Books

[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"

 

[Gentoo]

I like Scott Cunningham personally, though I know some people don't.

Raymond Buckland and Gerald Gardner are the ones to read, as Gerald Gardner is known as the founder of Wicca.

 

[rhiannon]

Oh! That was fast Thanx I'll definately look for those authors

 

[rhiannon]

I don't want to make a new thred so I'll ask here. I've found out that there is also something like Driudry. I would also like to know about it more, so if anyone could give me some information about it, or recomand some books I would be gratefull

 

[Mike182]

Ronald Hutton is the best name out there for the history of moder paganism - no question about that. he's a current lecturer at the university of bristol, and a damn good public speaker.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronald_Hutton

he's as reliable as they come

 

[Mike182]

I like Scott Cunningham personally, though I know some people don't.

Raymond Buckland and Gerald Gardner are the ones to read, as Gerald Gardner is known as the founder of Wicca.

i would add Aleister Crowley to that list, just for general context.

by the by, does anyone know of any good book on the golden dawn?

 

[Kay]

I don't want to make a new thred so I'll ask here. I've found out that there is also something like Driudry. I would also like to know about it more, so if anyone could give me some information about it, or recomand some books I would be gratefull

http://www.druidry.org/

http://www.aoda.org/

 

[rhiannon]

Thanx That will help a lot. Now I have to find some books and buy them some how Because it is hard to get such stuff in Poland

 

[MaddLlama]

I'm really suprised no one mentioned Gerald Gardener and Doreen Valentine. They were the first authors that came out with books on Wicca, and Gardener is the religion's founder. I would at least skim through his material, and the books written by Doreen. The religion itself has been rapidly evolving since then, but it pays to know the history, especially if you plan on talking about said evolution. =)
That being said, I would avoid the works of Robert Graves and Margaret Murray, except to talk about negative influence, or just bad history.

May I ask what class this is for? Just being nosy

 

[Mike182]

I'm really suprised no one mentioned Gerald Gardener and Doreen Valentine. They were the first authors that came out with books on Wicca, and Gardener is the religion's founder. I would at least skim through his material, and the books written by Doreen. The religion itself has been rapidly evolving since then, but it pays to know the history, especially if you plan on talking about said evolution. =)
That being said, I would avoid the works of Robert Graves and Margaret Murray, except to talk about negative influence, or just bad history.

May I ask what class this is for? Just being nosy

hey! i said Crowley and the Golden Dawn, how much more history does the poor lad want? besides, Gardern came out of those two anyway

 

[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]

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]

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.