Practical Training Manuals or "Wicca 101"

I only recommend four beginners books as essential for anyone's shelf. That doesn't mean that there are no other good books in print. But I feel these particular books not only compliment each other well, but fill in the gaps of one another, making as complete a "Wicca 101" training manual as is possible. The first book is fabulous, and the second, third and fourth are wonderfully chocked full of kernels of wisdom. By all means, read any and all books that interest you. But if your shelf does not contain these four, get them and use them ASAP!

A Witch Alone by Marian Greene

This book is the difinitive "Wicca 101" book out there. It allows you to think for yourself, develop your intuition and get more than a good grounding in the basics of Wicca. I happen to know of three High Priestesses who went through this book one rainy day and decided that if someone did all the lessons in A Witch Alone they would have all the knowledge they would need to gain a First degree initiation in a coven. Some have labeled this an advanced book but my training in the first year I studied equalled what is in this book and I would require no less of anyone I trained. Each chapter gives you options on how to proceed with the lesson for that month and has a reading list at the end. Even if you are training with a coven or have classes you are taking, this will only enhance what you are being taught. A must for any Witch.

Available from Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble and Borders.com.

Power of the Witch by Laurie Cabot with Tom Cowan

What a find! This book is done in a narrative style, and Lady Laurie Cabot really draws the reader in. Full of great information for the beginner, it also shows the heart of a true witch. It contains a chapter on how magic and science relate, giving you further suggestions for reading on the subject. The creativity and simplicity of the spells and meditations in Power are beautiful and each one is a treasure. I refer to this book often. I have "loved" the cover right off! No bookshelf should be without it.

Available from Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble and Borders.com.

Wicca: A Guide For The Solitary Practitioner by Scott Cunningham

The late Scott Cunningham never wrote a bad book. I would recommend anything he writes. Wicca was a controversial book because it didn't propound any particular tradition and didn't recommend things that are typically done in Wiccan coven worship systems. This is a great treatment of what to do and how to begin if you are dedicated to a solitary path. Although it can be a bit dry in style, it has a lot of info for the user, and is also a good book to hand someone who wants to know what this new thing you are doing is anyway. Very concise, it adapts coven Wicca for the solitary and yet tells you to throw away anything you don't want or doesn't work for you.

Available from Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble and Borders.com.

Living Wicca: A Further Guide For The Solitary Practitioner by Scott Cunningham

This book is wonderful because it is the only book that focuses solely on a journeyman or intermediate level. Full of practical advice on how to build a tradition, it keeps the "toss what you don't want" attitude of the first book, while explaining how coven's work at the same time. Very valuable tool.

Available from Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble and Borders.com.

Links To Get You Started

Besides the search engines, which have a lot of pages, here are a few great places to start.

  • Covenant of the Goddess a national church of Wiccans.
  • Witchware. This site is not just a store, it has a several discussion boards with every category you can think of. There is also a section on Pagan Networking which allows you to find like-minded people by geographical regions around the world, not just the U.S. There's a huge links page where anyone can add their page address. Their Magical Musings area is a long list of archived articles for the beginner. Lovely e-cards, too.
  • The Encyclopedia Mythica is a great online repository of things mythic and legendary. Really fun. You can even submit your own article if you don't like the one that is there now.
  • Esoterica, an online scholarly journal dedicated to Western esoteric studies of all kinds with some fascinating articles. A great place for those who are more advanced to do some research.
  • JBL Statues, an online catalogue of Goddess and God images. Each culture is given a section and every page with a statue has information on that Goddess or God.
  • Webrings are a wonderful place to just surf. This is a link to the main page of WebRing.org. If you feel like surfing to see what it out there take a look under the religion section. You'll find quite a few. Happy Hunting!

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