By popular request!
After the usefulness of The Goddess Resources; this is the witchy version! Witch-lore like Goddess-lore is vast. And as I have often said about yoga philosophy; the more I learn, the more I realise how much more there is to learn! but fear not - there are no tests, no exams, just see what inspires you!
History
If you are diving into this with no prior knowledge of witches and witchcraft my only real advice is this - stories of witches are full of fear and bias, especially stories from previous centuries. So head in with an open mind.
Magic and use of magic are as old as humankind is, and the people that connect to magic have had a huge number of roles in society from high priestesses to the lowly archetype of the wicked witch, to innocent women tortured and locked in a prison.
The Books that fuelled the Burning Times - these books are basically, completely made up of lies, fears and sexism. But an important part of the history nonetheless
Daemonologie by King James I, 1597 This is not easy reading, but along with the Fortalitium fidei, Formicarius, 1475 and the Malleus Maleficarum, 1486; This is where fear and hatred of magic began. Such text caused pain, cruelty and injustice towards women and witches for centuries and supports the extermination of a group of people; mainly female. It’s horrifying but important.
Ideas from Women
Witch Stories by Elizabeth Lynn (under pen name E. Lynn Linton) 1861
The Witch-Cult in Western Europe, by Margaret Alice Murray, 1921. Largely discredited by academics, but she was one of the first to really listen and see value in the words/testimonies of the accused witches. And laid the foundations for the Wheel of the Year as followed by Wiccans.
Listening…
Events like these are amazing for listening to the interpretations and ideas of modern day witches and what their path means to them (I happen to be involved in this one too!)
Healing the Witch Wound - FREE Online Summit 6-day immersive event created for these times; especially to support and nourish you on your journey. With 19 Speakers Presenting from 29 November - 4 December, 2020
Youtube Witches - These guys are some of the best
Thorn Mooney - Wiccan, Author and often does great videos reviewing witchcraft books
Esoterica Channel - Witches and Witch Hunting
Benebell Wen - I love Benebell! She writes books about and creates tarot decks. Here videos and tutorials are academic and in-depth - Witchcraft Fundamentals
Reading list of Recent Witchy Books
I, as you might imagine have a LOT of witchy books and I’m always buying new ones! This is a varied list of fiction and non-fiction books I have really enjoyed the last few years that I thought I would share. (Oh and mine of course!)