Let me preface this recommendation list by saying that it is not the be-all-and-end-all of advanced reading lists.  In fact, it barely scratches the surface.  It will be most relevant to Wiccans, although there are some titles that will be of interest to non-Wiccan Witches and Pagans as well.  I’ve tried to give representation to both historical truth and mythological truth, so there will be things that are scientifically out-of-date.

As you might’ve guessed, this list is less about secret knowledge and more about history, philosophy, and theology.  It’s focus is to help you think more deeply and richly about how Wicca views the world, where its mythology comes from, and what makes its core dogma essential to practice.  There are also a number of books on this list that I consider to be primary sources, as they were written by Wiccans who shaped early practice even if those books were written after the time of Gerald Gardner.

You’ll find that some of these books are quite expensive, either because they’re out of print or because they’re scholarly books rather than books intended for a broad audience.  My suggestion is to use your resources — your library system’s database search tools and interlibrary loan service can get you books and articles from just about anywhere, and if you have access to a college or university library (as some of them offer access for community members), you will have even greater ability to access to scholarly work on modern pagan witchcraft, early modern witchcraft, historical witchcraft, and ancient non-Christian cultures.  Just grab a librarian — it’s their job to connect you with the information you’re looking for, and no, they won’t judge you.

Another strategy as you go about building your own addendum to this reading list is to read books and then read the books that are in that book’s bibliography.  Many of the same titles pop up again and again, and it won’t take long before you have an in-depth understanding of the book’s (and the author’s) influence on the Craft.  Focus on books and authors that share the same research focus as you do, but don’t shy away from sticking your nose into something totally unrelated!  This will help you to avoid getting spiritual tunnel vision and seeing things only one way.

The Book List

Agrippa (von Nettesheim), Heinrich Cornelius.  Three Books of Occult Philosophy.  Public Domain, 1533.

A German polymath, physician, legal scholar, soldier, theologian, and occult writer, Agrippa’s Three Books of Occult Philosophy drew heavily upon Kabbalah, Hermeticism, and neo-Platonism.  His work, in turn, influenced ceremonial magicians in later centuries and formed the philosophical building blocks upon which the entire Western Mystery Tradition is built.

Three Books of Occult Philosophy.  Public Domain.

Three Books of Occult Philosophy. Edited by Donald Tyson. Llewellyn, 2018.  ISBN: 9780738755274.

“Author Unknown” or “Anonymous”.  Internet Book of Shadows.

The IBOS has been around since the internet began, and contains a number of essays and rituals, not all of which are attributable.  Many, however, have been attributed and the IBOS makes note of those attributions in its table of contents.  There are some familiar names there, including David Rankine, Sorita (d’Este), Mike Nichols, the Farrars, Leo Martello, Raymond Buckland, Selena Fox, Judy Harrow, Doreen Valiente, Starhawk, Scott Cunningham, Ellen Cannon Reed, Lady Sheba, Lady Galadriel, Ed Fitch, C. (Chas) S. Clifton, Morning Glory Zell, Otter G’Zell (Oberon Zell), and others.

Buckland, Raymond.  Buckland’s Complete Book of Witchcraft. Revised and Expanded Edition.  Llewellyn, 2002 [1986].  ISBN: 9780875420509.

Ray Buckland is most famous for bringing Wicca to America.  A prolific author, his works have influenced Wicca and Neopaganism in myriad ways.  His most recognizable title is the “Big Blue Book” – Buckland’s Complete Book of Witchcraft – which outlines a full course of study to take the reader from neophyte to third-degree initiate.  Whether this information is accurate is beside the point; it influenced generations of Wiccans who follow his practices and has firmly situated itself as a primary text for Traditional Wiccans.  More than one practitioner has noted that there are things in the 1986 first edition of the book that do not appear in the revised and expanded second edition of the book – so it’s worth it to read both editions.

Davis, M.  GeraldGardner.com.

Maintained by a Gardnerian initiate, this site contains articles and photos documenting Gardner’s life and the history of Wicca.  Read the entire site.  Then follow all the links and read those entire sites too.  No, seriously, do it.

Farrar, Janet and Stewart.  A Witches’ Bible: The Complete Witches’ Handbook.  Phoenix Publishing, 1996.  ISBN: 9780919345928.
Note: This title is a reissue of Eight Sabbats for Witches [1981] and The Witches’ Way [1984].  The Farrars were initiates of Alex and Maxine Sanders and wrote prolifically on the Craft as they had learned it or adapted it to be practiced by non-initiates.  Gavin Bone is their polyfidelitous partner.  When Stewart died, Gavin married Janet and they continue to teach the Craft today.

Farrar, Janet and Stewart.  The Witches’ Goddess: The Feminine Principle of Divinity.  Phoenix Publishing, 1987.  ISBN: 9780919345911.

Farrar, Janet and Stewart.  The Witches’ God: Lord of the Dance.  Phoenix Publishing, 1989.  ISBN: 9780919345478.

These two books dive deeply into the mythology of Wicca’s deities.  Some ideas may be outdated, but they nevertheless influence the perceptions of Wiccan deities today.

Farrar, Janet and Gavin Bone.  Progressive Witchcraft: Spirituality, Mysteries, and Training in Modern Wicca.  RedWheel/Weiser, 2004.  ISBN: 9781564147196.

In this book, Janet and Gavin review the history of Wicca in the 1970s, examine the state of Wicca in the early 2000s, and outline a vision for Wicca’s future.  The word progressive is a descriptor rather than a political alignment – it is used to complement the word ‘traditional’, which has an implication of being static and unchanging.

Gardner, Gerald Brosseau.  Gardnerian Book of Shadows.

Gerald Gardner is well-known as the father of Wicca.  There is an ongoing debate as to whether Gardner invented Wicca entirely from scratch or cobbled it together from parts of an existing witchcraft tradition that he had been initiated into (which might have been a remnant of a Romantic-era practice or might have been older than that), blended with ceremonial magic and western occultism, for the purpose of bringing it to a wider audience without breaking his oaths to his initiating coven.

I consider this link, stored at sacred-texts.com, to be the definitive version of the materials known to be in use by Gardner’s coven.  It was compiled by Aidan A. Kelly.  Whether it is accurate as far as today’s practice is concerned is a moot point; its use as a reference from the 1990s onward certainly influenced eclectic practitioners and non-Gardnerian Traditional Wiccans to the point that it may as well be the actual Book of Shadows.  Note: Gardner published a mix of fiction and nonfiction, but it’s difficult to get hold of his fiction at a reasonable price.  Gardner was not the first occultist to fictionalize magickal knowledge; Dion Fortune also fictionalized much of her mystical knowledge and experience. The list below are the books that Gardner published in his lifetime.

• A Goddess Arrives – Fiction. 1939/1997, Godolphin House.
• High Magic’s Aid – Fiction. 1949/2010, Aurinia Books.
• Witchcraft Today – 1954/2004, Citadel Trade.
• The Meaning of Witchcraft – 1959/2004 – RedWheel/Weiser.

Heselton, Philip.  Gerald Gardner and the Cauldron of Inspiration: An Investigation into the Sources of Gardnerian Witchcraft. Capall Bann Publishing, 2003.  ISBN: 9781861631640.

Heselton, Philip.  Witchfather: A Life of Gerald Gardner. Vol 1: Into the Witch Cult. Thoth Publications, 2012. ISBN: 9781870450805.

Heselton, Philip.  Witchfather: A Life of Gerald Gardner. Vol 2: From Witch Cult to Wicca. Thoth Publications. 2012.  ISBN 9781870450799.

Heselton, Philip.  Doreen Valiente Witch. The Centre For Pagan Studies, 2016. ISBN 9780992843069.
A Pagan scholar par excellence, Philip has dedicated his life to the study of Wicca as an emerging tradition, complete with in-depth studies of its founder and most prominent initiate.  All of Philip’s books are worth reading, but these four give a good overview of Gardner, Valiente, and Wicca as it was first developed.

Leland, Charles Godfrey.  Aradia, or the Gospel of the Witches.  Public Domain, 1899.
Leland’s major contribution to modern paganism is “Aradia”, which became a foundational text for Neopaganism.  Aradia is presented as a folklorist’s investigation into pre-Christian Italian witchcraft practices with the help of a local source, but it’s likely entirely fabricated, either by Leland or by his source Maddalena.  Aradia is the closest to holy writ that Wicca has.

Murray, Margaret Alice.  The Witch-Cult in Western Europe: A Study in Anthropology.  Public Domain, 1921.

Margaret Murray is the (now-disproven) anthropologist whose work inspired Gerald Gardner.  Her ideas about pre-Christian Europe laid the foundations for the myth of matriarchal prehistory that Wicca builds its mythological origin story on: an unbroken lineage of priestesses and priests practicing the Old Religion for generations.

Mooney, Thorn.  The Witch’s Path: Advancing Your Craft at Every Level.  Llewellyn, 2021.  ISBN: 9780738763774.

A Gardnerian High Priestess in the American South, Thorn has been there, done that, got the t-shirt, and turned it into a quilt block.  Her book speaks to newbies and advanced practitioners alike, breaking each chapter down into elemental stepping stones for each audience.  If you’re stuck on your path and you don’t know where to go from here, read this book.

Three Initiates. The Kybalion: A Study of the Hermetic Philosophy of Ancient Egypt and Greece.  Public Domain, 1908.

A small but powerful book, The Kybalion outlines many of the occult principles now inexorably associated with Paganism.

Valiente, Doreen.  An ABC of Witchcraft Past and Present.  Phoenix, 1989.  ISBN: 9780919345775.

Doreen Valiente is highly regarded as the mother of modern witchcraft.  She was a Gardnerian initiate and high priestess, a Cochrane’s Craft initiate, and practiced a variety of other paths before finally settling into her own brand of the Craft.  She wrote poetry as well as books on Witchcraft, and is the author of the “Charge of the Goddess” and “The Witch’s Rune”.  In “ABC of Witchcraft” she encyclopedically defines the Craft by the terms used in it – from athame to widdershins.  This book gives a snapshot into Doreen’s training and experience.

Note: The Doreen Valiente Foundation no longer keeps the definitive version of Doreen’s most important poetic works on their website but they do have her books available for sale.  Their mission is to “to protect artefacts which are important to the past, present and future of pagan religions” and “to make the artefacts available for education and research”. The Wayback Machine can help you find their previously posted versions of the “Charge of the Goddess” and other works on their archive of the Foundation’s website.

Version Note: v1.1 2024-04-21