Having a wild time reading some antique reference books, mostly to research occult history. Currently reading "The Golden Bough" by Sir James George Frazer. Early anthropology and occult sciences are a Whole Thing 👀
I'm mostly interested in how occultism and theosophy have influenced modern western society (the Jack Parsons connection, the Hellfire Caves in the UK, etc), and looking at contemporary sources that are still available.
I already have Miss Murry's "The Witch cult in western Europe" on my list, but i am looking for more. Do you have any book recommendations for western occult history?
Love your blog, thank you for all the resources you share!
For perspectives on occultism from a similar time period and angle, I'd recommend Michelet's La Sorcière, Waite's Book of Ceremonial Magic, and Summers' History of Witchcraft and Demonology. But I recommend them ONLY as texts on contemporary occult beliefs for their time.
A very strong word of caution (although you may already be aware) - do not take anything these books say about witchcraft or witches at face value, especially from Margaret Murray. Late 19th and early 20th century occult beliefs leaned heavily into the thoroughly-debunked witch-cult hypothesis and as I'm sure you've seen in Frazer, there's....there's a LOT of really gross racism and xenophobia to wade through. It doesn't really get much better in the books I mentioned and for the sake of all things decent, don't get into Crowley.
These early occult views have certainly had an impact on western thought and media concerning witches and witchcraft, as well as the modern witchcraft movement itself, but they've also contributed to a lot of science denial and bigotry. Theosophy in particular has had some widespread negative impacts.
From a cultural history standpoint, it's interesting. But that's all it is - history. It's definitely important to know where we've been to see where we are (and what beliefs we've left behind).
For a more modern perspective, and a history of the modern witchcraft movement through the end of the 20th century, I recommend Adler's Drawing Down The Moon and Hutton's Triumph of the Moon as a matched set.
If you'd like some resources in podcast form, I suggest checking out my two masterlists of podcast recs - Witches and Witchcraft in History and Debunking and Fact-checking for Witches & Witchcraft Spaces. Both lists have shows and episodes pertaining to spiritualism, occultism, and the history of beliefs surrounding witches and witchcraft.
Good luck!
