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Wicca Book

What authors do you recommend for Wicca books?

I have heared of Scott Cunningham and I have his book : Wicca A Guide For The Solitary Practitoner and I am a begginer so what would be a good book to read after this one?

Scott Cunningham is a good writer with a lot of good information, however you have to be aware that what he writes about is not Wicca but Neo-wicca presented as Wicca, the more you study the more easily you will be able to tell the difference, it can be hard to tell the difference. Buckland is also similar, again he is a good writer with a lot of useful information however what he writes about is Neo-wicca not Wicca.

There are many writers who 'cash-in' on the popularity of Wicca, they will tell their readers that they can be Wicca simply by believing in a goddess rather than that to become Wicca you have to put in a lot of work and be initiated into a coven. As a result there are a lot of people who will read these books and simply be unwilling to believe anything else, study Wicca further or even give those who are Wicca any respect because they believe they are right and those who are Wicca are wrong. All books are worth reading, you will get something from anything, however when it comes to Wicca due to the misinformation you have to be willing to study a lot.

Bare in mind no book will tell you All About Wicca, as Wicca is oath-bound those who are Wicca are sworn not to tell the inner-court teachings to those who are not Wicca themselves, as such they will talk about publicly known things or use placeholders – it's good also to look at general Paganism and things such as the Golden Dawn to get a wider idea about Wicca.

There are writers I would say to avoid such as Silver Ravenwolf, Tatiana or Fiona Horne these are writers known to really cash-in on Wicca, to my knowledge none of them are Wicca themselves, they get much wrong in their books and Ravenwolf is even prejudice in her books – many joke her books are useful as reference for how much you have learned, the harder you laugh the more you have learned about Wicca. That is not to say all who read her and enjoy her work are foolish, not at all, I think there is a significant number of people who come into Paganism and Wicca from reading her books, they do however realise after a while she is good for inspiration, not reliable information.

As for those actual recommendations you asked for, go back to the source – Gardner – there are other writers of course, but you will find most have their good and bad points, as with Cunningham and Buckland, take all books with a pinch of salt until you yourself can determine what is or is not reliable information. The Farrar's are very well respected for their work, The Witches Bible is a great introduction to Wicca, and Ronald Hutton is a great writer however his work is very heavy and academic – his work is history, but Triumph of the Moon is a good guide to how Wicca and modern Pagan religions came to be, important to know even if it is not the basics of Wicca. A writer you may like is Starhawk, her book Spiral Dance is very well known, more to do with Paganism but you may like it, although it is heavy with second wave feminist rants. Phyllis Curott is my favourite, she is Neo-wicca but she writes in a really easy to understand way, she also focuses on spirituality rather than religion.

BOOKS ON WICCA:

The Witches' Bible: The Complete Witches' Handbook - Janet & Stewart Farrar.
The Witches' God - Janet and Stewart Farrar
The Witches' Goddess - Janet and Stewart Farrar
The Triumph of the Moon: A History of Modern Pagan Witchcraft - Ronald Hutton.
Witchcraft Today - Gerald B. Gardner.
Witchdom of the True - Edred Thorsson
Wicca: the Old Religion in the New Milennium - Vivianne Crowley
Advanced Wiccan Spirituality - Kevin Saunders
The Elements of Ritual: Air, Fire, Water & Earth in the Wiccan Circle - Deborah Lipp
What Witches Do - Stewart Farrar

BOOKS ON NEO-WICCA:

Witch Crafting: A Spiritual Guide to Making Magic - by Phyllis W. Curott
Positive Magic - Marion Weinstein
Wicca: A Guide for the Solitary Practitioner - Scott Cunningham
The Circle Within: Creating a Wiccan Spiritual Tradition - Dianne Sylvan
Book of Shadows - Phyllis Curott
The Second Circle - Venecia Rauls
The Heart of Wicca: Wise Words from a Crone on the Path - Ellen Cannon Reed
Evolutionary Witchcraft - T. Thorn Coyle
The Wiccan Path: A Guide for the Solitary Practitioner - Rae Beth
21st Century Wicca - Jennifer Hunter
Witchcraft: A Concise Guide - Isaac Bonewits
Way of Four - Deborah Lipp

P.S. Sorry to babble )

Wicca Books Part 1

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