While witchcraft always has been performative by nature, demanding regular practice and experimentation, it is also one of the few spiritualities today that require a good bit of reading. The texts curated here represent beloved folkloric and occult materials that have informed many craft practices over the years. Most are available to read for free online, and those that are not can be found through libraries or purchased at an affordable price. This list is by no means exhaustive in scope (my main interests being European witch lore and the Scottish and North American charming arts). Few of these works would be considered “light” reading. Yet these treasures prove their value over time for those who know how to use and consult them, lighting the way to an informed craft practice through the precious fragments of lore and magical operation preserved therein.
Lore
- Compendium Maleficarum by Francesco Maria Guazzo, 1608
- The Discovery of Witchcraft by Reginald Scot, 1584
- The Secret Commonwealth of Elves, Fauns and Fairies by Robert Kirk, 1691
- Superstitions of the Highlands and Islands of Scotland by John Gregorson Campbell, 1900
- Highland Superstitions Connected with the Druids, Fairies, Witchcraft, Second-Sight, Hallowe’en, Sacred Wells and Lochs, with Several Curious Instances of Highland Customs and Beliefs by Alexander MacGregor, 1901
- The Darker Superstitions of Scotland, Illustrated from History and Practice by John Graham Dalyell, 1834
- Daemonologie by King James I, 1597
- Carmina Gadelica by Alexander Carmichael, 1860
- Aradia, or the Gospel of the Witches by Charles Godfrey Leland, 1899
- The Book of Enoch, Author Unknown, 300-200 B.C.E.
- The History of the Devil: The Horned God of the West by Richard Lowe Thompson, 1919
- The Golden Bough by James George Frazer, 1890
- The Spaewife, or Universal Fortune-Teller, Wherein Your Future Welfare May Be Known by Physiognomy, Cards, Palmistry, and Coffee Grounds, also a Distinct Treatise on Moles, Author Unknown, 1827
- The New Fortune Book or Conjurer’s Guide, Author Unknown, 1850
- The History of Playing Cards with Anecdotes of Their Use in Conjuring, Fortune-Telling, and Card-Sharping by Edward Samuel Taylor, 1865
- The Witch-Cult in Western Europe by Margaret Murray, 1921
- Grimms’ Fairy Tales by Jacob Grimm and Wilhelm Grimm, 1812
- Etruscan Roman Remains in Popular Tradition by Charles Godfrey Leland, 1892
- Gypsy Sorcery and Fortune Telling by Charles Godfrey Leland, 1891
- Witches, Ghosts, and Signs: Folklore of the Southern Appalachians by Patrick Gainer, 1975
- The Silver Bullet and Other American Witch Stories by Hubert J. Davis, 1975
- The English and Scottish Popular Ballads by Francis James Child, 1904
Scholarship
- Cunning-Folk and Familiar Spirits: Shamanistic Visionary Traditions in Early Modern British Witchcraft and Magic by Emma Wilby, 2006
- The Visions of Isobel Gowdie: Magic, Witchcraft, and Dark Shamanism in Seventeenth-Century Scotland by Emma Wilby, 2010
- Ecstasies: Deciphering the Witches’ Sabbath by Carlo Ginzburg, 2004
- Scottish Witches and Warlocks by Michael Howard, 2013
Herbalism
- De Materia Medica by Pedanius Dioscorides, 50-70 C.E.
- Culpeper’s Complete Herbal by Nicholas Culpeper, 1653
- Medieval Herbal Remedies: The Old English Herbarium and Anglo-Saxon Medicine by Anne Van Arsdall, 2010
- A Modern Herbal by Maud Grieve, 1931
- Leechdoms, Wortcunning, and Starcraft of Early England: Being a Collection of Document, for the Most Part Never Before Printed, Illustrating the History of Science in This Country Before the Norman Conquest by Thomas Oswald Cockayne, 1865
- Leechcraft: Early English Charms, Plant-Lore, and Healing by Stephen Pollington, 2000
- The Encyclopedia of Psychoactive Plants: Ethnopharmacology and Its Applications by Christian Ratsch, 2005
Grimoires
- The Greek Magical Papyri, 30 B.C.E.-390 C.E.
- The Key of Solomon, 1300-1400
- The Lesser Key of Solomon, 1600-1700
- Pseudomonarchia Daemonum, 1577
- Heptameron, or Magical Elements, 1500-1600
- The Black Pullet, 1700-1800
- The Little Book of the Roma, 1788
- The Sixth and Seventh Books of Moses, 1700-1800
- The Grand Grimoire, 1521
- The Petit Albert or Lesser Albert, 1700-1800
- Grimorium Verum, 1700-1800
- The Magus, 1801
- The Book of Abramelin, 1608
- The Sworn Book of Honorius, 1300-1400
- The Long Lost Friend, 1820
- The Picatrix, 900-1000 C.E.
- Three Books of Occult Philosophy, 1531