93 books like Lady of the Sea

As he was a friend and mentor to me, I got to see this work evolve from the seed idea to the final form just as our beloved Raven passed from this world. As his last book, What We Knew in the Night takes lore and tradition not readily available today, drawn from Raven’s living experience as a Witch and occultist in the lively and secretive California communities. He would speak about the traditional ways lore was passed at the time, mouth to ear, and this work is the manifestation of his deep desire to see those important teachings brought together and passed to a new generation as the world changes. 

Rosaleen Norton is hands down one of the most inspiring Witches of the 20th Century, and thankfully better known today with recent media attention. While her evocative art and her challenging life story certainly provide ample magickal and personal inspiration for us as Witches today, this is the only book that really details some of her magickal ideas and experiences, deeply advanced and philosophical, for us to explore on our own. It’s a little-known book, but there is truly nothing quite like it out there. It’s a fragmented biography and collection of papers, not a book intended for publication, which makes it all the more special. A grim memoire grimoire indeed…. 

This was probably one of the first books to specifically connect Witchcraft and Shamanism in a practical way for me. Witchcraft Today Book Three edited by Chas S. Clifton opened the door, but Johnson told you how to deftly step through it. Previously called The North Star Road, he linked stellar knowledge of European Paganism with its spirit worker roots and gave you very practical and meaningful ways to commune with the powers and understand more deeply the Witch’s sabbat, the wild hunt and the journey of life after death. Huge influence on my work. 

B. Stewart Myers, who also wrote extensively under the name Ócháni Lele, was another first for me in terms of uniting Witchcraft and Hermetic Qabalah in a meaningful and practical way encouraging deep experience and personal revelation. I’d soon be led to the classics of The Witches Qabala by Ellen Cannon Reed and Modern Magick by Donald Michael Kraig, but this was the one that got me out of the armchair and doing things with the Tree of Life as a Witch. I had the opportunity to meet him in 2013 and had a delightful time, not realizing until much later in the dinner that Ócháni was also Stewart Myers. 

This is the book that taught most of my generation of witches their first steps to becoming a witch. "Among those who understand the darkness which is no darkness to them anymore, are those that tread the way of witchcraft. They of their own accord have walked beyond the ring of firelight and learned the paths of the wilderness beyond." Which was heady stuff for those who wanted to learn about ‘real’ witchcraft of the time; the book having been described as one of the main motivators of the so-called ‘occult explosion’ of the 1970s and still in print today.

The simplicity of this book is breathtaking—there’s just one central idea: life should feel easy.

And yet we all instinctively answer, “No, it’s not. It never will be.” And that’s Hamrick’s genius: she asks you to live, for a moment, in a world that lacks any resistance to your dreams or goals. A world where life fully and effectively supports you.

And then she unravels all your own resistance to this idea. 

When I first started publishing my writing, my editor told me my writing reminded her of Frank Peretti.

Then readers started saying the same thing. I had no idea who Frank Peretti was, so imagine my surprise when I read This Present Darkness and saw that Peretti had brought the concept of spiritual warfare to life in a book with several plots that weave together seamlessly.

Often referred to as “the Stephen King of Christian fiction,” Peretti is a genius with the written word. His novels have a way of immersing you into the story from the first line, and by the time they let you escape back to reality, you’re a different person. At least I am.

With so many Christian stories getting a rightfully earned reputation for being cheesy, it’s refreshing for a true storyteller to give us truth.  

I recommend this book because this spiritual text helped me—more than any other—to see and choose from love instead of fear in my own life. When I left my prestigious law job, I had a storm of fears weaken my creative dreams. This book helped me to find and trust my own inner authority. It also helped me to feel more secure in life, no matter what was going on. At first, I found the language off-putting because it “sounded” religious at times. But this path is not about any religion, other than the love and infinite power in all of us. There are gazillions of spiritual books on the market, but this one is a powerhouse, a classic, and a gamechanger.    

Be Here Now transcends the typical book format with its unique blend of illustrations and diagrams, creating an immersive experience.

It inspired me to practice a life-changing exercise: sitting, conjuring the feeling of being enough, without striving for more. This practice, sparked by the book's wisdom, led to a profound shift in how I perceive the world. While watering a garden, I experienced a moment of heightened awareness, where everything felt more electric and alive.

This transformative journey even inspired my TEDx talk 'Using the Present to Create the Future.' I highly recommend this book to anyone on a path of mindfulness and self-discovery.

"Don't take yourself so personally" says Ram Dass. His humor, his insights, his ability to capture great lessons and truths in one line. This book made me think and laugh at the same time = quite a feat! I so appreciate his fun look at life with his deep sense of spiritual understanding. Fantastic read.