by Waite, A. E.  [somewhat
        confusing collection of miscellany]
"The Greater Key of Solomon"  Mathers, S. L. MacGregor  translator and
        editor
"The Lesser Key of Solomon" also called "The Lemegeton" or "The Goetia"
        [various translations and editions.  Describes demonic hierarchy]
"The Necronomicon"  Simon, editor.  [phoney baloney Grimoire which may have
        useful information about Mesopotamian gods, etc.]
"The Red Dragon"  Simon, editor.  [see "The Grand Grimoire" below]
"The Grand Grimoire"  [17th century.  Necromancy.  Contains formulae for
        summoning "Lucifuge Rofocale" i.e. The Devil.  Opinions of this 
        book range from it being considered puerile to it being considered
        highly dangerous]
"Liber Spiritum" [?]
"Shemhamphoras"  [Hebrew]
"Grimoirum Verum"  by "Alibeck the Egyptian" c.1517 A.D. [?]
"The Constitution of Honorius"  [also called "The Grimoire of Honorius".
        Attributed to Pope Honorius III]
"Little Albert" [?]
"Arbatel"  [?]
"Tonalamatl"  [ancient Mexican manual]
"The Red Book of Appin"  Hitchcock, Ethan A., translator.
"The Divine Pymander of Hermes Trismegistus"  [various translations, one
        by Dr. John Everard considered mediocre, best is modern version
        with copius notes by Meade.  Source of "Hermetic" tradition]
"The Magus" by Barret, Francis  [Excellent, clearly written compilation
        on ceremonial magic, alchemy, etc.  Glittering with good ideas]

The above is taken from a notebook of mine where I scribble down the
names of "quaint, curious volumes of forgotten lore".  There are a few
others, which hardly even warrant a [?], such as "Hell's Hen" and "The
Great and Powerful Sea Ghost".  If anyone can add to this list, please
do.  I feel somewhat strange, actually, entering in all of those books.
I think I'll go throw some salt over my shoulder...

witchcraft 101 "to To Ride a Silver Broomstick"
Druidism 101 "21 Lessons of Merlin. A study in Druid Magick and Lore" by
douglas monroe." 21 lessons of Initiation. a course in druidigm" by Douglas
Monroe.(This one may be hard to find because it is out of print.)

"To Ride a Silver Broomstick
isn't bad, if a bit cute.  

Unfortunately, "21 Lessons" is utter and unmitigated rubbish.  He made up the
book he claims to have gotten it from, and has such glaring inaccuracies as
claiming pumpkin is a druidic "tree"- come on folks, it was unknown in Europe!

better books are a bit harder reading, but try _The Druids_ by Stuart Piggot,

_Every Day Life of the Pagan Celts_ and _Life and Death of a Druid Prince_ 
both by Anne Ross.

Anything by John and Caitlin Matthews is a bit suspect, as he does not do his
own translations (she does) and has been known to take more than a bit of
poetic license, but it's still rather better than Monroe.

Sorry about the diatribe.  Happy reading.

Hey, _The Druids_ by Piggot is on the list of recommended reading for one of
my classes! <anne grins>

Piggot is an excellent and well respected anthropological scholar, who has
done some ground-breaking work.  I'd really love to get a copy of _The 
Earliest Wheeled Transport_, his work on the effect their wicker chariots
had on Celtic civilization.  Unfortunately, it's not cheap.  what's the
rest of the reading list?  How much of it do you want to borrow from me...<g>

Speaking of borrowing books, do any of you have books I loaned you?  I am
missing a few that I really need, and can't remember who has them.

Kami: I can't remember you loaning me any books, but I'll check.  As for the 
rest of the reading list: _The Celts_ by T.G. E. Powell, _Myth and Religion
of the North: The Religion of Ancient Scandinavia_ by E. O. G. Turville- Petre
and _Myths anbd Symbols of Pagan Europe_ by H. R. Ellis Davidson.  Mind you,

these are all 'recomended' books, not ones we HAVE to buy.  The most
interesting of the mandatory books is _The Tain_ tr. Kinsella.

Well, I've got Powell, Davidson (borrowed from someone else) and of course
Kinsella, if you'd like to have a look at any of them.  Pretty solid stuff.
I'd like to look at the Turville-Petre: there isn't much that's any good in
the popular press on traditional Norse/Scandinavian religion.

See ya!

Actually, re:  Douglas Munroe.  He didn't make the book up; it exists, 
but is in all likelihood a fraud (The book of Pherrylt, that is).  I saw
him discussing (very polite word) the topic with Isaac Bonewitz and Ian
Corrigan at Starwood, and the "evidence" of the Book of Pherrylt that 
Munroe presented seemed woefully anachronistic linguistically to me.
But it's not a 20th Century piece, either; I concur with Isaac and Ian
that it looks to be 19th Century, and Munroe, in his gleeful enthusiasm,
or his desire to see things a certain way, has accepted as authentic a
fabrication.
Now, of course, Munroe's pride will refuse to allow him to accept any of this.

Of course, merely because something is an original document doesn't mean
that it's accurate.  Case in point, much of the printed media (newspapers,
mags, etc.).  Still, it at least has a chance of being accurate, then.

And just because something isn't original doesn't make it useful.

Brighn...that statement totally confused me!! I realize that isn't a tough
thing  thing to do but...

Sorry Phaedrus, just being cleverly ironic on #20.  Apparently
too clever.  I'm not sure what I meant, either.  :-)
Oh yeah, what I really meant was, Even though a book which clams a certain
authenticity doesn't have that authenticity, there might stillbe some use
to the book, even if more critically read.
Ick!  That doesn't make any sense either.
I give up.

Two more good books are the Woman's encyclopedia of Myths and Secrets, and the
Woman's dictionary of Symbols and Sacred Objects by Barbara G. Walker

That makes sense!

here
is a list of resources on Celtic religion/magic/culture that I just got
from someone I respect.

 
Basic Celtic Studies Reading List
 
* indicates books to start with.
 
Chadwick, Nora, The Celts (Penguin, Middlesex 1985)
*Cross, Tom Peete and Clark Harris Slover, Ancient Irish Tales (Barnes &=20
Noble, Totowa NJ 1988 reprint of 1936 edition)
*Cunliffe, Barry, The Celtic World : An Illustrated History of the Celtic=
=20
Race, Their Culture, Customs and Legends (Greenwich House, NY 1986)
*Davidson, HR Ellis, Myths and Symbols in Pagan Europe : Early=20
Scandinavian and Celtic Religions (Syracuse University Press, Syracuse=20
1988)
de Santillana, Giorgio and Hertha von Dechend, Hamlet's Mill : An Essay=20
Investigating the Origins of Human Knowledge and its Transmission=20
Through Myth 2ed (David R. Godine, Boston 1983)
Dillon, Myles, Early Irish Literature (University of Chicago Press, Chicago=
=20
1948)
Evans-Wentz, WY, The Fairy Faith in Celtic Countries (Citadel Press, NY=20
1990)
*Ford, Patrick K, The Mabonogi and Other Welsh Medieval Tales=20
(University of California Press, Berkeley 1977)
*Gantz, Jeffrey, Early Irish Myths and Sagas (Penguin, London 1988)
*Green, Miranda, The Gods of the Celts (Barnes & Noble, Totowa NJ 1986)
Hutton, Ronald, The Pagan Religions of the Ancient British Isles : Their=20
Nature and Legacy (Blackwell, Oxford 1991)
Kinsella, Thomas, The Tain (University of Philadelphia Press, Philadelphia=
=20
1985)
Littleton, C. Scott, The New Comparative Mythology : An Anthropological=20
Assessment of the Theories of Georges Dum=E9zil, 3ed (University of=20
California Press, Berkeley 1982)
*MacCana, Proinsias, Celtic Mythology (Hamlyn, London 1970)
*McNeill, F. Marian, The Silver Bough (Cannongate, Edinburgh 1989)
Merrifield, Ralph, The Archaeology of Ritual and Magic (New Amsterdam=20
Books, NY 1988)
*Nagy, Joseph Falaky, The Wisdom of the Outlaw : The Boyhood Deeds of=20
Finn in Gaelic Narrative Tradition (University of California Press, Berkele=
y=20
1985)
O'Driscoll, Robert ed. The Celtic Consciousness (George Braziller, MY=20
1987)
*Piggot, Stuart, The Druids (Thames & Hudson, NY 1986)
*Rees, Alwyn and Brinley, Celtic Heritage : Ancient Tradition in Ireland=20
and Wales (Thames & Hudson, NY 1989)
*Rolleston, TW, Celtic Myths and Legends (Avenel Books, NY 1986)
Ross, Anne, Pagan Celtic Britain : Studies in Iconography and Tradition=20
(Routledge & Kegan Paul, London 1967)
Ross, Anne, The Pagan Celts (Barnes & Noble, Totowa NJ 1986) formerly=20
Everyday Life of the Pagan Celts
Sjoestedt, Marie-Louise, Gods and Heroes of the Celts (Turtle Island=20
Foundation, Berkeley 1982)
*Skelton, Robin and Margaret Blackwood, Earth, Air, Fire, Water : Pre-
Christian and Pagan Elements in British Songs, Rhymes and Ballads=20
(Arkana, London 1990)
Wood-Martin, W. G., Traces of the Elder Faiths of Ireland : A Folklore=20
Sketch : A Handbook of Irish Pre-Christian Traditions (Longmans, Green &=20
Co, London 1902) 2 vols

Kami...re your possible missing books.  If you will make an index card
for all of your books and then remove it when you loan the book and write
the borrower's name on it...you will lose less books.  It will take a lot
of time, though.  Love ya!

have you tried a database to track your books?
I use one to track my cd's and tapes (yes records too my age is showing)

For a database program, I highly recommend Ecco for Windows.  Wonderful
database program.  :)

thanks guys!  Now, who has the time to make me the card file? (I KNOW I won't
make good use of such a database)  dang, we have a mac; who needs windows!

I've always thought of making a database for books, tried it once too.  Problem
with it was, that I would never update it.  It got old, and I had gotten rid
of some books, gotten new ones.  I don't have the effort to update a file
like that.  Oh well.  The card system seems like a good idea though...

I got the card idea from a bookstore...the database would take soooooo
much time.  And really, Jeff!!! Records?  What are those?  I am much
too young to remember vinyl!

Hmmmmmmmm...ok Arwen, if I can remember vinyl...

I still have vinyl.  Some of my best loved albums.

Me too!

Me too.  Does this make me old?

Hell, me too.  Is 22 old?

no, just wise :) (or eccentric<g>)

When does getting older start to lose it's appeal. You know when you'd rather 
not tell your age and all that??

- Backtalk version 1.3.30 - Copyright 1996-2006, Jan Wolter and Steve Weiss