Books (hell, pagan, religion, Wicca, paganism)

[Guitar's Cry]

Crowley's Magick: In Theory and Practice is an interesting read. The Spiral Dance by Starhawk is informative and has a lot of good stuff relating to paganism and modern culture (especially in terms of gender roles). From what I've read, it's been quite influential in the neo-pagan movement.

[KSojourner]

Originally Posted by rhiannon

Hello I have a question again.... Since I'm going to write about Wicca in my MA thesis I was wondering if anyone could help me with bibliography. I'm not Wiccan and don't know anything specific about this religion but I would like to find out as much as it is possible from books available on the market. Any suggestions about good authors or titles would be welcome.
Just one wish: I'm interested only in good, relyable and serious sources, no such things as "Wicca for Dummies"

Are you looking for Wicca specifically or Paganism in General?

Since this is for your thesis, I would stick to more "scholarly" works. A few of the authors below have more than one book. From books that I have read, here is what I would suggest (these are a mix of Pagan and Wiccan sources):

Margot Adler "Drawing Down the Moon" ISBN 0143038192
Chas S. Clifton "Her Hidden Children" ISBN 0759102023
Barbara Jane Davy "Introduction to Pagan Studies" ISBN 0759108196
Dana D. Eilers "The Practical Pagan" ISBN 1564146014
Gerald B. Gardner "Witchcraft Today" ISBN 0806525932
Ronald Hutton "The Triumph of the Moon" ISBN 0192854496
Starhawk "The Spiral Dance" ISBN 0062508148
Michael York "Pagan Theology" ISBN 0814797083

For general theory of ritual (this source is not about Wicca or Paganism), try:

Catherine Bell "Ritual Theory, Ritual Practice" ISBN 0195076133


There are some other books that have been on my "To Be Read" list that have been recommended to me by others that you may want to check out as well, but again, I have not read them:

Graham Harvey "Contemporary Paganism" ISBN 0814736203
Jeffery B. Russell "A History of Witchcraft" ISBN 0500272425
John Michael Greer "A World Full of Gods" ISBN 0976568101

And then after the books, I would check out the scholarly journals for religion. They should have a few articles regarding Paganism. There is only one journal for Pagan studies that I know of and that is "The Pomegranate" which is edited by Chas Clifton.

Beware of the mass market books on the subject of Wicca and Paganism. Buckland and Cunningham (while they are most people's first introduction to Wicca/Paganism) are not good sources for a grad school level thesis, IMHO, as they are more "how to" books. (Sorry to those that suggested them.) However, they may be what you need to get an overview before you start in on the more history and theory oriented books.

Hope this helps you out!

[Mike182]

isn't Starhawk incredibly biased towards the feminine?

Hutton is great, and Gardner is always a good place to start i've heard good reports of "drawing down the moon" by Margot Adler as well, good list Sojourner!

[KSojourner]

Originally Posted by Mike182

isn't Starhawk incredibly biased towards the feminine?

I would agree that she is biased towards the feminine.

However, it is one denomination (if you will) in Paganism that can't be ignored or thrown out just on that basis. Starhawk is one author that most people have read soon after getting into Paganism. She is often quoted by those that write on Pagan topics. She is also a very outspoken voice in Paganism today. If Rhiannon were to leave her out, she would be leaving out a huge part of modern Pagan history.