Recommended Reading
What will further reading mean to you as a student of magic? There are so many areas to delve into!
The Beginning Magician
Let’s start with more introductory books on magic. These are books that teach and explore a lot of the basics, providing core principles as well as spells to try.
Real Magic by Isaac Bonewits
This is a true classic, and indispensable. Real Magic is the first book to just teach magic—not a system of magic, not Hermetics or Golden Dawn or Hoodoo or folk tradition, but just magic, the underlying core that all these things have in common. Long on theory and short on spells and the like, this book is essential for expanding your mind about what you’re doing and what you can do.
Spells and How They Work by Janet and Stewart Farrar
Another excellent introductory guide, this book emphasizes traditional Western magical systems, providing some introductory material on the Kabbalah, an appendix of planetary squares, and material drawn from old grimoires, while still being accessible to the beginner. There’s also a chapter on sex magic.
Everyday Magic: Spells & Rituals for Modern Living
by Dorothy Morrison
Earth Power: Techniques of Natural Magic
by Scott Cunningham
Earth, Air, Fire & Water: More Techniques of Natural Magic by Scott Cunningham
These three books are all simple and very suited to the beginner. Scott Cunningham emphasized simplicity and naturalism in all his magic, while still being a thorough researcher. His spells are straightforward, accessible, and effective. Dorothy Morrison’s book has the added advantage of providing lots of tables and resources, and she’s also very modern—she doesn’t leave out spells for the computer!
Encyclopedia of 5,000 Spells: The Ultimate Reference Book for the Magical Arts by Judika Illes
This is exactly what it sounds like: a big, fat volume of spells, spells, spells. There’s not much in the way of instruction, but it’s a lot of fun to flip through, inspiring for your own magical work, and a trip round the world of how people do magic.
The Way of Four Spellbook: Working Magic with the Elements
by Deborah Lipp
As mentioned in the introduction, my first book on the subject of magic inspired the current volume. The Way of Four Spellbook digs deeply into elemental magic and presents a variety of examples, including many sample spells, using candle magic, sex magic, writing magic, dream magic, and more.
Magic and the Occult: Systems and Styles
After exploring the basics, it’s time to drill down into more specific areas. Some of the following topics may become your life’s study; some you may read about once and then set aside, saying, “It’s not for me.” Most will fall somewhere in between, but all will add to and deepen your occult knowledge and make you a better magician.
Modern Magick: Twelve Lessons in the High Magickal Arts by Donald Michael Kraig
Modern Sex Magick: Secrets of Erotic Spirituality
by Donald Michael Kraig
Don Kraig was the first writer to make “high magic” accessible and understandable. He presented dense information in a straightforward manner that a beginner could easily grasp. By the time I read his books, I was definitely not a beginner, but I still felt that the “ceremonial” side of things was a little beyond me. Reading Don’s work changed that. (By the way, I’m using quotation marks because Don didn’t like to distinguish “high” and “low” magic, and he didn’t like to separate out “ceremonial” from any other kind of magic. They were all magic to him.)
Both of these books are terrific and will open the door to a lot of other magical teachers, authors, and disciplines.
Initiation into Hermetics by Franz Bardon
I’m not familiar with any “beginner” book on Hermetics. This one is a little dense, but it’s indispensable. If you want to know about Hermetics, Bardon is the place to go.
Magick in Theory and Practice by Aleister Crowley
Crowley isn’t easy to read, and this material is as much philosophical as practical (as the title indicates), making it even more complex. But Crowley was a true master, and eventually your magical education has to include some of his work.
How to Make and Use Talismans by Israel Regardie
Regardie was a student of Crowley’s and wrote many important volumes. This is a slim little gem.
Backwoods Shamanism: An Introduction to the Old-Time American Folk Magic of Hoodoo Conjure and Rootwork
by Ray “Doctor Hawk” Hess
As a contrast to the ceremonial-style books I’m offering here, this one is pure “low magic”—traditional folk magic of North America. This introduction adds a completely different set of skills to your tool chest.
The Everything Astrology Book: Discover Your True Self Among the Stars! by Trish MacGregor
Don’t laugh! This is as good an introduction to astrology as you’ll find anywhere, and my son and I referred back to it so often that our copy was worn almost to shreds. In fact, he took it with him when he moved out, and I really miss it. Given that spells throughout this book use zodiac signs and planets as sympathetic objects, this is a useful topic for you to delve into.
The Way of Four: Create Elemental Balance in Your Life
by Deborah Lipp
If you’re interested in studying the four elements in depth, I happen to have written a book about that!
The Healing Craft: Healing Practices for Witches and Pagans by Janet & Stewart Farrar and Gavin Bone
One of the things I’ve emphasized throughout this work is healing magic. This excellent book is the work of two long-time experts in magic and Witchcraft—the Farrars—with the input of a skilled nurse—Bone.
You Can Heal Your Life by Louise Hay
This classic of spiritual/psychic healing introduces important concepts that will be meaningful to any healer—not magic, but a way of understanding the way the psychic and the physical interact.
The Goddess and the Tree (formerly The Witches Qabala) by Ellen Cannon Reed
Magic of Qabalah by Kala Trobe
Kabbalah for the Modern World
by Migene González-Wippler
These three books are smaller, introductory volumes if you’re dipping your toe into Kabbalah waters. All are excellent. Ellen Cannon Reed’s book was written specifically for Wiccans who found the Kabbalah at odds with their view of Goddess religion, and were struggling to work with the two systems together.
A Garden of Pomegranates: Skrying on the Tree of Life
by Israel Regardie
For the student who has chosen to really get into the Kabbalah, this is a classic.
Reference Books
777 and Other Qabalistic Writings of Aleister Crowley
by Aleister Crowley
This is an insanely dense reference volume that corresponds everything to everything else. It can be difficult to use, but it’s great to have around!
Cunningham’s Encyclopedia of Magical Herbs
by Scott Cunningham
Cunningham’s Encyclopedia of Crystal, Gem & Metal Magic by Scott Cunningham
Stone Power by Dorothee L. Mella
When using herbs, gems, or minerals in a spell, I pull one or all of these three books off my shelf. Many pages are permanently bookmarked.
Wicca
Finally, here are some good books on Wicca, including my own. Although Magical Power For Beginners is not a Wicca book, I cannot help but reveal my bias toward it, since I’ve been working in a Wiccan tradition for over thirty years. If you’re interested, I recommend these. Read any or all. The fun thing about these books is that the authors don’t all agree about what Wicca is, so you’ll be able to dig deeper, research further, and make up your own mind.
Bonewits’s Essential Guide to Witchcraft and Wicca
by Isaac Bonewits
The Elements of Ritual: Air, Fire, Water & Earth in the
Wiccan Circle by Deborah Lipp
The Spiral Dance: A Rebirth of the Ancient Religion of the Great Goddess by Starhawk
What Witches Do: A Modern Coven Revealed by Stewart Farrar
Wicca: A Guide for the Solitary Practitioner
by Scott Cunningham
Witchcraft for Tomorrow by Doreen Valiente