My first books on the craft were The Witches Craft by Raven Grimassi and Green Witchcraft by Ann Moura. I was also interested in ceremonial magic and old grimoires, so I had a copy of The Lesser Key of Solomon.

When I frequented pagan and Wiccan forums in the early to mid 2000's, everyone recommended reading as much as you could, while simultaneously telling everyone to avoid this author and that author. I avoided a few authors for years because of that bad press, and I kind of regret it!

I didn't read Silver Ravenwolf until I was in my 20's because all through my childhood and teen years everyone online went on and on about how horrible she was! When I did read her books, while I didn't agree with absolutely everything and found a few things that were incorrect, I still thought they were fun and I enjoyed quite a few of the exercises.

What I'm trying to say here is no author is perfect, and you should always take everything with a grain of salt. You don't have to agree or disagree with everything an author says. There is probably something helpful in almost any magical text out there. Do not take everything an author says at face value. You cannot read one book about the history of Wicca, for example, and assume everything about it is true. You will have to verify things before you go trying to tell others about the history.

That being said, when it comes to the craft, try what interests you! Especially if you find a book at your local library or at a yard sale or used book store! (That way you save money, and if you end up hating the book, you didn't actually support the author directly!).

So, with that little intro/ramble/disclaimer out of the way! Here are some of my favourite witchy books, by subject and in order of what I think would be the most helpful to an absolute beginner.

Books for (potentially concerned) parents/coworkers/friends of witches, Wiccans and pagans:
When Someone You Love Is Wiccan by Carl Mccolman


Books for people interested in the history of witchcraft and paganism:
Triumph of the Moon by Ronald Hutton

Books for witches:
The Inner Temple of Witchcraft and The Outer Temple of Witchcraft by Christopher Penzcak. These books explain the craft from the ground up in great detail! Fantastic for beginners! They also are great for anyone who wants to understand their witchy or Wiccan loved ones. And if you want to go deeper, there are the third and fourth books in the series: The Temple of Shamanic Witchcraft and The Temple of High Witchcraft.


Books for Wiccans:
Traditional Wicca by Thorn Mooney

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