This is mostly a list of resources I used while putting together this book, though it barely scratches the surface when it comes to books that have influenced me as a ritualist over the years and decades. For those looking for more information on the sabbats and related holidays, the history books listed here should be helpful. For those more interested in other general works about Witchcraft and rituals, everything else should be right up your alley.
Bowler, Gerry. The World Encyclopedia of Christmas. Toronto, Ontario: McClelland & Stewart, 2000. This giant book lives up to its title.
Brand, John. Brand’s Popular Antiquities of Great Britain: Faith and Folklore, Vol. 1. London: Reeves and Turner, 1905. There are many books like this one listed in this bibliography, and all of them contain great tools to build rituals around.
Campanelli, Pauline and Dan. Ancient Ways (1991) and Wheel of the Year (1989). St. Paul, MN: Llewellyn Publications. Both books are full of great ideas and crafts for the sabbats. The history in them doesn’t hold up very well, but I still love them.
Carmichael, Alexander. Carmina Gadelica, Vol. 1. Edinburgh: T. and A. Constable, 1900. This is an amazing collection of Scottish customs and rituals from the countryside. Many of them definitely have Pagan overtones.
Conway, D. J. Celtic Magic. St. Paul, MN: Llewellyn Publications, 1990. I can’t say this book has any good history in it; however, it was the first Witch-related book I read as an adult, and as a result, it influenced me a great deal. I still find myself saying some of the things I first read in this book in ritual.
Cotterell, Arthur. The Encyclopedia of Mythology. New York: Smithmark, 1996. This book has been in my library since it was first released and is still a handy reference work.
Cunningham, Scott. Wicca: A Guide for the Solitary Practitioner. St. Paul, MN: Llewellyn Publications, 1989. For many Witches of my generation (and beyond), this was their first Witch book. It has guided all sorts of solitary Witches over the last thirty years.
Curott, Phyllis. Book of Shadows: A Modern Woman’s Journey into the Wisdom of Witchcraft and the Magic of the Goddess. New York: Broadway Books, 1998. Though this is a memoir, Curott’s recollections of ritual are so powerful and transformative that it almost reads as a how-to book. It’s one of the best Witch books ever written. Curott later wrote her own guide to Witchcraft in 2001, with the title Witch Crafting, also highly recommended.
Forbes, Bruce David. America’s Favorite Holidays: Candid Histories. Oakland, CA: University of California Press, 2015. This book includes Forbes’s Christmas history, along with histories of Easter, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Valentine’s Day.
———. Christmas: A Candid History. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 2007. I love this book, and Forbes’s history of Christmas includes the holiday’s Pagan ancestors.
Frazer, Sir James George. The Golden Bough. 1890. Reprint, New York: Macmillan, 1922. Frazer’s magnum opus has been incredibly influential in the Witch and Pagan worlds.
Gardner, Gerald. The Meaning of Witchcraft. London: Aquarian Press, 1959. Witchcraft Today. London: Rider & Co., 1954. Gardner’s books don’t hold up all that well today, but they’ve been super influential over the decades. Also, while reading them you’ll find yourself stumbling into some parts that look really familiar and you’ll realize why they still have value outside of their historical worth.
Gary, Gemma. The Devil’s Dozen: Thirteen Craft Rites of the Old One. London: Troy Books, 2015. Gary is one of the most influential Traditional Witchcraft writers today, and her aesthetic is inspiring.
Graves, Robert. The White Goddess: A Historical Grammar of Poetic Myth. 1948. Reprint, New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2001. Along with Frazer, Graves is responsible for many of the modern myths that populate the Witch’s Wheel of the Year. The idea of Maiden, Mother, Crone can be found in the pages of The White Goddess, along with the Oak and Holly King stories. Reading Graves is challenging but worth the effort, even if it’s not a good representation of history.
Guiley, Rosemary Ellen. The Encyclopedia of Witches & Witchcraft. New York: Facts on File, 1999. I was lucky enough to meet Rosemary in New Orleans in 2018. I’m not sure what she thought about me, but her book is fabulous and a valuable reference tool. Sadly, her publisher is no longer updating this book, so I’ll never be in it.
Hutton, Ronald. Pagan Britain. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2013. Another great Hutton book, this one looking at what we might actually know about the Pagans who resided in Great Britain before the conversions to Christianity.
———. The Pagan Religions of the Ancient British Isles: Their Nature and Legacy. Cambridge, MA: B. Blackwell, 1991. Much of what’s in this book Hutton covers again in Pagan Britain, but I’ve had this one longer, so I know where certain pieces of information are hiding!
———. Stations of the Sun: A History of the Ritual Year in Britain. New York: Oxford University Press, 1996. This is a treasure trove of historical information, much of it going directly back to the rituals of the Irish-Celts. Highly recommended for anyone interested in holiday history.
———. The Triumph of the Moon: A History of Modern Pagan Witchcraft. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999. Twenty years after its initial publication, this remains the go-to book on early Witch and Pagan history in Great Britain.
Kelly, Aidan A. Hippie Commie Beatnik Witches: A Social History of the New Reformed Orthodox Order of the Golden Dawn. Tacoma, WA: Hierophant Wordsmith Press, 2015. Aidan’s book isn’t referenced in this work, but if you’re interested in what might have helped him come up with Mabon, Ostara, and Litha outside of the blog article in my footnotes, this is a good place to start.
———. A Tapestry of Witches: A History of the Craft in America, Vol. 1. Tacoma, WA: Hierophant Wordsmith Press, 2014. Kelly’s book provides a quick overview of the earliest Modern Witch traditions in the United States.
Mankey, Jason. Transformative Witchcraft: The Greater Mysteries. Woodbury, MN: Llewellyn Publications, 2019. I realize it’s rather self-serving to put myself in my own bibliography, but this book will be one I borrow from when it comes to ideas and information for the rest of my life. Also worth mentioning: The Witch’s Athame (2016), The Witch’s Book of Shadows (2017), and The Witch’s Altar (with Laura Tempest Zakroff, 2018), all published by Llewellyn.
Nissenbaum, Stephen. The Battle for Christmas. New York: Vintage Books, 1996. This is not a quick read, but it’s totally worth the investment in time. Nissenbaum makes Christmas even more Pagan than most people believe it to be.
O’Donovan, John, trans. Cormac’s Glossary. Edited by Whitley Stokes. Calcutta: Printed by O. T. Cutter for the Irish Archeological and Celtic Society, 1868. This book is fascinating for history nerds.
Otto, Walter, F. Dionysus: Myth & Cult. Translated by Robert Palmer. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 1965. One of my favorite academic books on the patron deity of my home.
Pearson, Nigel, G. Treading the Mill: Workings in Traditional Witchcraft. London: Troy Books, 2016. Though Pearson barely touches on treading the mill, his writings are influential in the Traditional Witchcraft world.
RavenWolf, Silver. To Ride a Silver Broomstick. St. Paul, MN: Llewellyn Publications, 1993. Sometime in the early 2000s it became fashionable to slag on Silver RavenWolf, and many have dismissed her books as a result. Silver is a gifted writer, ritualist, and Witch, and I love this book.
Rhys, John. Manx Folklore & Superstitions. Edited by Stephen Miller. Onchan, Isle of Man: Chiollagh Books, 1994. Originally published as Celtic Folklore: Welsh & Manx in 1901. Rhys’s book has so much stuff in it to inspire rituals. Most of the material is Christian on the surface, but I can’t help but wonder just how much of it possibly has pre-Christian Pagan origins.
Shaw, Philip A. Pagan Goddesses in the Early Germanic World. London: Bristol Classical Press, 2011. Instead of presenting Eostre as a Maiden goddess, Shaw argues that she was probably a matronly Mother goddess. His version of Eostre was not the one I was expecting, which makes his work even more fascinating!
Skal, David, J. Death Makes a Holiday: A Cultural History of Halloween. New York: Bloomsbury, 2002. Those who truly love Halloween owe it to themselves to read this book.
Starhawk. The Spiral Dance. San Francisco, CA: Harper & Row, 1979. Starhawk’s book is one of the most influential Witch books ever. Her version of Witch ritual is quite interesting when compared to what came after.
Wallis, Faith, trans. and ed. Bede: The Reckoning of Time. Liverpool, UK: Liverpool University Press, 1999. Wallis makes Bede readable. If Aidan Kelly had had this translation, maybe he would have gone with Halig for the Autumn Equinox instead of Mabon.
West, M. L. Indo-European Poetry and Myth. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007. West brings to life the connections that run through Slavic, Greek, Celtic, and Indian mythology that stem from the language and myth of the Indo-Europeans.