Books

Here are a variety of books on various earth-based spiritual traditions.

Wicca: A Guide for the Solitary Practitioner by Scott Cunningham

Particularly valuable for those who do not have a Wiccan community in their area to turn to, this book provides solid information on Wiccan spiritual traditions. It assumes nothing, but explains everything from the basics of altar tools and holy days (Sabbats) in simple and commonsensical terms.

Wicca for Beginners by Thea Sabin

Another good basic introductory book on the practice of Wicca or Witchcraft. The author assumes nothing and seeks to give the reader a solid foundation in the basic Wiccan tradition, but also admonishes the reader not to rely on this work alone for information -- a very important caveat given the thoroughness with which the subject is covered.

The Spiral Dance by Starhawk

The classic Wiccan narrative of its own history, tracing the worship of the Goddess from Paleolithic origins through periods of often brutal suppression to its rebirth in the nineteenth and twentieth century. Although criticized by some historians, particularly for the assertion that most of the victims of the early-modern witch hunt frenzies were indeed Goddess worshippers being persecuted for beliefs misrepresented as Satanic, it remains an important touchstone for Wiccan beliefs.

Drawing Down the Moon: Witches, Druids, Goddess-Worshippers and Other Pagans in America by Margot Adler

Although written by an outsider, this book remains one of the best overviews of the development of all the earth-based traditions in America. Most importantly, she draws the connection between the survival of polytheistic traditions in Hinduism, Japanese Shinto and Native American tribal traditions and the recovery of European pre-Christian tradition by Euro-Americans who found monotheistic organized religion to be stifling their spirituality instead of fostering it. All of them represent a tradition in which the divine was not a stern, remote sky-king Creator and Lawgiver, but a many-faced force that suffused all of nature and was available to all.

Last updated March 5, 2010