Reading Recommendations

Suggestions by Yvonne Owens:
 
My works in collaboration with others:
 
Trans-Disciplinary Migrations: Science, the Sacred and the Arts – 2024 Cambridge Scholars Publishing, cover art by Miles Lowry.   
The Witch’s Book of Days.  By Yvonne Owens, Jessica North-O’Connell, Jean Kozocari, with cover art illustrations and book design by Miles Lowry. – Beach Holme Press, 1994.   Witch lore, tables of correspondences and appendices.  Found online and sometimes at Triple Spiral.
 
Journey of the Bard, by Yvonne Owens, with poetry, cover, illustrations and book design by Miles Lowry—Basically the Tree of Life Initiation set in a Celtic pattern, cross referencing to world folkloric and mystical traditions. The Bard (genderless) travels to all seven realms of the Tree of Life and returns transformed.  Available at Triple Spiral.
 
The Cup of Mari Anu, by Yvonne Owens. A work of fiction telling the tale of a girl child who travels overland and by sea from her village in Mesopotamia to the Isle of Women in the British Isles, meets various magical personages and spirits, gains magical gifts in the five elements, becomes a shaman and saves her people. Illustrations by Kevan Lane Miller. Basically a sacral chakra reclamation story for all ages. Available at Triple Spiral.

Sisterhood, embodiment and the wound:
Gyn/Ecology: The Metaethics of Radical Feminism by Mary Daly (so powerful and revolutionary the Pope censured her for it)

Anything written or edited by Charlene Spretnak, to include:
Green Politics: The Global Promise
Green Politics presents an insightful and original study of the Green Party in Germany and other European countries in 1984. It brought the eco-social, Green political perspective from Europe and also suggested ways in which Green Politics could take root here. The organization that eventually became the Green Party of the United States was founded six months after this book was published.

The Spiritual Dimension of Green Politics
The text of this book was originally presented as the 1984 annual lecture of the E.F. Schumacher Society of America, in New Haven, CT. In it, Charlene Spretnak brings Green, ecospiritual insights to bear on three issues of ontology and ethics: "Who are we? What is our nature?" "How shall we relate to our context, the rest of the natural world?" "How shall we relate to other people?"

Lost Goddesses of Early Greece: A Collection of Pre-Hellenic Myths
For thousands of years before the classical myths were recorded by Hesiod and Homer, the spiritual presence of the Goddess in her myriad forms was the focus of religion and culture. In Lost Goddesses of Early Greece, Charlene Spretnak re-creates the original, goddess-centered myths and illuminates the contemporary emergence of a spirituality based on our embeddedness in nature.

The landmark anthology, The Politics of Women's Spirituality: Essays by Founding Mothers of the Movement
In the early years of the women's spirituality movement, this anthology brought together leading figures and suggested a three-part structure for understanding the focus the emergent phenomenon: the historical, the personal, and the political. This chorus of voices explores women's search for authentic spiritual experience, past and present.:  edited by Charlene Spretnak, it includes essays by Starhawk, Marija Gimbutas and others on the topics:

Part One: Discovering a History of Power
• What the Goddess Means to Women
• Mythic Heras as Models of Strength and Wisdom
 
Part Two: Manifesting Personal Power
• Consciousness/Energy/Action
• Self-Images of Strength and Wholeness
 
Part Three: Transforming the Political
• The Unity of Politics and Spirituality
• Applications of Spirituality as a Political Force
 
Anything by Starhawk, to include but not limited to:
  • Dreaming the Dark: Magic, Sex and Politics (1982, 1988, 1997)
  • The Spiral Dance: A Rebirth of the Ancient Religion of the Great Goddess (1979, 1989, 1999)
  • Truth or Dare: Encounters with Power, Authority, and Mystery (1988)
  • Webs of Power: Notes from the Global Uprising (2003)
  • The Earth Path: Grounding Your Spirit in the Rhythms of Nature (2004)
  • The Empowerment Manual: A Guide for Collaborative Groups (2011)
Starhawk has contributed to the following films, most of them are available online, and they’re fantastic: Anything by Riane Eisler, Riane Eisler (who writes about the effect of gender and family politics historically on societies, and vice versa), including but not limited to:
  • 1987 The Chalice and The Blade: Our History, Our Future. New York: Harper & Row. ISBN 0062502891
  • 1990 The Partnership Way: New Tools for Living and Learning, Healing Our Families, and Our World. San Francisco: Harper. ISBN 0062502905
  • 1995 Sacred Pleasure: Sex, Myth, and the Politics of the Body. San Francisco: Harper. ISBN 0062502832
  • 2000 Tomorrow's Children: A Blueprint for Partnership Education in the 21st Century. Boulder: Westview Press. ISBC 0813390400
  • 2000 The Gate. iUniverse. ISBN 0595001858
 
Anything by Merlin Stone. She really started the reclamation of women’s history and sacrality ball rolling with her ‘seminal’ (ovarian?) work, When God was a Woman, in 1976:
 
Stone, Merlin (1976). The Paradise Papers: The Suppression of Women's Rites. London: Virago Press. ISBN 9780704328051. Republished as:
  • (1979). Ancient Mirrors of Womanhood Volume I: Our Goddess and Heroine Heritage. Illustrated by Cynthia Stone. New York: New Sibylline Books. ISBN 9780960335206.
  • (1979). Ancient Mirrors of Womanhood Volume II: Our Goddess and Heroine Heritage. Illustrated by Cynthia Stone. New York: New Sibylline Books. ISBN 9780960335213. Reprinted in one volume:
  • (1984). Ancient Mirrors of Womanhood: A Treasury of Goddess and Heroine Lore from Around the World. Illustrated by Cynthia Stone. Beacon Press. ISBN 9780807067192.

Suggestions by Jessica North-O’Connell:
This list is based on the bibiliography for my introductory Way of the Wicce course

 The Moon:
  • ANNE BARING AND JULES CASHFORD: Myth of the Goddess: Evolution of an Image
  • DONNA CUNNINGHAM: Being a Lunar Type in a Solar World (astrology book written by a social worker)
  • DEMETRA GEORGE: Mysteries of the Dark Moon
  • GWYDION O’HARA: Moonlore (good stories, poorly written)
  • YVONNE OWENS, JESSICA NORTH, JEAN KOZOCARI: The Witch’s Book of Days
  • PENELOPE SHUTTLE & PETER REDGROVE: The Wise Wound: Menstruation and
  • Everywoman; Alchemy for Women
  • EDWARD WHITMONT: Return of the Goddess

 Pre-History:
  • GEOFFREY ASHE: The Ancient Wisdom
  • O.G.S. CRAWFORD: The Eye Goddess
  • JEAN-MARIE CHAUVET, ELIETTE BRUNEL DESHCAMPS, CHRISTIAN
  • HILLAIARE: Dawn of Art: The Chauvet Cave
  • JEAN CLOTTES & DAVID LEWIS-WILLIAMS: The Shamans of Prehistory: Trance and Magic in the Painted Caves
  • RIANE EISLER: The Chalice and the Blade; Sacred Pleasure
  • MARIJA GIMBUTAS: The Language of the Goddess; Civilizations of the Goddess
  • NORMA LORRE GOODRICH: Priestesses
  • MONICA SJOO & BARBARA MOR: The Great Cosmic Mother
  • PEG STREEP: Sanctuaries of the Goddess
  • MERLIN STONE: When God was a Woman; Ancient Mirrors of Womanhood
  • LUISAH TEISH: Jambalaya: The Natural Woman’s Book

 Craft History:
  • MARGOT ADLER: Drawing Down the Moon (dated, but still a good read)
  • PHYLLIS CURROTT: Book of Shadows
  • MAX DASHU: Women in European Folk Religion, 700-1100
  • STEWART FARRAR: What Witches Do (Alexandrian Tradition)
  • GERALD GARDNER: High Magic’s Aid (novel)
  • STARHAWK: The Spiral Dance
  • STARHAWK & HILARY VALENTINE: The Twelve Wild Swans
  • DOREEN VALIENTE: ABC of Witchcraft (British Traditions)

 Mythology/Symbology:
  • AOUMIEL: Dancing Shadows (more discoveries have been made now)
  • NANCY ARROWSMITH & GEORGE MOORSE: A Field Guide to the Little People
  • MARTHA ANN & DOROTHY MYERS IMEL: Goddesses in World Mythology (some patriarchal views)
  • NANCY BLAIR: Amulets of the Goddess
  • JANET & STEWART FARRAR: The Witches’ Goddess; The Witches’ God
  • DORA van GELDER: The Real World of Fairies (personal accounts)
  • ROBERT GRAVES: The White Goddess
  • JEAN HOUSTON: Lifeforce (she is a recovering Catholic)
  • ADAM McLEAN: The Triple Goddess: An Exploration of the Archetypal Feminine
  • PATRICIA MONAGHAN: The Dictionary of Goddesses & Heroines; O, Mother Sun!
  • HUGH MYNNE: The Faerie Way
  • PATRICIA TELESCO: 365 Goddess (very random correlations between dates and Goddesses)
  • BARBARA G. WALKER: The Woman’s Encyclopedia of Myths & Secrets; The Woman’s Dictionary of Symbols & Sacred Objects (with caution some info may be incomplete)

 The Solar Year/ Wheel of the Year:
  • JANICE BROCH & VERONICA MACLER: Seasonal Dance: How to Celebrate the Pagan Year
  • JANET & STEWART FARRAR: Eight Sabbats for Witches
  • DIANA FERGUSON: The Magical Year
  • LUISAH TEISH: Carnival of the Spirit

 Healing & Shamanism:
  • ANNE TRUEBLOOD BRODZKY, ROSE DANESEWICH, NICK JOHNSON (Editors): Stones, Bones and Skin: Ritual and Shamanic Art
  • ELIOT COWAN: Plant Spirit Medicine
  • MANTAK CHIA: Fusion of the Five Elements: Transforming Negative Emotions
  • MIRCEA ELIADE: Shamanism: Archaic Techniques of Ecstasy
  • KAY GARDNER: Sounding the Inner Landscape: Music as Medicine
  • SUSAN GRIFFIN: Woman and Nature (she’s brilliant!); A Chorus of Stones: The Private Life of War
  • ARNOLD MINDELL: Working with the Dreaming Body
  • ANODEA JUDITH & SELENE VEGA: The Sevenfold Journey (Yoga and Chakras)
  • CAITLIN MATTHEWS: Singing the Soul Back Home: Shamanism in Everyday Life
  • DIANE STEIN: The Woman’s Book of Healing; Essential Reiki
  • JOYCE WARDWELL: The Herbal Home Remedy Book (her ancestors were accused of Witchcraft during the Salem Witch Craze Daze)
  • SUSUN WEED: Healing Wise
  • CHRISSIE WILDWOOD: The Bloomsbury Encyclopedia of Aromatherapy

 Creativity:
  • JULIA CAMERON: The Artist’s Way
  • CLARISSA PINKOLA ESTES: Women Who Run with the Wolves
  • CONNIE FREY: FAME Cards: Writing Prompts for the Right and Left Brain
  • LAUREL ELIZABETH KEYES: Toning: The Creative Power of the Voice
  • WINIFRED MILIUS LUBELL: The Metamorphosis of Baubo
  • VICKI NOBLE: Shakti Woman: Feeling our Fire, Healing our World - The New Female
  • GLORIA STEINEM: Revolution from Within

 Ritual Construction, Ethics and Etiquette:
  • RENEE BECK & SYDNEY BARBARA METRICK: The Art of Ritual
  • CAROL BRIDGES: A Soul in Place: Reclaiming Home as Sacred Space
  • ROBIN SKELTON: The Practice of Witchcraft
  • STARHAWK: Wiccan Rituals and Blessings
  • JANET & STEWARD FARRAR: A Witches Bible Complete
  • NAN HAWTHORNE: Loving the Goddess Within
  • MARION WEINSTEIN: Positive Magic; Earth Magic

 Oracles and Divination:
  • ANTERO ALLI: Astrologik (an interesting way of understanding astrology)
  • FREYA ASWYNN: Leaves of Yggdrasil (Odinic approach to the Runes)
  • STEPHANIE & PHILIP CARR-GOMM: The Druid Animal Oracle Cards (and book)
  • STEVEN FORREST: The Inner Sky
  • STREPHON KAPLAN-WILLIAMS: The Dream Cards (also appropriate to Healing)
  • BRIAN FROUD & JESSICA MACBETH: The Faeries’ Oracle (book and cards)
  • DEMETRA GEORGE & DOUGLAS BLOCH: Astrology for Yourself (serious workbook!)
  • SUSAN GITLIN-EMMER: Lady of the Northern Light (Goddess-based approach to Runes)
  • MARY K. GREER: Tarot for Yourself (excellent workbook; reprint ISBN: 978-1-57863-679-2)
  • JUNO JORDAN: Numerology: The Romance in Your Name (dated, but a good basic approach)
  • *TAYANNAH LEE McQUILLAR: The HooDoo Tarot (excellent for working with Ancestors)
  • *FIONA MORGAN: Daughters of the Moon Tarot; Wild Witches Don’t Get the Blues (Deck is available but books are longer in print – look for them used)
  • ROBERT MOSS: Conscious Dreaming: A Spiritual Path for Everyday Life; Sidewalk Oracles: Playing with Signs, Symbols and Synchronicity in Everyday Life
  • LIZ & COLIN MURRAY: The Celtic Tree Oracle (book and cards)
  • *There are numerous wonderful Tarot decks and books on the market. If you are interested in this study, take your time in finding your tools

 Talismans and Amulets:
  • ROBIN SKELTON: Talismanic Magic; The Magical Practice of Talismans

 Spell-crafting:
  • JANET & STEWART FARRAR: Spells and How They Work
  • Contemporary Insights into the Natural World:
  • Braiding Sweetgrass: Robin Wall Kimmerer
  • Finding the Mother Tree: Suzanne Simard
  • The Hidden Life of Trees: Peter Wohlleben

 Works of Fiction:
  • Everyone Knows Your Mother is a Witch: Rivka Galchen (novelized story about Katharina Kepler, Johannes’ mother, during the early 1800s)
 
Suggestions by Daniella Sorrentino:
 
Descent to the Goddess: A Way of Initiation for Women - Sylvia Brinton Perera
 
Innana Queen of Heaven: Diane Wolkstein and Samuel Noah Kramer Translation
 
Practical Magic: Dion Fortune
 
The White Goddess: Robert Graves
 
Pagan Grace - Ginette Paris 
 
Woman and Nature - Susan Griffin 
 
The Alphabet and the Goddess - Leonard Shlain 
 
Miracles of Our Own Making: Liz Williams 
 
The Witch in History - Diane Purkiss 
 
 
Suggestions by Julia Stolk:
 
Ritual as Remedy and Sage, Huntress, Lover, Queen - both written by Mara Branscombe
 
If Women Rose Rooted and Habitude: both written by Sharon Black
 
Ancestral Healing Work: Rituals for Personal and Family Healing  - Daniel Foor, PHD
 
 
Suggestion by Brianna Shambrook:
 
Heal the Witch Wound by Celeste Larsen.
 
 
Suggestions by Tasara Stone:
 
Mysticism by Evelyn Underhill. 1911, 12th version in 1930.
She was Catholic mystic, but she really captures the intimate stages of spiritual growth in unbelievable detail. 
 
Shamanism:
The classic reference for most Shamanic researchers and writers is Shamanism: Archaic Techniques of Ecstasy by anthropologist Mercia Eliade.
 
Michael Harner’s last book Cave and Cosmos really summarizes, in almost a textbook way, the culturally universal techniques/experiences covered by the Foundation for Shamanic Studies.
 
(Spoiler Alert: I actually wonder if a new journeyer should read it, because it would ruin the element of surprise when you encounter these things on you own.)
 
Though I haven’t finished it, the best book I’ve found on the Shamanic Seidr practice I have found is The Norse Shaman by Evelyn Rysdyk. The other books are stuffy and not as accessible.
 
I just finished Nepalese Shamanism, that she co-wrote with Bholo Banstola who is a great person and Nepalese shaman.
 
I highly recommend Sandra Ingerman’s book Shamanic Journey as the staple for any student but her path went in a direction that I can’t fully follow. It’s simplistic, a little new-agey for me.
Shamanism Without Borders – Critical training book for practitioners who wish to offer healing ethically and safely for troubles in other lands.
Energetic Boundaries 101: Empowering Tools for Sensitive People  by Joanna Schmidt, shamanic practitioner in Lund, BC.  The best description and illustrations of energetic boundaries I have come across.
Witchcraft/Ceremony:
 
And of course, my own book, The Ancient Bones of Ceremony, which is a poetic, storytelling and technical manual on the bare bones energetic laws of ceremony. By Tasara Jen Stone.
 
The Encyclopedia of Celtic Wisdom: A Celtic Shaman’s Source Book by Caitlin & John Matthews.
 
If the younger generation wants to be exposed to some of the older stuff Psychic Self-Defense by Dion Fortune would be a good dose.
 
A staple I’ve kept around for 30 years, mostly because it goes extensively into the laws of energy/nature is Real Magic by Isaac Bonewits. Practical and funny, down to earth.
 
Community/Ceremony Organizing - need to inspire and support the organizers
 
Yes, on Starhawk!  Because of her dedication to non-hierarchical, grassroots organizing and non-separation between spirituality and politics. She helps people unroot the over-culture's sickness from our internal cosmology and goes deeply into group dynamics and feminist pagan theology.
 
The Different Drum by M. Scott Peck (Christian but good) Goes over stages of community at length.
 
The Art of Community by Charles Vogl (also Christian but good, coming from me, not a fan of Christianity) How to build empowering, inclusive community
 
The Ancient Bones of Ceremony, Part II covers facilitating large ceremony and the energetic pitfalls that can happen and such. Also how to organize events in a power-sharing way.
 
The Dangerous Old Woman audio series by Clarissa Pinkola Estees dives deep into the female psyche, how we give our power away and how to reclaim our wildness through the archetypes of myth.
The Heart of the Fire Paperback – October 1, 1990 by Cerridwen Fallingstar Past life chronicle of a witch.Into the Green by Charles de Lint. If you are a de Lint fan, this book is not part of any series. A sweet book about a time of persecuting witches... well, most of it is sweet. There was so much in there I could relate to in her perceptions and what 'the gift' can do to someone.
 
Suggestions by John Threlfall:
 
Positive witches in fiction:
  • The Practical Magic series by Alice Hoffman: Practical Magic, The Rules of Magic, Magic Lessons, The Book of Magic
  • Lammas Night by Katherine Kurtz (exploring the role of witches in WWII)
  • Cat Magic by Whitley Strieber (partially inspired by his time at Selena Fox’s Circle Sanctuary)
  • The Fifth Sacred Thing by Starhawk
  • Wicked and Son of A Witch by Gregory Maguire
  • The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley
  • Circe by Madeline Miller (young adult novel)
  • Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett (see also The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman and any of the Terry Pratchett Discworld novels)
  • The Witches of New York by Ami McKay  
  • Akata Witch by Nnedi Okorafor (young adult novel)
  • The Last Wild Witch by Starhawk (children’s book)
 
Non-fiction:
Witches, Pagans & Magic in the New Age by Kevin Marron
 
 
Suggestions by Christobel MacDonald:
 
Shamanic related:
  • Weather Shamanism – Harmonizing our Connection with the Elements by Nan Moss with David Corbin.
    • Has powerful, and considering climate change very relevant, teachings about how to work with weather spirits.
  • Medicine for the Earth: How to Transform Personal and Environmental Toxins by Sandra Ingerman.
    • When I took the Medicine for the Earth course with her, Sandra said that Medicine for the Earth was the original version of this body of work. She then wanted to adapt the information, so it was accessible by non-shamanic practitioners, resulting in How to Thrive in Changing Times. In a twist, How to Thrive in Changing Times was then rebranded as  The Shaman’s Toolkit because her editor/marketer felt it would have better sales…. So, ironically, if you want to read about her exploration of e.g. changing the ph of water using energetic healing methods, and want to read it through the lens of shamanism, read Medicine for the Earth not The Shaman’s Toolkit 😃
  • Awakening to the Spirit World, by Sandra Ingerman and Hank Wesselman.
    • Pulls together knowledge from a handful of Western shamanic elders (Tom Cowan, Carol Proudfoot-Edgar, Jose Sevens, and Alberto Villoldo). I loved this book but lost it somewhere along the way. Thanks to this email thread I’ll pick up another copy!
  • The Way of the Shaman by Michael Harner.
    • Old and beleaguered, but I’d definitely still add this one. I somewhat think of it and Cave and Cosmos as the bookends of Michael Harner’s shamanic explorations, and that while this is an oversimplification, I seem to remember thinking that Way of the Shaman has more on the Lower World and Cave and Cosmos is a better resource for Upper World journeys.
 
Grief and loss:
  • The Smell of Rain on Dust – Grief and Praise by Martín Prechtel. For someone dealing with loss, this is a lovely book that is told through a shamanic worldview.
 
Silly category:
  • Wicca & Witchcraft for Dummies by Diane Smith
    • Lol I’m half serious - you could do worse!! I keep this on hand a) because funny to have on the shelf and b) as a loose resource for non-witchy folks in my life who might be interested. (I mean, I point them to the parts I feel are most relevant.) Funny story – I picked this one up after a comment from John T. that he’d seen it and was pleasantly surprised that it wasn’t awful…then realized he was referring to The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Wicca and Witchcraft ! You can understand my mistake 😊
 
 
Suggestions by Angela Bone:
 
Think Indigenous: Native American Spirituality for a Modern World by Doug Good Feather, transcribed by Doug Red Hail Pineda.
Doug is a Lakota Spiritual Leader who shares authentic knowledge that has been handed down through the Lakota generations, centered around the Seven Sacred Directions in the Hoop of Life. I’ve had the honour and privilege of meeting him twice and being in his Sweat Lodge.
 
The Spirited Kitchen: Recipes and Rituals for the Wheel of the Year by Carmen Spagnola, founder of the Numinous Network and The Numinous Podcast, lives in Victoria.
 
Circle Round: Raising Children in Goddess Traditions: Starhawk, Diane Baker, Anne Hill
A lovely book of songs, rituals, craft and cooking projects, read-aloud stories and suggestions to create your own unique family traditions.
 
 
From Our Old List, and Still Great:
 
On Kitchen magic, herbs and magical materials: Anything by Scott Cunningham, including: