Recommendations for Beginners in the Fields of Witchcraft, Paganism and Druidry
Books, online resources and more
I have collected some recommendations I personally endorse. I may add more recommendations from time to time in this blog.
Meditation
Whether you are interested in witchcraft, paganism or druidry, meditation is advisable for all of these paths. If you are new to this, maybe try guided meditations and exercises like shielding and grounding. Shielding is for guarding you from negative influences and grounding is for getting back »down to earth« after magical activities.
I have created two free guided meditations for this.
Shielding: https://bit.ly/guidedmeditation_shielding
Grounding:
There are also more guided meditations in my youtube channel:
https://bit.ly/cavorta_meditations
Witchcraft
Read books if you have access to them. I can recommend basically any book by the experienced witch and author Rachel Patterson, she is very down-to-earth and gives practical advice. Her books are also beginner-friendly.
I can for instance recommend her »Witchcraft… into the Wilds« and most of her books are also great reference books for magical correspondences, for instance "A Kitchen Witch's World of Magical Plants & Herbs" and "A Kitchen Witch's World of Magical Food"
https://www.rachelpatterson.co.uk/my-books
She also gives interesting talks on Fridays, on her Facebook page and you can watch them later, they get recorded.
https://www.facebook.com/RachelPattersonbooks/
If you specifically want to learn something about Wicca, but not start with the older books that have been published, here is a book which is beginner friendly: »Wicca Made Easy« by Phyllis Curott:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/39742004-wicca-made-easy
A very good book for beginners is
“Intuitive Witchcraft: How to Use Intuition to Elevate Your Craft” by Astrea Taylor
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/45901741-intuitive-witchcraft
Astrea has also opened a group about this subject on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/groups/IntuitiveWitchcraft
“Psychic Witch: A Metaphysical Guide to Meditation, Magick & Manifestation” by Mat Auryn is an international bestseller and has been translated into several languages. It is beginner-friendly and you can work through this book like taking a course, there are ca. 90 exercises.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/45901734-psychic-witch
“Weave the Liminal” A book about Traditional Modern Witchcraft by Laura Tempest Zakroff with lots of suggestions how to create your very own witchcraft path:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/40334113-weave-the-liminal
“Rebel Witch” - a witchcraft 101 book with a pop cultural approach to the craft, by Kelly-Ann Maddox
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/50271585-rebel-witch
Druidry
Maybe check out the books by Philip Carr-Gomm. He has lead the Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids and has been practising druidry for many years. One basic book by him is "The Druid Way". I read it some years ago and can recommend it. Here is an overview about his life and works:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_Carr-Gomm
He is also here on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/philip.carrgomm/
The facebook page of The Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids (OBOD)
https://www.facebook.com/druidry/
They have distance learning courses, if you are interested in that.
I can also recommend The British Druid Order (BDO)
https://www.facebook.com/BritishDruidOrder/
They have distance learning courses too, but also free material for downloads on their site.
And this blog by their chief, Philip Shallcrass is interesting too:
https://greywolf.druidry.co.uk/
More recommendations for books:
https://www.patheos.com/blogs/johnbeckett/2019/02/druid-reading-recommendations-a-revised-list.html
Paganism
In general, I can also recommend the website Patheos Pagan, there are many articles from different perspectives, covering Paganism, Druidry and witchcraft.
The website: https://www.patheos.com/pagan
The facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/PatheosPagan/
A recommendable book for beginners by John Beckett:
“The Path of Paganism: An Experience-Based Guide to Modern Pagan Practice”
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/32284037-the-path-of-paganism
John Beckett also blogs on Patheos Pagan:
https://www.patheos.com/blogs/johnbeckett/
The Pagan Federation International (PFI) is a worldwide organisation for pagan people, not limited to a specific path. There are Wiccans, Heathens, polytheists, Hellenists, Kemetists and more.
https://www.paganfederation.org/
https://www.facebook.com/paganfederationinternational
As mentioned above, the books in the “Pagan Portals”-series are recommendable. Many of them focus on single deities, some on whole pantheons, and there are other interesting pagan topics, too.
https://www.johnhuntpublishing.com/moon-books/our-books/jhp-search-results/?txt=Pagan+Portals
Celtic Paganism
There is a book series by Moon Books, „Pagan Portals”. From those, I can recommend the books by Morgan Daimler, they have written several about Celtic Paganism and Celtic and/or Irish Gods (for example „The Morrigan”, „Brigid”, „The Dagda” and „Gods and Goddesses of Ireland”) and these books are well researched.
I can also recommend the Facebook group „Celtic Paganism”, it‘s a good community. Some of the people there are very into the historical, ancient background and a kind of reconstructionistic paganism, but that's not mandatory
https://www.facebook.com/groups/celtic.paganism/
Deities
As already mentioned, Moon Books have published several books on deities (Celtic, Roman, Norse, Greek, Ancient Egyptian). Some of them are devotionals.
https://www.johnhuntpublishing.com/moon-books/our-books/all-books/
A List of Books about Some Pagan Deities and other Spiritual Entities:
https://bit.ly/books_pagan_deities
On social media and the internet, you can find pages or interest groups dedicated to certain deities. Here are a few examples:
Hekate
https://www.facebook.com/goddesshekate
https://www.facebook.com/CovenantOfHekate
Temple of Hekate, a virtual temple on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/TempleOfHekate
Aphrodite
https://www.facebook.com/aphroditesflame
https://aphroditeflame.blogspot.com/p/aphrodites-flame.html
Goddess Morrigan
https://www.facebook.com/groups/161815910628167
Glastonbury Goddess Temple
https://www.facebook.com/glastonburygoddesstemple
Clann Bhride: Children of Brighid https://www.facebook.com/clannbhride
Cernunnos
https://www.facebook.com/TheStagLord
More topics:
Working with Ancestors
Working with ancestors gets covered in many pagan and witchcraft books. If you‘d like to read a book focusing entirely on it, here is one: »Badass Ancestors: Finding Your Power with Ancestral Guides« by Patti Wigington.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/50695592-badass-ancestors
Two recommendable blogs: https://www.patheos.com/blogs/afoxamongravens/2020/09/whats-the-big-deal-about-ancestors/
and
https://www.patheos.com/blogs/matauryn/2018/01/08/feeding-ancestors/
Btw, I have created a guided meditation for free, for meeting an ancestor. You can find it here:
Sigil Witchery
I love this book by Laura Tempest Zakroff:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35260161-sigil-witchery
She also blogs about sigils (and other topics) sometimes, here:
https://www.patheos.com/blogs/tempest/author/ltzakroff
And here is a short video of her about sigils:
Queer Witchcraft
Here are some books about this topic:
"Queering Your Craft: Witchcraft from the Margins" by Cassandra Snow
https://goodreads.com/book/show/52568015-queering-your-craft
"Outside the Charmed Circle: Exploring Gender & Sexuality in Magical Practice" by Misha Magdalene
https://goodreads.com/book/show/45901736-outside-the-charmed-circle
"Queer Magic: Power Beyond Boundaries" Essays, edited by Lee Harrington and Tai Fenix Kulystin
https://goodreads.com/book/show/36205921-queer-magic
"The Satyr's Kiss: Queer Men, Sex Magic & Modern Witchcraft" by Storm Faerywolf
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/59031381-the-satyr-s-kiss
Some BI_PoC authors and bloggers (and some of their books)
Lilith Dorsey: “Orishas, Goddesses, and Voodoo Queens: The Divine Feminine in the African Religious Traditions”
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/50915644-orishas-goddesses-and-voodoo-queens
Website:
Aliza Einhorn: “The Little Book of Saturn: Astrological Gifts, Challenges, and Return”
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36804034-the-little-book-of-saturn
Website:
https://www.moonplutoastrology.com/
Najah Lightfoot: “Good Juju: Mojos, Rites & Practices for the Magical Soul”
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/42124399-good-juju
Website:
https://www.craftandconjure.com/
Dr. Maria DeBlassie: “Everyday Enchantments: Musings on Ordinary Magic & Daily Conjurings” https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/37690869-everyday-enchantments
Maria’s linktree: https://linktr.ee/mdeblassie
J. Allen Cross: "American Brujeria: Modern Mexican American Folk Magic"
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/55308225-american-brujeria
Linktree: https://linktr.ee/J.Cross
History of Witchcraft, Witch Hunts and Paganism
"The Witch: A History of Fear, from Ancient Times to the Present" by historian Ronald Hutton
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34324501-the-witch
Btw, Ronald Hutton has written more books about paganism and witchcraft, here is an overview of his published works: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/128353.Ronald_Hutton
© Andrea Grünbaum