Hello! I am looking for books about paganism, wicca, and really anything pertaining to this type of stuff. I found one I want to start reading but wanted opinions on it. Its called Out of the Shadows An Exploration of Dark Paganism and Magick By John C. If anyone has read it please tell me how it was! Any suggestions would be great as I am trying to study and learn to better discover who I am as a pagan.
If you are interested in Paganism and Wicca, I would recommend looking into Raymond Buckland, Scott Cunninngham, and Donald Michael Craig. Between these three, they each have their own respective contributions, that together, cover a plethora of nuances such as correspondences, crystals, rituals, altar placement/creation, and so on.
If you are looking for resources on Wicca, Im not your guy, but there are many wonderful and experienced Wiccans who may be around to answer those specific questions.
There are all sorts of suggestions, advice, and directions you can be pointed towards, but the one you should listen most intently to is you. Take everything with a grain of salt, and have faith that when you focus your intentions and energy, manifestation is within your reach. Above all else, stay hungry to learn and grow.
Donald Michael Kraig as a resource for Paganism and Wicca? Why? He has always struck me more of an Golden Dawn, and Crowley-inspired author. His signature masterwork, "Modern Magick" is chock full of Golden Dawn content.
His works seems more tailored to aspiring High Magicians to me...so I am quite curious about your thought-process. Care to elucidate?
Certainly, Commentator. My thought process in the fore-mentioned suggestion in regards to the authors I recommended, my thought-process was thus:
I have an option to relay any number of suggestions to varying degrees, but there is such thing as information overload and I've had students cross their eyes and turn from lists of this and that, so I try to keep it short and relatively to the point. So I begin to narrow it down, thinking of authors who are highly credible, and/or has contributed mass amounts to the occult community, the results are above. My idea greasing the gears of my thought process was hope that this young practitioner would be inspired and driven to look into these authors and their respective contributions and writings. Its a suggestion based on my own experiences as well as the experiences of others. In regards to each authors listing, they each have an understanding of the inner and outer workings of applied intent using various tools and methods to amplify their desires over an extended time, which can take form in healing with herbs, understanding witchcraft and the general basics of it, and having an opportunity to take part in conscious daily rituals that enhance your life and brings you better in touch with yourself.
There is some dispute that pagan was originally intended as slander and classification, and while there is some information online suggesting they were a group of people with a polytheist based pantheon where they had many gods whereas they may have just as likely been the remnants of the ever-reaching Druid influence that even Julius Caesar wrote of their contact during that time period. (I don't have access to the book with the exact year or I'd love to find it).
Overall, I figured that between these three others, they might also inspire the construction of a firm foundation where one can learn any number of things and find your own cozy corner in this world where we can each patiently and sometimes meticulously pursue our interests, hobbies, passions, and sometimes, our very lives. These fine gentlemen have taught millions and have inspired countless, each in their respective ways. My suggestion and thought process is that if you analyze their works and give it a go there is likely to be a book from each other that could be beneficial at some point along the way.
Re: Book suggestions to study By: MagicShawn / Novice
Post # 6 Aug 10, 2019
Sane Occultism by Dion Fortune (was reprinted under the title What is Occultism , but you can still find the original title). It should be required reading by everyone.
The Ethical Eclectic by Kaatryn MacMorgan-Douglas. If you want to be a true eclectic you need a base to work from. This book will give you some good ideas.
Wicca: A Year and a Day by Timothy Roderick. A great place to learn true, powerful and effective magic.
It is a great book.
As for neo-paganism and paganism, I can't recommend you anything as that is not my path. But The Mystical Qabalah gives you an insight of the art called magic, meditation techniques and even more.
