V.I.T.R.I.O.L.
Visita Interiora Terrae Rectificando Invienes Occultum Lapidium
Visit the Interior Parts of the Earth, By Rectification, Thou Shalt Find the Hidden Stone.
Persephone's Place
Wicca
Recommended Reading List
Good books are getting harder to come by these days on Wicca. It is my personal opinion that the majority of Wiccan study sources are now becoming slightly contaminated by the "new age", and that some of the meat of the of the roots of Wicca is becoming a little more extinct these days.
The following is my personal recommended reading list on the topic for the newcomer primarily, who may have difficulty in weeding through the volumes of information that are now available at your local bookstores.
I also recommend perusing the ancient civilization and archeology or mythology sections to get some really good supplemental reading on ancient customs or cultures and visual references of sacred sites and locations. The enhancement of your knowledge as well as the benefit to your magical working is tenfold if you do. You'll find a great deal more scholarship in these areas of the bookstore then on the metaphysical shelves as a general rule if your serious about the study of comparative religion at all.
In the interest of supporting your local pagan community I suggest purchasing from your local pagan or privately owned occult stores as opposed to ordering from corporate chains whenever possible. Merchants work hard to support their pagan and alternative communities for very little money in return. Many are willing to do special orders on some items even if they don't carry them in stock in their stores all the time. Many stores have difficulty keeping their doors opened and their bills paid in order to provide you with good quality metaphysical supplies.
The Witches Bible Complete: Janet and Stewart Farrar. This book gives an excellent history of the roots of some of the British Isles folk customs as well as a very sound ceremonial structure guide. The information in this book is primarily Gardnerian in tradition and in the words of the author herself, it was never meant to be the final word on Wicca, but a guideline only for other people to expand and improve upon as the religion evolves. She considers some of the information in this book now to be slightly outdated since the time in which it was written, but the information within it gives one a taste of the Craft movement at the very beginning of its journey as an established religion of any kind.
The Witches God/ The Witches Goddess: Janet and Stewart Farrar (Two separate volumes). These are excellent reference books for looking up many of the various deities in myth and culture and understanding their stories, customs and meanings. There is some material given for ritual, but this is primarily a reference tool for study of the deities themselves. A very extensive dictionary of deities worldwide is given at the back of the books.
What Witches Do: Stewart Farrar: This is an excellent little book for the beginner getting acquainted on the pagan path.
The Healing Craft: Janet and Stewart Farrar and Gavin Bone: This is a lovely little book recently published for the bodywork therapists and healers in the pagan community primarily. There is good sound advice for healers presented here on ethics as well as some techniques and systems of occult practice used in healing, a basic understanding of the physical body and organ function, as well as some history of certain customs and holy places or sacred sites in ancient times in the healing profession and in the craft.
The Wiccan Path: Janet and Stewart Farrar and Gavin Bone: This also is a newly published book just released not long ago that sheds some light on some very key issues about the definition and evolution of the craft and community responsibility in the pagan world. This book really shows how the authors experience of the Craft in general has evolved a great deal from the foundation work that they laid many years ago in their original works.
Progressive Witchcraft: Janet and Stewart Farrar and Gavin Bone: This is their most recently published book, you can see their homepage for ordering information. Their website is included in my links page as well as on the main wiccan information page. Possibly their other books may be ordered directly through them as well if you cannot find them at your local occult shop or bookstore. This book deals with progressive ideas in the craft and the deeper aspects of magical practice such as trance states and previously veiled meanings of certain ceremonies including "Drawing Down the Moon".
Witchcraft For Tomorrow: Doreen Valiente, This is another good introductory book for the beginner to the craft, and gives good sound advice on basic Craft concepts and philosophies.
An ABC of Witchcraft: Doreen Valiente, This is written like an encyclopedia and is a good reference tool for looking up various things about the Wiccan Craft religion. It can be read like the traditional book from cover to cover, or it can be skimmed at leisure with ease from any page within it, not necessarily in order. Very handy and full of some wonderful historical trivia as well as really good history.
The Fairy Faith in Celtic Countries: Evans Wentz: I love this book, it is not a fast read however. This is a very meaty book divided up into two different sections. The first is about the history of the fairy faith in the British Isles and all of its myth and lore. The Second half is a series of interviews of actual people in the British Isles who claim to have experienced or seen the fairies first hand. There is also an added interview (or brief biography I can't remember) with William Butler Yeats, famous Irish Poet and member of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. Evans Wentz has also translated one version of the Tibetan Book of the Dead. His writings are very scholarly.
The Way of All Women / Women's Mysteries: M. Esther Harding. She wrote both of these books. In my opinion every woman on earth should read these books whether they practice magic or not. She is a Jungian analyst who has an incredibly keen insight into the nature of the feminine psyche. She covers many areas about women's social rolls, their instinctive nature, their lunar mythologies and connections, and how archetypes have an effect on us all. She also wrote another very hard to find book called: Psychic Energy Its Source and Goal. I have found her books ,used, either in the psychology section , or in the women's studies section, depending on the bookstore. Rarely in the metaphysical section but it never hurts to check.
Projections of the Astral Body: Muldoon and Carrington. There is a lot of books on the subject of astral projection on the modern bookshelves and none of them in my opinion are useful at all. This book is a real find. It was written in the 1920's believe it or not and it is full of the most interesting personal research done on astral projection I have ever had the pleasure to come across. It has not been contaminated by the new age thinking, and it is obvious that a great deal of effort has gone into understanding this phenomena by the authors themselves, on as scientific a level as is possible with a difficult subject like this. Subjects discussed include sleep paralysis, the connection to the sexual instinct in astral projection, other sleep activities, the astral cord, the coming and going from the body, a journal of personal experiences...etc... FABULOUS BOOK! Look for it used, it might be out of print, I'm not sure. Its the only book on the subject you might ever need to really understand it. (The only one I've found yet.) I believe they have written a companion volume on the subject but I don't recall its title. Just look for the name of the authors.
Celtic Gods,Celtic Goddesses: R.J. Stewart: All of his books are excellent!
(Science-) FICTION:
The Mists of Avalon: (and all of its sequels) Marion Zimmer Bradley. Awesome Book about the legend of King Arthur. Some very lovely reproductions of pagan ceremonies in this book.
The White Raven: Diana Paxton. This is another rendition of Arthurian legend focusing on Tristian ,Isolde and Branwen that incorporates beautiful poetic representations of the priestess craft and magical lore. She has also written other very fun and silly books about magic and witchcraft. Great reading. Wonderful pagan author.
FireLord: Park Godwin: Yet another Arthurian novel, incredibly written from the male point of view of Arthur, in the first person... a real insight into the life and times of a warrior and all the raw experiences that go into being a true warrior and great King. This was the most incredibly written science fiction book I've ever read. Very emotionally powerful and thought provoking.
Druids: Morgan Llewellyn. This is about the Roman conquest of the British Isles. She's written several historical fiction books about the British Isles and the Celts. I recommend them all: "The Horse Goddess", about a Scandinavian Celtic Tribe: " Isle of the Blessed" a mans journey to fairy, "Redbranch" , "Grania", a woman pirate, "Elemental" , and many others..,. Its all good. Look in fiction or science fiction section for her works.
Magazine Periodicals
Please note some of these are hyperlinked to their home page websites and some are not for lack of knowing what their web address is.
Ariadnes Web: Hermetic Occult/Templar journal: This periodical recently changed ownership and I have not been able to find the website. I do believe they are still actively available for subscription however with a little searching. For those of you who miss Gnosis magazine since it is no longer available to my knowledge, this is an excellent alternative of the same genre. If I find the website, I'll hyperlink this as soon as I am able to.
Avalon: This periodical comes straight out of Glastonbury, England. It has a bit more of a "new age" flavor to it combined with an Arthurian energy. It is not strictly Wiccan but it does mingle some Wiccan lore into its pages. I believe it is still available for subscription. There was some uncertainty as to the fate of the magazine to stay in business the last I was notified when my subscription ran out, and it may have been changing ownership. I do not know what the final word was on that. As soon as I find the website information again I'll hyperlink this magazine or update this if it is no longer available. I wish it well, I thought it was a lovely magazine. I hope to see it continue.
Music Links
(My Personal Favorites)
Lorena McKennit. She is a Canadian artist with a lovely voice who makes incredible music from a combination of different cultures, including middle eastern to Celtic and anything in between.
Cerridwen: This is a welsh new age group that has produced two CD's that I know of. If you like Enya you'll like this. All songs are sung in Welsh/Gaelic (female vocals- enya style, kind of) and translated in the jackets. Most of the songs sing about the tales of the Mabinogi of the Welsh mythological cycles. Their two albums, Mabinogi and The Golden Land, are my favorites of my musical collection. Very mystical.
Enya: Celtic new age music
The Wicked Tinkers: If you like really loud obnoxious and somewhat lude storytelling, humor , bagpipes, didgeridoo and drumming these are your guys. They are even better in person. Very upbeat incredible drum rhythms. Check out their website for a schedule of performances and subscribe to their newsletter.
Capercailli: Scottish (female) vocals and fiddle... great Irish /Scottish music, traditional and modern.
Old Blind Dogs: Scottish male vocals. Great storytellers, good music. Awesome voice. Heavy Scottish brogue. Read the lyrics or you'll never understand what he's saying.
Rumours Of The Big Wave: The Burning Times: Contemporary soft rock with an alternative ecological lyrical consciousness.
Magnus McBride and Abbie Spinner, are the core facilitators of the Firedance Drum Festival. www.firedance.org On the side check out Abbie's brilliant CD of firedance chants, and Magnus McBride's Las Vegas Stage Magic show performances.
Abbie Spinner: "Enter The Center": drums and chanting for firedance: Beautiful voice, excellent tribal drumming rhythms. To request ordering information contact: spinner@mcbridemagic.com
mcbridemagic.com: Homepage for Magnus McBrides Stage magic tours and performance schedules