eal Magic. Isaac Bonewits.
Latest edition: Samuel Weiser, 1989. ISBN: 0877286884
Certainly a must-read, whether you're a believer looking for a how-to or a skeptic checking out the opposition. Never a dull moment here. Bonewits has his opinions, isn't afraid to spout 'em, and will just have to be tolerated by those of us who get hit by the shrapnel. The amount of information here is worth the crossfire. Also has a bibliography you just have to take to your library and follow through the card catalogue. Remember card catalogues? Computer database. Whatever.
eltic Mythology. Proinsias MacCana.
Hamlyn, 1970. ISBN: 0600006476
Reads like a history class text-book, but with all the authority of a text-book. I do question the author's "obviouslies" and "clearlies" from time to time, but the information is pretty thorough so I can deal with it. Illustrated with photos of statues and vessels (the Gundestrup cauldron, natch).
he Spiral Dance, 10th Anniversary Edition. Starhawk.
HarperSanFrancisco, 1989. ISBN: 0062508148
This should be in every occultist's library, regardless of your individual path. If you are at all interested in the origins of a good 89.99 percent of today's Feminist Witchcraft, read Starhawk. The author, in my opinion, is one of the more powerful Witches we've got today, and if one can't go learn at her knee, read this book.
reaming the Dark: Magic, Sex and Politics. New Edition. Starhawk.
Beacon Press, 1988. ISBN: 0807010251
Take The Spiral Dance. Apply it to today's politics. Add several inspiring examples of how "the art of changing of consciousness at will" can change today's world for the better... Out of the publication cauldron comes Dreaming The Dark, a book that takes magic out of esoterica and into Real, Serious Life. There's more power at your fingertips than you might have guessed.
ambalaya: The Natural Woman's Book of Personal Charms and Practical Rituals. Luisah Teish.
Harper, 1998. ISBN: 0062508598
I bought this one during a visit home to New Orleans. Teish writes from having grown up there, surrounded by friends and family who made frequent use of voodoo and charms without ever quite naming what they did. Her work is wonderful from spiritual, racial, and local points of view, and I would recommend it for any of those reasons. I do, however, draw the line at some of her spell recipes.