Question by Justine T: What is a good book for Wicca/ Pagan history?
I’ve recently become very interested in Wicca ad paganism. Before I start learning about how you become a Wicca, or how to do spells, rituals etc. I wanted to learn more about its history.
I was reading a young adult fiction book (the sweep series) about a girl who discovers a male Wicca and then he ends up kinda ‘converting’ her. She reads up a lot on Wicca history, and finds out information such as what a blood witch is.
I was wondering if there are an such books out there, besides ‘ a beginner’s book to Wicca’ and others with the same idea, that could help understand paganism from the very beggining.
Now I’ve also discovered that many say Wicca itself is very new, so I don’t know what that means when the girl in m books is studying it and they talk about century (if not millennium) old events. Perhaps that’s just more about paganism? And yes, I understand that the book I read was fiction, but the reviews said that the way it described Wicca was very truthful, so…
Best answer:
Answer by FireShade
The Triumph of the Moon by Ronald Hutton. A decent book to start with and it will give you an idea of how Wicca came about. He ties in different forms of paganism to show where Wicca got most of its ideas. As for paganism itself, your best bet is to study the culture of the people themselves. If you are interested in the Celts, then you would look into European history. Asatru (Heathenism/Odinism/etc) you would look into Norse and Germanic histories (which will eventually bring you into the rest of Europe as well, especially Scotland, Ireland, England and some other points on the mainland). Modern paganism tends to drift away from the history and move towards a modernized version of some of the ancient ways. Not always a bad thing, but sometimes we lose the meaning of it when we try to modernize it.
Wicca was started in the 1940’s by Gerald Gardner. He used information from many places, mostly the Celts, but with ritual ceremonies added in to the gaps from Order of the Dawn, OTO, etc… There are beginners books to Wicca, but you should be careful which one’s you dive into. Some are, well, they’re garbage. Here’s a website that reviews books on Wicca and some books on Paganism in general. She can be brutally honest, but it’s always for the best. =)
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As previously noted, Ronald Hutton’s “Triumph of the Moon” is the best book on Wicca’s history.
“The Triumph of the Moon” by Ronald Hutton is the best book on Neo-Pagan history out there.
I’d also advise you to read “Wicca for Beginners” by Thea Sabin in order to understand the theory behind real-life Wiccan practice.
The following website has an excellent book review section and many helpful articles: http://wicca.timerift.net
Stay FAR away from anything by Silver Ravenwolf, whose grasp of history and ethics is roughly equivalent to that of your average mushroom.
You know why Wiccan history doesn’t sound like what is presented in Sweep? Because Sweep is FICTION. Any review that says it describes Wicca truthfully has zero idea what Wicca is, or is lying.
The information given in that book does NOT represent us, nor does it represent historical paganism. It is an invention. Made up. Fiction.
There are no blood witches. There are no witch clans. Wicca and witchcraft are not the same thing. Wicca is not ancient. Modern witchcraft and historical witchcraft are not the same thing, and neither are distinctly “pagan.” Wicca is not about spells.
The best book on Wicca history is Triumph of the Moon by Ronald Hutton. However, it is dense reading and presumes you know something of Wicca. You probably want to read some more basic books on Wicca first, such as from Scott cunningham and Thea Sabin.
Reading books on Wicca will not teach you about paganism in general. If you want to learn about paganism, you need to decide which kind of paganism you are interested in. (“Paganism” is not a single school of thought)