firebirdflys wrote: āWed Mar 10, 2021 11:12 pm
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loL, Corbin meet Korbin!
We have a pretty good reading list here.
viewforum.php?f=154
Some would consider the books of Crowley to be, umm...extreme.
Be gentle on yourself as these layers become revealed to you, take it slowly and digest as you go along.
BB, Firebird
Korbin meet Corbin.
Merry meet! Let me be the one to (semi-offically) welcome you to the wilder, weirder, wonderful world of witchcraft
While I often complain that most people who 'damn' Crowley haven't read Crowley, it takes a certain mindset and mature attitude to decipher Crowley - not just the things he 'occults' or veils but his attitudes and methods - the very anti-chrisian-deliberately-shock-them-out-of-complacency attitudes that are often alluding, beyond the apocalyptic window dressing to some pretty profound things. So I would only recommend mining Crowley when a personal practice in in place, as comparative reading.
If I could change the 'desktop theme' of Crowley I would, having no particular interest in the use of Christian apocrypha.
Crowleys work doesn't disturb me but I guess some of the people who are attracted to Crowley may do. Those that don't know what the - VAST - difference between concepts such as Lucifarianism, LaVay Satanism and Theistic Satanism are.
Some quote 'Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law' as an excuse for anything without knowing or wishing to know the rest of the quote.
Some finish it "Love is the law, love under will'. And some finally think 'hmm.. but what exactly is he saying'?
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Do you prefer modern or older authors? While I absolutely hate the title of the compilation 'The Witches Bible', having the other books it was developed from (the eight Sabbats of the witches and the witches way). Stewart and Janet Farrar is still being published.
If you prefer something lighter - Scott Cunningham is rarely out of print (and his book 'Wicca': a guide to the solitary practitioner) - the source of so much witchcraft/wicca terminology confusion imo.
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Frankly the greater majority of my early library grew from persuing certain authors in Oxfam Bookshops (charity bookshops) or second-hand bookshops which exposed me to a lot of older authors. It gave me a broad and long range perspective on the developments and 'borrowing' of more modern authors.
I consider all books to be wheat and chaff (some are just more chaff and wheat lol).
If it was authored by certain people I had enjoyed and found interest in I would keep my eyes open for their books while rummaging. When I was younger I used to simply devour books and move them on. The good ones I came back to, studiously underlined and spent time reflecting on.
(authors I would look out for specifically when rummaging - off the top of my head)
Prediction Range
'The Elements of' range
Gerald Gardner (Wicca)
Doreen Valiente (Wicca & Witchcraft)
Ross Nichols (Druidry)
Sibyl Leek (Witchcraft)
John Evan Jones (Witchcraft)
Michael Howard (Witchcraft)
John Matthews (Celtic based Practice)
Caitlin Matthews (Celtic based Practice)
Rae Beth (Witchcraft)
Emma Restall Orr (Druidry)
John O'Donohue (Celtic based Practice)
Miranda Green (Celtic based Practice)
R.J. Stewart (Way of Merlin)
Eliphas Levi (Occult)
Frazer (Occult)
Ellen Canon Reed (Witchcraft)
Vivian Crowley (Witchcraft)
Sutton Mann (Druidry)
Starhawk (Witchcraft)
Jennifer Hunter (quite enjoyed 21st century Wicca but never found another book).
Nancy B Watson (Practical Solitary Magic is great).
Fritz Perls (Gestalt Therapy Verbatim - dull title, awesome book)
Carl Jung (when I can get in his head space).
It becomes hard to recommend books when many are simply out of print (or like some sadly such as Sibyl Leeks vast catalogue, seemingly lost to time).
Using this method you will read far too many primers and 101 books.
The rest is a vast - and significantly unread number of PDFs (I will always prefer books) or wonderful online resources like
https://www.sacred-texts.com/
But never forget to put the books down. Let things ferment in the subconscious and look around you - wichcraft is founded on the observation of the natural world all around you - in the fields, the woods, the city streets and the interplay of people. Nature is simply everywhere and all its lessons are waiting to be discovered by the open enquiring mind.
Nature is a scripture whose pages never curl and age.
Be blessed.
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'... I have been accused of being a "black magician." No more foolish statement was ever made about me. I despise the thing to such an extent that I can hardly believe in the existence of people so debased and idiotic as to practice it...'
- Aleister Crowley