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Witchcraft brings up images of pointy-hatted women stirring bubbling cauldrons while reading from a tome, but modern witches are far from being the monstrous mystics that pop culture depicts them to be. These witchcraft books have everything you need to know about starting a witchcraft practice minus the ominous symbols that look like they belong in the Lesser Key of Solomon.
The books on our list cover everything you need to know about the history of witchcraft, the spiritual aspects of witchcraft, how to use witchcraft in a way that’s emotionally enriching for you, and how witchcraft touches even the most mundane parts of life.
1. The Dabbler’s Guide to Witchcraft: Seeking an Intentional Magical Path by Fire Lyte
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Maybe you’re a little confused about how to get started on your witchy journey. While many witches perform the same rituals and share similar ideals, they also tend to vary a lot when it comes to finer points of their practice. Everyone seems to be a sect unto themselves and while that’s beautiful, it does make it hard for a beginner witch to figure out what is actually shared between most witches and what’s unique to an individual witch.
The Dabbler’s Guide to Witchcraft is a beginner’s guide to witching that starts by helping you deconstruct pop culture myths and ideas you might still have about witchcraft. It also provides a fascinating look at how witchcraft, and spirituality, still have a role to play in private life even in a highly modernized ‘scientific’ world. Of course, it’s not all history and sociology lessons as the book includes a guide for spellcasting, too.
2. Queering Your Craft: Witchcraft From the Margins by Cassandra Snow
Witchcraft isn’t a monolith and neither are witches! Queering Your Craft takes an empathetic approach to introducing witchcraft and its applications as a tool of self-empowerment for minorities. Snow also provides an overview of the grimoire, a witch’s book of spells and incantations.
If you’re a witch on a budget, this is also a fantastic book to get started with as Snow provides many substitutes for more expensive and/or rarer items that you might not be able to afford right away.
3. Witchcraft Therapy: Your Guide to Banishing Bullsh*t and Invoking Your Inner Power by Mandi Ema
Mystical practices have practical and therapeutic applications like how the tarot can be used as a self-care tool to help you reflect and meditate on life. Witchcraft Therapy talks about how you can use witchcraft to protect yourself emotionally and mentally. To be clear, the book does not claim that witchcraft is a substitute for therapy, but acknowledges that therapy can be expensive and inaccessible for people and sometimes, you need a quick bandage to get you back on your feet.
The book explains the benefits of grounding activities, meditation, and manifestation. While there are rituals in the book, a lot of what it talks about are actionable steps toward making your life a little better every day. As Mandi Em says, “Remember that f*ck off is a banishing spell.”
4. The Modern Witchcraft Book of Tarot: Your Complete Guide to Understanding the Tarot by Skye Alexander
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Modern Witchcraft Book of Tarot is a focused introduction on how to use tarot to gain insights into the cycles of your life. It’s super easy to digest even for first-time tarot readers since Skye Alexander breaks down the symbolism of the cards, tackling the Major Arcana and Minor Arcana separately, making it easier to see the connections between the cards.
The book isn’t all tarot, though. It approaches tarot from a decidedly Wiccan perspective so there are spells in there that you can use with your tarot cards.
5. The Modern Witchcraft Guide to Magickal Herbs: Your Complete Guide to the Hidden Powers of Herbs by Judy Ann Nock
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All this talk of witches and witchcraft and we still haven’t touched on herbs. That job is for The Modern Witchcraft Guide to Magickal Herbs, a book that’s all about potions and herbal magic. Before you get intimidated, don’t worry. You won’t have to crawl through the woods looking for eye of newt with this book — though you certainly can — since many of the herbs mentioned can be found in your grocery aisle. “Kitchen witch” isn’t an understatement.
The spells in this book are also super yummy. You get a long list of recipes for teas together with guides on making poultices and decoctions.
And before we forget about the eye of newt, the book also explains what all those scary-sounding witch herbs are and discusses their histories and symbolic meanings. It’s basically a baby kitchen witch’s guide to herbs, making it a great starting point for a beginner witch who likes cooking.
6. Witchcraft: The Library of Esoterica
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Modern Witchcraft and Wicca are respectable practices on their own, but the witch goes back further than new age practices. Witchcraft: The Library of Esoterica acknolwedges this by going over the long and ancient history of the craft. It follows the beginnings of witchcraft across cultures and eras, following these threads as they evolve and converge into the witchcraft we know today.
If you love the cover as much as I do, you’ll be pleased to know that the book has more illustrations inside it.
7. Hearth and Home Witchcraft: Rituals and Recipes to Nourish Home and Spirit
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Cooking is an alchemical process and Hearth and Home Witchcraft takes that idea seriously. This intimate book will not only have you learning about kitchen magic, it will also leave you with a feeling of having met the writer in person. Jennie Blonde speaks in a very personal and cozy tone that makes her feel less like a witchy mentor and more like a friendly neighbour sharing her stew recipe.
“When I need a moment of calm and reflection, I retreat to my sacred space for quiet meditation, pulling tarot cards, and journaling to nourish my soul.” Blonde says in her book, “…And throughout the day, every day, there are small rituals I perform to keep me connected to my practice. It’s all of those things together that are the heart of my craft.”
