Welcome to another installment in my lovely giant series of book recommendations, organized by topic. Here, I’ll be sharing my favorite books that focus on magical materials and their uses.
These are books about herbs, minerals, gemstones, and techniques for using them. They’re in no particular order below, and run the gamut from beginner and basic to quite advanced works on alchemy. Enjoy.
The Modern Witchcraft Book of Natural Magick, by Judy Ann Nock. Excellent for the absolute beginner, this book is a plain and straightforward look at the use of natural materials in the burgeoning witch’s Craft.
The Real Witches’ Kitchen, by Kate West. Though geared primarily towards Wiccans, this book provides a lot of information on integrating magical practices with kitchen activities - things to make, try, and enchant.
The Real Witches’ Garden, by Kate West. A companion book to the above, this one is focused specifically on growing your own magical materials and bringing enchantment into the processes of nature in your own yard.
Garden Witchery, by Ellen Dugan. This cute little volume is full of lore and ideas for creating your own magical garden. It offers a bit of the basics, but would be best read in tandem with a more detailed book on gardening. Think of it as providing the magical half of the equation.
The Green Witch, by Arin Murphy-Hiscock. A less Wiccan-centric look at the use of plants and other living, natural materials in day-to-day Craft. Excellent for the beginner, even those who’ve absolutely no experience.
The Herbal Alchemist’s Handbook, by Karen Harrison. I cannot praise this book enough for its concise and well-formulated approach to astrology, herbs, and magick as a whole.
The Weiser Concise Guide to Herbal Magick, by Judith Hawkins-Tillirson. This is excellent for anyone who’s interested in any kind of magick. Yes, the focus is generally herbs, but there’s a lot to be learned here about Kabbalah and other correspondence systems, as well.
Mixing Essential Oils for Magic, by Sandra Kynes. Fills a very difficult gap in published knowledge regarding the use of essential oils by discussing, in great detail, how scents interact with each other and how to create a formula that’s not only palatable, but evocative.
Dunwich’s Guide to Gemstone Sorcery, by Gerina Dunwich. Given the New Age fascination with all things shiny, it was quite a chore to sort through the myriad crystal books to find something with good information. While far from perfect and not exactly devoid of fluff, this book does give a level of detail about the lore surrounding gemstones not seen in many other texts.
Real Alchemy, by Robert Allen Bartlett. Excellent book, lots of history and detail. There’s a strong focus on tradition within the text, yet the author is quite accommodating of his audience and describes alternate methods that work better in a modern context.
Spagyrics, by Manfred M. Junius. With a highly-developed academic tone and attention to detail, this book is a meaty look at traditional alchemy. I recommend this more for intermediate practitioners due to the sheer density of information.
Be sure to check out the rest of my book recommendation series on my blog, under the tag #annobib.
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