by: Rick Johnson 
PO Box 40451
Tucson, Az.
85717
RikJohnson@juno.com
Return to the Home Page.
Return to the Miscellenous page.
There are a number of books on the subject of Witchcraft on the market today.
These may be loosely classified into three general areas:
A) History books are those written about some aspect of Witchcraft as it may have happened in the past such as A History of the Salem Witch Trials.
B) Witchcrap books are those which are written by bigots for thrills or to push their own warped view on the public, such as The Devil is Alive and Living in your TV-Set or Satanists, Witches and Jews are out to get you. In other words: lies.
C) Witchcraft books are those written by and/or about Wiccans and tell the truth about the Old Religion.
As this list is only concerned about the truth, it will cover ONLY a few basic books about Wicca itself. The reader is encouraged to expand their knowledge through the library as well as the bibliographies listed in these works. Those preceeded with an * are our personal favorites. All of the comments that follow are written by Rick Johnson unless another member tosses in their opinions. If so, it will be followed by '-Deliana' or '-***' to indicate its author. All editorial views are personal and should not be taken as being recommended by any coven, group or Tradition. Also, be aware that these are just a few of what some of us consider to be the best BASIC books on the Craft. If your favorite work isn't listed it may be because:
1) we either haven't read it (wait for us to read it or can afford to buy it. If you can't wait, send us a copy);
2) we feel that it is too general and not specific enough to Wicca or Traditional Wicca (we are, after all, Gardnerian Witches);
3) we feel that it is too advanced for beginners as we won't recommend "how-to" books to beginners (most who visit this site are probably new-bees);
4) we simply don't like it (personal opinions are like anal cavities, everyone has one, some have more).
I have been asked why I don't list introductory books like Fitch's Magickal Rites or Pagan Way Pagan Way Rites or Cunningham's Solitary Pratitionar books.
The reason is simple. As a Traditional Witch, I believe that Witchcraft, like martial arts and dance, can only be taught one-on-one. Calling yourself a "Witch" after reading a few "how-to" books is like calling yourself a "doctor" after reading the Red Cross First Aid Manual .
Books are wonderful things to add to your knowledge but they are NO replacement for a good teacher.
Also be aware that there was a general change in the written literature around 1972. Prior to that time, most of the books were written by Witches who had been trained in the Craft and had spent decades in their Craft.
After 1972, most of the books were written by self-professed book-wiccans who pretended that they had a history of Witchcraft.
There are exceptions but if you keep that date in mind as you read, you will easily see the difference between those who know and those who make-it up.
Return to the Home Page
Go to Miscellenous Page
ADLER, MARGOT, (Adler is a Gardnerian HPS)
Drawing Down the Moon. An excellent work on the Witch and non-
Witch pagan movements in Contemporary America. But be careful to separate the
Witches from other pagans.
CAMPANELLI, DAN and PAULINE (despite the controversy surrounding their books,
they do live on a farm in New Jersey and should know how to incorporate the Craft into their daily lives)
Wheel of the Year. An excellent work on how to live the religion in everyday life.
*Ancient Ways.
CLIFTON, CHAS, (Clifton is a professional journalist so knows his work)
Witchcraft Today, Vol. I
Witchcraft Today, Vol. II
Living Between Two Worlds. This is actually Vol IV in his
Witchcraft Today series. Obviously I don't think Vol III refers to Wicca.
CROWLEY, VIVIANNE, (Crowley is a Gardnerian and Alexandrian HPS in London)
Thorson's Principles of Paganism A lot of non-Wiccan pagans here
but generally an excellent book.
CUNNINGHAM, SCOTT,
***The Truth About Witchcraft Today. Possibly the best book for
beginners or the curious. Give this one to friends and family as a simple, non-threatening way to teach them what Witches are about.
DONOVON, FRANK,
Never on a Broomstick.
FARRAR, STEWART and JANET, (Although trained as Alexandrians, they tend to use a lot of Gardnerian workings in their interpretation of the Craft)
The Life and Times of a Modern Witch.
GLASS, JUSTINE
Witchcraft, the Sixth Sense
GRIST, TONY & AILEEN
Illustrated Guide to Wicca
HARRISON, MICHAEL,
The Roots of Witchcraft (Harrison believes that modern Wicca is basque in ancestry)
HARVEY, GRAHAM and HARDMAN, CHARLOTTE,
Paganism Today. Mostly essays on Paganism by very well-educated
Pagans. Definitely not fluff.
HOLZER, HANS, (Holzer combines Witches with non-Wiccan pagans so be careful to separate them)
The Witchcraft Report.
The Truth About Witchcraft.
The New Pagans.
HUTTON, RONALD
Triumph of the Moon (A work that, like CAM1, is destined to go down in Wiccan history as controversial)
LEEK, SYBIL, (Leek is one of the first Witches to come out of the broom closet)
*The Complete Art of Witchcraft. Not for someone who wants fluff. You have to be able to think to read this work.
JONG, ERICA,
Witches. Interesting reading from the author of Fear of Flying. Child Protective Services in Bisbee, Arizona took away Lori Johnson's children and destroyed her entire Craft library and working Tools simply because she owned this book.
JUDITH, ANODEA
The Truth About Neo-Paganism
MARTELLO, LEO L. (Martello is an Itialian/Sicilian Witch)
Witchcraft, the Old Religion.
O'CONNELL, MARGARET,
The Magick Cauldron.
RICHARDSON, ALAN,
Earth God Rising. Uses Egypt to explain Wicca.
ROBERTS, SUSAN,
*Witches USA. I like this book.
return to topics
BOURNE, LOIS (Bourne is a Gardnerian HPS and an Initiate of Gerald Gardner)
Witch Amongst us
CROWTHER, PATRICIA and ARNOLD, (Crowther is a Gardnerian HPS and an Initiate
of Gardner)
Witch Blood.
JOHNS, JUNE
King of the Witches. The biography of the founder of the Alexandrian
Tradition of Wicca.
LEEK, SYBIL,
Diary of a Witch.
return to topics
BUCKLAND, RAYMOND, (Buckland is/was a Gardnerian HP and an initiate of Gerald Gardner)
*Ancient and Modern Witchcraft.
*Witchcraft from the Inside. These are good basic books from the man who publicized Witchcraft in America.
CROWTHER, PATRICIA and ARNOLD, (The Crowthers are Gardnerian HPS and HP and were Initiated by Gerald Gardner)
Lid off the Cauldron.
The Witches Speak
Secrets of Ancient Witchcraft. Her Anthropological theories are a bit... unorthodox... but the material is good anyway.
GARDNER, GERALD, (What can we say, we follow the Craft as revised by Gardner)
Witchcraft Today
The Meaning of Witchcraft. Gardner is a bit difficult to read but his are the first books written by an actual Witch. These are considered mandatory reading by
Traditional Witches.
VALIENTE, DOREEN, (Valiente was Gardners first HPS and helped him revise his
Tradition into modern Gardnerianism)
Where Witchcraft Lives.
Witchcraft For Tomorrow. Anything by Valiente is good.
The Rebirth of Witchcraft
return to topics
ANDERSEN, JORGEN,
The Witch on the Wall. A gazeteer of Shiela-na-gigs in British
architecture. Written Mostly for Anthropologists but used by Wiccan teachers as a referance manual.
FARRAR, STEWART and JANET..
The Witches Goddess.
The Witches God. Read these two together.
HICKS, CLIVE
Green Man, the Archetype of our oneness with the Earth
MURRAY, MARGARET, DR,
The God of the Witches.
The Witch Cult in Western Europe.
DUNWICH, GERINA
The Wicca Sourcebook. If you are looking for people, this is a handy place to start.
JOHNSON, RICK, ed,
A Brief Handbook on the Wiccan Religion. An expanded selection of
papers and art on Witchcraft designed for the curious and non-Witch. This booklet
comes in a Basic, Police and Military version.
Wiccan Trivial Pursuit. The popular game based on Wicca and
Paganism.
MCCOY, EDAIN
Inside a Witches' Coven. More of a 'how to join a coven' than anything else. Despite her anti-Traditional and anti-skyclad bias, it's still an excellent work.
O'GAEA, ASHLEEN,
The Family Wicca Book.
In the Service of Life
Raising Witches
PATHFINDER PRESS PUBLICATIONS,
The Other People. Remember those irritating little comics put out by Chick Publications that tell lies to prove that everyone from Witches to satanists to catholics are evil? This is one of those, only it is written by a Pagan in rebuttal. Very good reading and a good response when the evangelists tell you that you have original sin.
return to topics
CAVENDISH, RICHARD, ed,
The Encyclopedia of Man, Myth and Magic. Originally published in
England as a weekly magazine, it has since been republished as a real encyclopedia. An excellent work but it takes some talent for research to locate the desired information.
GORDON, J. MELTON, ed,
Encyclopedia of American Religions. A listing of the more than 3,000 religions currently being practiced in America today. Many of the Wiccan organizations are defunct but the basic info is still good.
return to topics
RABINOVITCH, SHELLY
THe Encyclopedia of Modern Witchcraft and Neo-Paganism
return to topics
CUHULAIN, KERR,
*Law Enforcement Guide to Wicca. An excellent work written by a
Canadian police officer.
HICKS, ROBERT,
Satanic Cults, A Sceptical View of the Law Enforcement Approach. A
paper given by a police officer from Richmond, Virginia to debunk the satanic sacrifice
myth.
LANNING, KEN,
Investigators Guide to Allegations of Ritual Abuse. A paper written by
the FBI's expert on ritual crime.
Satanic, Occult, Ritualistic Crime; A Law Enforcement Perspective.
Another paper on 'occult' crime.
ZELL, OTTER
Witchcraft, Satanism and Occult Crime: Who's Who and What's What
return to topics
BAUDINO, GAEL
-Strands of Starlight
BERENS, JESSICA
-Queen of the Witches
BITD, ISOBEL
-Circle of Threeseries. A series of 15 books for teens offering positive values.
BISHES, ANN
-The Alain Trilogy
BRADLEY, MARION Z.,
^The Forest House. The pre-quel to Mists.
Mists of Avalon. A retelling of the Arthurian saga from a Wiccan
viewpoint.
^Lady of Avalon
BUCKLAND, RAYMOND
^Cardinal’s Sin
CROLL de CIO, LISA
-Sherwood Forest
CROWTHER, PATRCIA
-Witches Were for Hanging
DeLINT, CHARLES
Greenmantle
EATON, EVELYN,
-The King is a Witch. A Wiccan version of the Famous Edward III and Countess of Salisbury incident.
***EDGHILL, ROSEMARY, See the links page for her website
**Speak Daggers to Her. Basically a 'mystery' whose heroine is a
Gardnerian Witch.
*The Book of Moons
The Bowl of Night. Although these are a bit 'dark' I love them.
*
^Met by Moonlight
FALLINGSTAR, CERIDWEN,
^Heart of Fire. Romance set in old Scotland. Fallingstar claims this to be a true story based on her own past life.
FARMER, PHILLIP J.,
Flesh. Science Fiction about a spaceship returning to an Earth that has returned to nature worship..
FARRAR, STEWART,
Omega. Science Fiction with a dark slant. I personally feel that Farrar
takes the easy way out in the last chapter of his books.
The Twelve Maidens. Wicca and science in a mystery set during
contemporary England. I hear that there is a sequel to this but am unable to find it.
-The Sword of Orley
-The Serpent of Lilith
-Witches Dozen
FITCH, ED,
Castle of Deception. Fantasy with a strong sexual slant. If you like pagan erotica, read this.
FORTUNE, DIONE
-The Sea Priestess Fortune was a Theosophist but her books are excellent
-Moon Magic
^The Goat-foot God
GARCIA Y ROBERTSON, R,
The Spiral Dance. The last revolt against Queen Elizabeth to support Queen Mary told from a Wiccan viewpoint.
GARDNER, GERALD B.,
^High Magic's Aid. Set in the Middle Ages, this was the first real novel by and about Witches.
^A Goddess Arrives
GRAVES, ROBERT
-Watch the North Wind Rise
HAND, ELIZABETH
-Waking the Moon
HOLZER, HANS
Heather, Confessions of a Witch. Supposedly a biography of a
'Gardnerian' Witch, but if you knew anything about Holzer and have read his other occult novel, you would recognize this as another attempt at fiction... with a mild sexual
slant.
HORNE, FIONA
-Pop Goes the Witch For younger pagans.
KURTZ, KATHARINE,
Lammas Night. One version of the famous Operation Cone of Power
performed during WWII by British Witches to stop Hitler.
LACKEY, MERCEDES,
Children of the Night.
Burning Water.
High Jinx. A series of 'mysteries' whose heroine is a Witch.
RAVENWOLF, SILVER,
Beneath a Mountain Moon
^Witches Night of Fear
SELLARS, M. R.
Harm None
Never Burn a Witch
Perfect Trust
The Law of Three
-Crones Moon
ST. CLAIR, MARGARET,
Sign of the Labrys. One of the 'Doomsday' novels that people love to
write.
STREIBER, WHITLEY,
^Cat Magic.
SHAFFER, ANTHONY & HARDY, ROBIN
***The Wicker Man A novel about a Scotish island that returns to Paganism. It was the basis for the cult classic movie of the same name
TRYON, THOMAS
Harvest Home
return to topics
ANGI REMADI,
The Mother Calls
BARNETT and JAMES,
Deepening
CHARLIE MURPHY,
Burning Times. Not all of this album is Craft but his Burning Times
song which is based on an incident in France is a classic among Witches.
CIRCLE,
Circle Magick Music. Very simple stuff.
DARRAGH NAGLE and DEREK FULLER,
Dragon Dreams
GAYLE PERRIGNO,
**Never Again the Burning A series of song and essays about Wicca.
One of my favorites.
GWYDION PENDERWEN,
Songs From the Old Religion. Excellent music from Pagandom's first
great singer.
GYPSY,
***Enchantress. One of the best. She needs to put out more albums or
reissue this on CD since my copies wear out so often.
***INCUBUS/SUCCUBUS, (This is a Pagan Rock band in England which does Wiccan
and vampire music. It's hard rock and excellent. Check out their website in the Links section.)
Beltane.
Heartbeat of the Earth
Belladonna and Aconite
Wytches.
Away With the Faeries
Supernature
L. ISADORA and L. PAN,
The Witching Hour
The Queen of Heaven and Sky
***LISA THIEL, (A former Tucson artist - Deliana's favorite)
Songs of Transformation. Side I only is Wiccan.
Prayers for the Planet
Journey to the Goddess
Invocation of the Graces
Lady of the Lake
JETHRO TULL,
**Songs From the Wood.
return to topics
ALAN, JIM and FOX, SELENA,
Circle Magick Songs. Extremely simple music and songs written for a
one handed keyboard.
JOHNSON, RICK, and DELIANA, ed.
Desert Henge Coven Songbook for Yule. A compilation of xmas songs
re-written for a Pagan and Wiccan viewpoint. This was the songbook that helped launch
the annual TAWN Yule caroling. It comes in a lyric only and a music & lyric
version.
Desert Henge Coven Songbook for Rituals. A compilation of Craft
songs and chants. Many of these are popular songs and tunes rewritten to a Wiccan point
of view.
JOHNSON, RICK, ed.
That Old Craft Religion. Pagandom and filk-singing's most infamous
song with well over 1000 verses. Designed for a Bardic Circle.
MARKS, KATIE, ed,
Circle of Song. A comilation of many of the chants and rounds popular
in modern day Wicca.
PENDERWEN, GWYDION,
Wheel of the Year. Some excellent songs by Pagandoms favorite
musician. This is a companion book for his Songs for the Old Religion album.
return to topics
NATIONAL FILM BOARD of CANADA,
The Goddess Remembered.
***The Burning Times. The best of the series.
Full Circle.
BUCKLAND, RAYMOND,
Witchcraft, Today and Tomorrow. Simple but interesting.
ARTS and ENTERTAINMENT,
Witchcraft in America
return to topics
It is a fact of economics that any movie MUST be aimed at the mainstream public in order to earn enough money to pay the bills. And as the mainstream public are xians, any movie by or about Wicca must be aimed towards xans, showing xian values. The best we can hope for here is that Hollywood isn't too insulting towards us.
Bell, Book and Candle 1958. Starring Kim Novak & James Stewart. Although not at all accurate, this film is beloved by every Witch and pagan I know.
The Coven, parts I & II Starring Jennine & Alex Sanders. By Vivid Productions, this is a Hard Core film that is noted by it’s liberal use of published readings from the Gardnerian Book of Shadows. Incidently, the Alex Sanders of this film is the porn star, not the Witch King.
The Craft 1996. Starring Fairuza Balk & Robin Tunney. Fairuza and some of the other actresses were Initiated during the making of this film. Adult Witches hate it, teen Wiccans love it. My daughter crossed a pagan protest line to watch this then borrowed money from the protesters to watch it again.
The Crucible 1996. Starring Daniel Day-Lewis & Winona Ryder. Another re-telling of Arthur Miller’s classic story using the Salem Witch Trials to attack Senator McCarthy’s anti-communist ‘witch-hunt’.
Drawing Down the Moon Starring Walter Koenig. A low budget but suprisingly good and accurate film about a modern Witch
Guinevere 2002. Starring Sheryl Lee & Noah White. Another King Arthur film told from the view of Arthur’s pagan wife.
Hexan 1922. Made in Sweden, this is mainly a medieval witches=devil belief flick.
Lucinda’s Spell 1999. Starring Christina Fulton & Jon Jacobs. Not at all accurate but fun anyway if you like New Orleans hooker-Witches.
Mists of Avalon 2001. Starring Anjelica Houston & Julianna Marguiles. Based on Bradley’s book of the same name.
Practical Magick 1998. Starring Sandra Bullock & Nicole Kidman.
The Wicker Man 1973. A cult classic that every Pagan loves. It exists in three versions: 87, 95 and 102 minutes. Most Americans are accustomed to the 87 minute edited version though many critics claim that the 95 minute version is the best.
The Witches of Eastwick 1987. Starring Jack Nicholson & Cher. Who cannot enjoy this excellent, but totally innacurate film about modern ‘witches’?
return to topics
Cherry #13 1992. Published by Last Gasp, this episode of the hard-core comic has our well-endowed blonde getting involved with Witchcraft, the ghost of Elvis and all sorts of trouble until the Goddess and the Horned God rescue her.
-Dawn By J. M. Linsner. The Goddess interacts with god, satan and a host of humans on a strange alternate-Earth.
Fables By DC Comics.
Lady Pendragon By Image Comics. Pagan friendly
-Slaine: The Horned God By Pat Mills & Simon Bisley. Shows the story of the Horned God as He replaces his predesesor.
-Tarot: Witch of the Black Rose By Jim Balent & Holly Golightly. Deals with the shadow world of dark & light magick. This started out g-rated but full nudity was the norm by issue #17. Not for children but each issue interviews a different Wiccan.
return to topics
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight Medieval. This work is easier to read if you think of the Green Knight as the Horned God of Witchcraft in His aspect of the Foliate and the Knights of the Round Table representing christianity and so the work shows the early conflict between the two religions. Note how the xians must cheat to win.
return to topics
To contact me or to request topics to be covered, send to RikJohnson@juno.com
by: Rick Johnson
PO Box 40451
Tucson, Az.
85717
Return to the Home Page.
Return to the Miscellenous page.
