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An absolute beginner may want to start with Adler, Hopman and Bond, and/or Jones and Matthews to get a sense of the the breadth of the Pagan community, then move on to the others.

Adler, Margot. Drawing Down the Moon: Witches, Druids, Goddess-Worshippers, and Other Pagans in America Today. Boston: Beacon Press, 1986.

An excellent guide to the variety of Pagan groups and philosophies present at the time she wrote. Some of the groups she talks about have since disbanded, but they have been replaced with many others. (SR)

Cunningham, Scott. Wicca: A Guide for the Solitary Practitioner. Minneapolis, Minn.: Llewellyn Publications, 1990.

This book is more practical and less theoretical than Starhawk’s The Spiral Dance (see below). It's has an accessible style and good introductory information about basic Wiccan practices. (SR)

Hopman, Ellen Evert and Lawrence Bond. Being a Pagan. Rochester, VT.: Inner Traditions, 2001. Originally printed as People of the Earth; The New Pagans Speak Out. in 1996.

This is a more recent explorations of the varieties of Paganism. The author's conducted a series of interviews with Pagans of many flavors The book includes almost 20 pages of bibliography and contact information for a large number of groups. (SR)

Hutton, Ronald. The Triumph of the Moon : A History of Modern Pagan Witchcraft. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 1999.

Hutton documents the history of Wicca or “Modern Pagan Witchcraft,” as he calls it. He looks at what evidence supports claims of Wicca being an ancient religion and what contradicts those claims, and charts the development of Wicca from the mentalities and cultural milieu of the late 19th century and the 20th century. His research is extensive and thorough. Every Pagan should read this book before they are exposed to other books that make unsubstantiated historical claims about Wicca, the persistence of Pagan worship, or the “Burning Times.” (SR)

Jones, Prudence and Caitlìn Matthews (eds). Voices from the Circle: The Heritage of Western Paganism. London: The Aquarian Press, 1990.

Another exploration of a wide variety of pathways from a British point of view. (SR)

Orr, Emma Restall. Thorson’s Principals of Druidry. London: Thorsons, 1999

I found this book to be an poetic introduction to one variety of neo-Pagan Druidry. (SR)

Starhawk. The Spiral Dance: A Rebirth of the Ancient Religion of the Great Goddess. San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 1989. There is now a 20th-anniversary edition.

A widely-used book of exercises, ritual, and philosophy of what is often called an ”eclectic” tradition. If you like her philosophical and political stances, I also recommend her Dreaming the Dark, Truth or Dare, and The Fifth Sacred Thing (a novel) as well. Starhawk is an prime example of someone who really lives her religion and shows how others can, too. Do note, however, that some of her historical claims do not accord with historical evidence. (SR)

Weinstein, Marion. Positive Magic: Occult Self-Help. Revised edition. Custer, WA: Phoenix Publishing Inc., 1980.

Don't let the title fool you. This is an excellent book on Pagan ethics; chapters 3, 5, and 8 are particularly recommended. Those chapters explain the differences between positive and negative magic, what the three-fold law and the Wiccan Rede are and how they might work. I do, however, caution you to ignore her historical claims about Witchcraft and about the ”Burning Times”; these claims were made on the bases of now discredited sources. (SR)

Puzzled as to why some of the more prominent authors or books commonly found at the bookstore do not appear on this list? Either they repeat the same information found in the above books or are authors to be avoided because their sloppy scholarship. Please contact us if you have questions about or would like our opinion about a beginner’s book you have read that is not included here.

Critical Reading Skills for Pagans

The following are several web sites that offer advice on developing critical reading skills when reading books on Pagan practices or history. If you are just starting out, please read the advice on these sites.