{"id":7973,"date":"2017-02-08T12:39:47","date_gmt":"2017-02-08T19:39:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/panmankey\/?p=7973"},"modified":"2017-02-09T13:37:59","modified_gmt":"2017-02-09T20:37:59","slug":"5-non-witchcraft-books-witches","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/panmankey\/2017\/02\/5-non-witchcraft-books-witches\/","title":{"rendered":"5 Non-Witchcraft Books for Witches"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Apparently these lists of \u201c5 Non Books\u201d are a thing, and since I was asked to play along I thought I would. Since I don\u2019t see all of these books I\u2019m going to list as essential parts of a Pagan path, I kept this list specific to Witches. Thanks to Gwion for starting the trend<\/a> and to John for continuing it<\/a>, and to Tempest who we just know<\/a> is going to do one of these lists herself! <\/p>\n

To be honest, coming up with a list of five \u201cnon-whatever\u201d books was tough for me. I fell in love with the gods of Greece back in elementary school, and that love of the fantastical and wondrous stayed with me as I read C.S. Lewis, Lloyd Alexander, and later Raymond Feist. I love high-Fantasy but I don\u2019t think it\u2019s essential Witch reading. Similarly, almost all of the magical books I\u2019ve read came after my conversion so to speak. <\/p>\n

Part of \"The Bookworm\" by Carl Spitzweg. <\/a>
Part of \u201cThe Bookworm\u201d by Carl Spitzweg.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

HAMMER OF THE GODS: THE LED ZEPPELIN STORY by Stephen Davis and NO ONE HERE GETS OUT ALIVE by Jerry Hopkins and Danny Sugarman<\/strong><\/p>\n

Led Zeppelin and The Doors are not essential Witch reading for most people, and if you find yourself scratching your head because of these selections you certainly aren\u2019t alone. However, both books introduced new worlds and ways of thinking to me before I was in the Craft. While both Hammer and Alive aren\u2019t really the best books on their respective subjects, they are the best myth-making books on Led Zeppelin and the Doors. Ever wondered how to become larger than life? Davis and Hopkins have it covered. <\/p>\n

Let\u2019s start with Hammer of the Gods<\/em>. Hammer<\/em> didn\u2019t introduce me to Aleister Crowley, but it did make me interested in Crowley, and this book and the music of Zeppelin are partly why I\u2019m here today. Secondly, Hammer<\/em> places Robert\u2019s Plant Celtic and counter-culture lyrical noodlings and builds a 1970\u2019s world around them. Though this book doesn\u2019t have Witchcraft in it, it made me ready for Witchcraft. The 1970\u2019s world of Zeppelin has a lot of overlap with the occult streams that would influence Witchcraft and Paganism down the road. <\/p>\n

One of the things that makes for an effective ritualist in my humble opinion, is a sense of presence, and nobody had more presence than Jim Morrison (well, with the possible exception of David Bowie). Rock stars know how to command a space, something every Witch should know too! Diving into the mind of a rockstar is a way to help capture that attitude and swagger. Do you need to read about Jimmy Page and Jim Morrison in order to accomplish that? Of course not, lots of other rock-gods and just plain normal people have \u201cit\u201d too, but I think they are a good place to start. I\u2019ve also always felt as if Jim Morrison was channeling (or drawing down) Dionysus during a lot of his stage performances, so if you are interested in such interactions on deity reading about Jim certainly doesn\u2019t hurt. <\/p>\n

CREATIVE VISUALIZATION by Shakti Gawain<\/strong> <\/p>\n

The most important magickal skill for the developing Witch is creative visualization<\/em>. If one can\u2019t see what they want, they\u2019ll never be able to make that thing manifest in their daily life. Gawain\u2019s book is all about how to paint that mental picture in your mind and then channel it into something powerful. <\/p>\n

Creative visualization is about more than getting what you want; it calms, centers, and focuses when you are running out of patience. Simply visualizing a something and sending that out into the universe is the basic building of all magical practice. In circle I use creative visualization from start to finish, visualizing the power of my athame, the presence of the quarters, and using it to focus myself when we open our rites or are grounding. I\u2019d probably recommend this book before a Witchcraft book if I\u2019m being totally honest.<\/p>\n

\"Presentation1BooksList\"<\/a> <\/p>\n

EARLY MORMONISM<\/a> & THE MAGICAL WORLD VIEW by D. Michael Quinn<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ignore the first half of this book\u2019s title and focus on that last part: magical world view<\/em>. What makes this book so important is just how completely Quinn captures the magical world of early America. Despite what we are taught in our schools, people were practicing all sorts of magic in the 19th Century, and reading lots of magical books too! And the early Mormons<\/a> and their founder Joseph Smith were especially interested in those things, and practiced them.<\/p>\n

But it\u2019s not just the magical stuff that\u2019s interesting, there\u2019s the influence of fraternal orders like the Freemasons. Witches aren\u2019t the only ones to mine the work of the Masons for their rites, the Mormons did it too (though I think we\u2019ve done it better). Quinn sorts through all sorts of books and newspapers clippings to paint a complete picture of a truly occult America. Love it. <\/p>\n

If Quinn is a little intimidating, there are other options here. Michael Horowitz\u2019s Occult America: White House Seances, Ouija Circles, Masons, and the Secret Mystic History of Our Nation<\/strong> is a fun \u201cdip your toe in the water\u201d sort of book about America\u2019s occult past. Unless you are an academic, I think it\u2019s worth reading too. <\/p>\n

THE WIND IN THE WILLOWS by Kenneth Grahame<\/strong> <\/p>\n

Is including The Wind in the Willows<\/em> here cheating? I\u2019ve written extensively about it in the past<\/a>, but with several hundred articles already on this blog, it should\u2019t be a real surprise that some of the things in an article like this have popped up here before. <\/p>\n

For the last twelve years I\u2019ve been facilitating workshops on the worship of Pan in Ancient Greece and his re-emergence in the Modern World. I\u2019ve typically finished my lectures on Pan with a bit from the seventh chapter of Willows<\/em> entitled The Piper at the Gates of Dawn<\/em>, and to this day it still gets to me. I know that the Pan of Arcadian Greece still plays his pan-pipes, but Grahame\u2019s modern understanding of Pan most directly illustrates the god who stole my heart. It\u2019s Pan at his very best. He\u2019s powerful, vulnerable, and his tune is the very song of Nature. There are things like it in English literature, but nothing as beautiful, and it can all be found in a beloved \u201cchildren\u2019s book.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Presentation2Books\"<\/a><\/p>\n

As a Horned God worshipping Witch, Grahame\u2019s Pan is my favorite modern interpretation of the god. Throughout Piper<\/em>, the reader can nearly hear the heartbeat of the Horned One as the book\u2019s protagonist\u2019s slowly walk into his presence. It\u2019s like poetry, and it never gets old. <\/p>\n

If you\u2019ve already read Willows and want something else that\u2019s also pretty Pan like, look no further than Tom Robbins\u2019 Jitterbug Perfume<\/strong>. I don\u2019t like how the story ends, but the journey is worth taking. Coincidently one of the passages from Perfume<\/em> is what I open up my Horned God lectures with! <\/p>\n

THE BOTANY OF DESIRE by Michael Pollan<\/strong><\/p>\n

As a Witch I have a strong connection with the natural world, but it\u2019s one that\u2019s often tested. It\u2019s easy to forget about the magick that can be found in our own backyards or a nearby park. What I love so much about The Botany of Desire, is that Pollan expertly and completely captures the wonder of the natural world. Pollan\u2019s book is set up around the interactions between humans and four specific plants (apples, tulips, marijuana, and potatoes). Three of those (don\u2019t forget potato vodka) are capable of transforming the mind through chemical processes, and one of them transforms the mind through its sheer beauty. <\/p>\n

Before reading Botany I\u2019d sort of let my gardening and my curiosity of the plant kingdom lapse, but Pollan reinvigorated it. I\u2019m probably never going to have a grove of apple trees, but I can explore the hundreds of varieties of apple beyond the Red Delicious (which is red, but not delicious). I\u2019ve never been much into marijuana, but intoxicants are a part of Witchcraft for many (though certainly not all). Even better this book is intensely readable and contains a fascinating tidbit or fact on almost every page. <\/p>\n

If you find yourself fascinated by apples after reading Botany (and you will), pick up Apples of Uncommon Character<\/strong> by Rowan Jacobsen. Jacobsen shares the history of more than 100 apples in his book, with gorgeous full color photographs of every apple covered. I keep a list with me when I travel in the fall with the hope that I might try all of the apples listed in this book. <\/p>\n

(And yeah, I can count, I know that I\u2019ve actually listed nine books here, but it\u2019s hard to pick these things!)<\/em><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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