Pagan sacred texts/scriptures?

[Unveiled Artist]

You caught me when I needed to go to my school anyway. Here are some books of interests. I don't read much of witchcraft books anymore; and, they are good nonetheless. Remember: The world is your scripture. Books are commentary.

Man and the Myth
The illustrated encyclopedia of the unknown (series)
@Quintessence This is the one I was trying to think of

Encyclopedia of Witchcraft
The Western Tradition
Richard M. Golden

Witches, Witchcraft, and Wicca
Rosemary Ellen Guilry

Paganism
An introduction to earth-centered religions
Joyce and River Higginboh

There were a lot more, but they were historical books written by the church etc. The others where, wasn't worth posting.

Nam.

 

[vaguelyhumanoid]

I plan on reading Hesiod's Theogony, which seems like one of the most important Hellenic texts.

Also, for Kemeticism (Egyptian paganism) I know there is the Book of Coming Forth By Day, better known as the Egyptian Book of the Dead.

 

[Unveiled Artist]

Sure! That's not a series I'm familiar with. The subject of magic is one I've done fairly extensive reading on, but it's impossible to hit everything. One of my favorites has to be "The End of Magic" because it is a good synergy that covers a bunch of the other works I read, and doesn't ignore contemporary practice like many anthropological studies do. Susan Greenwood's works are fantastic as well, and directly pertain to contemporary Paganisms.



We'd never get it started because we'd never decide on what book to select.

I will look this book up. Sounds like a 'good read'

 

[Jainarayan]

Hesiod's Theogony, which seems like one of the most important Hellenic texts.

If I'm not mistaken, that is the seminal work and basis for Hellenic belief.

 

[Quintessence]

A couple things worth remembering when looking at historical Paganisms:

• As has been said already, the written records we have documenting various Paganisms of antiquity are limited and poor.
• It is vital to keep in mind that a strong majority of people in antiquity were illiterate. Basically, this means we should be careful about viewing any written text as an "important text" from the perspective of that time period, because it would not have been used in the day-to-day religious practices of those people.

 

[Riverwolf]

Don't just read books.

Talk to people who still live in the regions a particular indigenous tradition is ... indigenous to. Christianization was not successful in completely eliminating the Old Customs, so many pre-Christian practices are still done today. Talk to modern Europeans who regularly dance around the Maypole every Midsummer's Eve. Inquire about the various regional folk tales, even if you think you're familiar with them. (For Germanic Lore, this includes the folk and fairy tales collected by the Brothers Grimm). Speculate with others about whether or not Santa Claus is, in fact, a modern rendition of Woden, or if he's a wholly modern figure who might be thought of as a son or servant of Woden.

In an interview with an Archdruid that I once saw, he answered the question of what young people are to do now if they want to learn about Paganism. His response: "Well, there's certainly a lot more books than when I was a boy. Don't read them. Get dirt under your fingernails. Come to the Standing Stones." Ours is an oral, living, ever-evolving tradition, and considering how much quicker and easier it is to find and read articles on the internet, those are by far a better starting point than long, ponderous books that, more often than not, assume prior knowledge most laypeople won't have.

 

[Aštra’el]

-The Enûma Eliš
-The Descent of Ishtar/ Inanna's Descent
-Nergal and Ereshkigal
-The Golden Dawn (Regardie)
-The Lesser Key of Solomon
-The Tanakh
-The Bible
-The Quran
-The Zohar
-The Dead Sea Scrolls
-The Book of the Law
-777 and other Qabalistic Writings of Aleister Crowley
-Luciferian Witchcraft (Ford)
-Necronomicon (Simon)
-The Book of the Sacred Magic of Abramelin
the Mage
-All O9A MSS
_____________________________________

Mysteries of the Unknown:
-Alien Encounters
-Ancient Wisdom and Secret Sects
-Cosmic Connections
-Cosmic Duality
-Dreams and Dreaming
-Earth Energies
-Eastern Mysteries
-Hauntings
-Magical Arts
-Master Index and Illustrated Symbols
-Mind over Matter
-Mysterious Creatures
-Mysterious Lands and Peoples
-Mystic Places
-Mystic Quests
-Phantom Encounters
-Powers of Healing
-Psychic Powers
-Psychic Voyages
-Search for Immortality
-Search for the Soul
-Secrets of the Alchemists
-Spirit Summonings
-The Mind and Beyond
-The Mysterious World
-The Mystical Year
-The Psychics
-The UFO Phenomenon
-Time and Space
-Transformations
-Utopian Visions
-Visions and Prohecies
-Witches and Witchcraft
_____________________________________

-Myths from Mesopotamia (Oxford World Classics)
-Ramses II (TGH James)
-Tao of Jeet Kun Do
-The Mystery Traditions: Secret Symbols and Sacred Art
-Hidden Codes and Grand Designs


​

 

[V lad i mir]

Hej peeps,

Christians have The Bible, Muslims have the Qur'an and Jews have The Tanakh, but when it comes down to (most) Pagan religions things are usually much more difficult and controversial. This seems to be because of the oral rather than written tradition of telling stories/legends and because 'the idea that final or absolute truth can be contained within a written text or series of text has no support' and as 'no text is above criticism'. However, 'any text may be respected or even revered for whatever wisdom it might contain' and these texts/books/scriptures are exactly what I'm looking for.

As a (quite new) pagan enthusiast myself I would love to hear what texts/books/scriptures you guys read and hold in high esteem; being that it provides you with the religious background, practices, beliefs, tales, guidelines to live by, feels enlightening etc.

After doing some research I found several (supposedly [haven't read them yet]) good sources for some pagan religions I'm currently reading about. These are as follows:

Norse Paganism
-The Eddas
-Hávamál
-Nine Noble Virtues

Hellenism
-The Odyssey
-Homeric Hymns
-Orphic Hymns
-Sacred Word in 24 Rhapsodies

Rodnover (Slavic)
-The Primary Chronicle
-The Tale of Igor's Campaign
____
-Book of Veles - Proclaimed as a forgery many times (due to mix of 'different modern Slavic languages with erroneous and invented forms and no regular grammar') Anyone who use(d) this and wants to shed some light on it? If so please do.

Tengriism
Couldn't find anything except from a few letters to medieval kings.

Romuva (Baltic)
Couldn't find anything except for a modern book explaining the old customs and religious practices.

If you have any knowledge about any of these religions/have read any of these books/scriptures or have ones I really have to read but didn't write down please tell me!

___
TLDR; If you have any texts/books/scriptures that provide any religious background, practices, beliefs, tales, guidelines to live by or anything else for the religions listed above please contact me :3

Would love to hear from you guys!

Nyiix

slavic/aries vedic:
santii of Dak - http://via-midgard.info/news/23710-santii-dakov.html
Phaistos Disc http://okofinista.ru/image/russkaya_istoriya1.jpg
Cathedral of Saint Demetrius - http://ic.pics.livejournal.com/yuri_ost/65276215/95699/95699_original.jpg
http://ic.pics.livejournal.com/yuri_ost/65276215/96350/96350_original.jpg
swastik symbols all around the world - http://oko-planet.su/infonfoko/96243-svastichnye-simvoly-vo-vseh-ugolkah-zemli.html

want more?

 

[V lad i mir]

http://www.svarogday.com/wp-content/uploads/full1360745527.jpg what year is it now?