I'm looking for a decent book on the history of Witchcraft or Paganism. I do not want websites as I find them to be highly inaccurate in their information these days.
The problem is that there isn't one "Paganism" and therefore there isn't a book that discusses its history. You'd have to find books on each of literally thousands of ancient Pagan faiths. The same basically holds true for Traditional Witchcraft as well as most Witches kept their practices very private.
If you'd like to read about Paganism in the British Isles. I would suggest the following books:
" Pagan Religions of the Ancient British Isles " by Ronald Hutton
" Pagan Britai n " by Ronald Hutton
" Stations of the Sun " by Ronald Hutton
"Pagan Europe " by Nigel Pennick
" The Pagan Celts " by Anne Ross
" Dying for the Gods " by Miranda Green
For a history of the Druids try:
" Blood and Mistletoe " by Ronald Hutton
" The Druids" by Peter Berresford Ellis
And for a history of Wicca try reading:
" Triumph of the Moon " by Ronald Hutton
" Witchfather - A Life of Gerald Gardner " by Philip Heselton
" Wiccan Roots " by Philip Heselton
"Gerald Gardner and the Cauldron of Inspiration " by Philip Heselton
A book by Scott Cunningham was mentioned. While Scott is a great place to learn how to practice Wicca it is not at all a good place to learn about the history of Wicca and it says nothing about Traditional Witchcraft or historical Paganism.
Thanks Lark! I know that there are many different faiths among the ancient Pagans as each area had a different religion, many based on the local lore, nature spirits and etc. Guess I could say that I'm looking for the more historical side for what is just dubbed as "Wicca" and "Paganism" today, even though that covers multiple paths like Astru, hellenism, etc.
I've been seeing a million newer traditions for Yule that people claim to have ancient roots...like Odin being Santa at Yule or the "12 days of Yule" coming from Norse traditions. All things that weren't common traditions that I heard of 10+ years ago. So it has made me go on a history search, however, the internet is just filled with bad info.
