90 books like Moon Spells for Beginners

By Michael Herkes,

Here are 90 books that Moon Spells for Beginners fans have personally recommended if you like Moon Spells for Beginners. Shepherd is a community of 12,000+ authors and super readers sharing their favorite books with the world.

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Book cover of Waking the Witch: Reflections on Women, Magic, and Power

Astrea Taylor Author Of Intuitive Witchcraft: How to Use Intuition to Elevate Your Craft

From my list on general witchcraft for beginner from an eclectic witch.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’m an eclectic witch, and one of my life goals is to empower other witches, especially those who are sensitive to energy. Being a beginner witch isn’t always easy. When I was new, I didn’t have many books — I mostly just relied upon my intuition and awareness of energy. When I finally had the chance to read magical books, I found that many of them had inaccurate information, problematic practices, or questionable spells. However, I also discovered there are just as many wonderful, well-researched books out there. You just have to know which ones are which. I hope this list helps you set a baseline for your future library. 

Astrea's book list on general witchcraft for beginner from an eclectic witch

Astrea Taylor Why did Astrea love this book?

One of my favorite things in the world is inspiration, and this book has loads of it. It contains an insightful retrospective of witchcraft, including how it showed up in popular culture. What I love most about this book is that it sets the stage for new witches and invites them to the party. 

By Pam Grossman,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Waking the Witch as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

From the podcast host of The Witch Wave and practicing witch Pam Grossman-who Vulture has dubbed the "Terry Gross of witches"-comes an exploration of the world's fascination with witches, why they have intrigued us for centuries and why they're more relevant now than ever.

When you think of a witch, what do you picture? Pointy black hat, maybe a broomstick. But witches in various guises have been with us for millennia. In Waking the Witch, Pam Grossman explores the impact of the world's most magical icon. From the idea of the femme fatale in league with the devil to the…


Book cover of Light Magic for Dark Times: More Than 100 Spells, Rituals, and Practices for Coping in a Crisis

Astrea Taylor Author Of Intuitive Witchcraft: How to Use Intuition to Elevate Your Craft

From my list on general witchcraft for beginner from an eclectic witch.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’m an eclectic witch, and one of my life goals is to empower other witches, especially those who are sensitive to energy. Being a beginner witch isn’t always easy. When I was new, I didn’t have many books — I mostly just relied upon my intuition and awareness of energy. When I finally had the chance to read magical books, I found that many of them had inaccurate information, problematic practices, or questionable spells. However, I also discovered there are just as many wonderful, well-researched books out there. You just have to know which ones are which. I hope this list helps you set a baseline for your future library. 

Astrea's book list on general witchcraft for beginner from an eclectic witch

Astrea Taylor Why did Astrea love this book?

Hard times can be especially rough for new witches—they can make question their magic and even their self-worth. This is the perfect book for those moments. Reading it is like getting a hug from a close friend when you need it the most. It has so many practices for healing and renewal in the modern age.

A whole chapter is dedicated to shadow work. The magic in this book may appear to be simple, but it’s transformative and very effective. It’s a must-have, in my opinion.

By Lisa Marie Basile,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Light Magic for Dark Times as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

When the world around you turns dark, tap into the light. If you're having a hard time finding that light, facing trauma and division, or want to send healing vibes to a friend, the inspired, easy-to-do spells of Light Magic for Dark Times can assist.

Luna Luna magazine's Lisa Marie Basile shares inspired spells, rituals, and practices, including: A new moon ritual for attracting a lover A spell to banish recurring nightmares A graveyard meditation for engaging with death A mermaid ritual for going with the flow A zodiac practice for tapping into celestial mojo A rose-quartz elixir for finding…


Book cover of Witch's Wheel of the Year: Rituals for Circles, Solitaries & Covens

Astrea Taylor Author Of Intuitive Witchcraft: How to Use Intuition to Elevate Your Craft

From my list on general witchcraft for beginner from an eclectic witch.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’m an eclectic witch, and one of my life goals is to empower other witches, especially those who are sensitive to energy. Being a beginner witch isn’t always easy. When I was new, I didn’t have many books — I mostly just relied upon my intuition and awareness of energy. When I finally had the chance to read magical books, I found that many of them had inaccurate information, problematic practices, or questionable spells. However, I also discovered there are just as many wonderful, well-researched books out there. You just have to know which ones are which. I hope this list helps you set a baseline for your future library. 

Astrea's book list on general witchcraft for beginner from an eclectic witch

Astrea Taylor Why did Astrea love this book?

There’s a lot of bad information about the eight solar holidays of the year. This book is the only one I recommend for the sabbats, as it has footnotes galore and a hefty bibliography. You may have heard of these holidays. They go by a lot of different names, including Yule, Beltane, Midsummer, and so forth. They were celebrated by several ancient cultures as agricultural markers of the year.

These days, the holidays give witches a reason to connect with the earth’s cycles and honor the progress they’ve made. Another thing to love about this book is that it has rituals for the solitary practitioner, a small group, or a large bunch of people. 

By Jason Mankey,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Witch's Wheel of the Year as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Make your sabbat celebrations more meaningful and enjoyable with this exceptional book full of unique rituals designed to perfectly fit your needs, whether you re a solitary practitioner or part of a group. Jason Mankey provides three all-new rituals for every sabbat one for solitaries, one for covens, and one for large gatherings. Each ritual is flexible enough for you to pick and choose the components that best suit your intentions. Explore the history and traditions of all eight sabbats and discover why and how rituals became such an important part of Witchcraft. Learn the ins and outs of ritual…


Book cover of The Witch's Heart: The Magick of Perfect Love & Perfect Trust

Astrea Taylor Author Of Intuitive Witchcraft: How to Use Intuition to Elevate Your Craft

From my list on general witchcraft for beginner from an eclectic witch.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’m an eclectic witch, and one of my life goals is to empower other witches, especially those who are sensitive to energy. Being a beginner witch isn’t always easy. When I was new, I didn’t have many books — I mostly just relied upon my intuition and awareness of energy. When I finally had the chance to read magical books, I found that many of them had inaccurate information, problematic practices, or questionable spells. However, I also discovered there are just as many wonderful, well-researched books out there. You just have to know which ones are which. I hope this list helps you set a baseline for your future library. 

Astrea's book list on general witchcraft for beginner from an eclectic witch

Astrea Taylor Why did Astrea love this book?

If I had a dollar for every time a witch asked me for a love spell, I’d never have to work again. All jokes aside, love is utterly magical, and magic is often used in finding love. I adore this book because it’s so thorough. Before any spells or rituals are revealed, it focuses on self-love and healing the past. These are fundamental practices that a lot of other love spell books skip.

It also has information about how you can write magical intentions to attract the right person ethically. Of course, there are also tons of effective spells and rituals. There’s also a Damiana cordial recipe that’s absolutely phenomenal. 

By Christopher Penczak,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Witch's Heart as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

This book of love magick from best-selling Llewellyn author Christopher Penczak offers a wealth of magickal workings and wisdom for creating a balanced, happy love life. Written for Witches, Pagans, and other magickal people, this guide tells you how to build self-love and self-esteem, then how to use that energy to find a partner or rekindle passion in your current relationship. It offers instruction on making love spells, potions, and talismans, and features a materia magica of flowers, herbs, stones, and metals to empower them. "The Witch's Heart" also explores divine inner alchemy, love deities, lust, handfastings, the ethics of…


Book cover of Moon Magic: Your Complete Guide to Harnessing the Mystical Energy of the Moon

Heather Dakota Author Of Mama Bear Says Pocket Wisdom

From my list on for witches reconnecting with mother earth.

Why am I passionate about this?

As a practicing Hedge Witch, I’m fascinated by the marriage of science and the mystical. Now, I’m alchemizing confidence, coherence, and clarity for soulful writers to pursue the books of their dreams. I am the author, illustrator, and designer of Mama Bear Says™ and the Book Witch of planners and journals for your sacred words. I live at the edge of the wild woods and love to graze on wild berries, sit by a cozy hearth, and watch the magic of the animals who meander through these lands. The magic of the natural world and the healing power of Mother Earth sits as a priority in my life. These are the books on my magickal bookshelf.

Heather's book list on for witches reconnecting with mother earth

Heather Dakota Why did Heather love this book?

Our ancestors were deeply connected to the rhythms of the Earth and Heavens to inform and predict their lives. We’ve all but forgotten these connections. Moon Magic helps us return to this ancient wisdom and understand the powerful energy of the Universe to help manifest our goals, find emotional balance, and maintain physical wellness. You are in control of this one enchanted life, so navigate by the moon for health and prosperity.

By Diane Ahlquist,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Moon Magic as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

From the author of Moon Spells comes a beginner's book about the moon's energy and how you can harness that lunar power in your everyday life.

From new moons and eclipses to blue moons and the super moon, there are ample opportunities for the moon to influence our emotions and thoughts. Many believe our emotional potency is heightened during a super moon, while a new moon can bring change and new perspectives. Knowing when and how to use that power is key.

In Moon Magic, you'll learn how the lunar phases influence our emotions and well-being differently and how to…


Book cover of Witch Is When It All Began

Sorchia DuBois Author Of Zoraida Grey and the Family Stones

From my list on to read on a full moon night.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’m a paranormal writer living on the buckle of the Bible Belt, but the hills are alive with witches and Magic, even here. People tend to say that witches don’t exist—until you ask for a strand of their hair. I’ve been on the witch’s side since I was young. If kids persist in eating bits of your house or stealing your rampion, what’s a wi–er lady to do? Urban fantasy and magic realism in modern literature, take a more sympathetic view of witches. My book selections offer witches in all their glory—Some are good, some are bad, and some haven’t made up their minds yet. 

Sorchia's book list on to read on a full moon night

Sorchia DuBois Why did Sorchia love this book?

I’m cheating again and giving you a recommendation for forty-four books instead of just one. This series takes the main character on a journey of discovery into her witchy heritage and solves murders along the way. I’ve read several, but not all, of the series and I find them funny and engaging. Nothing earth-shaking here, but lots of magical fun. Very pleasant to read by the light of the moon after you’ve cast your spells and put away your potions.

By Adele Abbott,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Witch Is When It All Began as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

(Suitable for teens and seniors and all ages in-between)

What would you do if you discovered you were a witch?

That's exactly what happens to Private investigator, Jill Gooder. And as if that wasn't enough, she has a serial killer to catch. More magic, mystery and laughs than you can shake a stick at.


Book cover of Postcolonial Astrology: Reading the Planets through Capital, Power, and Labor

Amy Torok and Risa Dickens Author Of Missing Witches Deck of Oracles: Feminist Ancestor Magic for Meditations, Divination, and Spellwork

From my list on understanding real modern witchcraft.

Why we are passionate about this?

We are Witches. Real Witches, doing real magic, casting spells, and weaving webs. We are Amy Torok and Risa Dickens–the co-creators of the Missing Witches project, researching what it means to be a Witch. Together, we have put out almost 300 podcast episodes and published two books and an oracle deck of cards: Missing Witches: Recovering True Histories Of Feminist Magic, New Moon Magic: 13 Anti-capitalist Tools for Resistance and Re-enchantment, and The Missing Witches Deck of Oracles: Feminist Ancestor Magic for Meditations, Divination and Spellwork. Our first book appeared on VICE Magazine’s list: The Best Books for Starting an Occult Library.

Amy and Risa's book list on understanding real modern witchcraft

Amy Torok and Risa Dickens Why did Amy and Risa love this book?

If anyone ever tries to tell you that studying astrology is brainless, send them a copy of this book. We were amazed and astonished by the research and intellect that Alice infused in this work, tackling Euro-centrist history and forcing it open to reveal a praxis for recontextualizing the stars.

This is astrology beyond horoscopes, beyond personality types. We were electrified to read Alice’s view that astrology is a language we can use to communicate and that history amounts to collective memory. This book blew our minds.

By Alice Sparkly Kat,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Postcolonial Astrology as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Tapping into the political power of magic and astrology for social, community, and personal transformation.

In a cross-cultural approach to understanding astrology as a magical language, Alice Sparkly Kat unmasks the political power of astrology, showing how it can be channeled as a force for collective healing and liberation.

Too often, magic and astrology are divorced from their potency and cultural contexts: co-opted by neoliberalism, used as a force of oppression, or distilled beyond recognition into applications that belie their individual and collective power. By looking at the symbolic and etymological histories of the sun, moon, Saturn, Venus, Mercury, Mars,…


Book cover of Religion and the Decline of Magic: Studies in Popular Beliefs in Sixteenth and Seventeenth-Century England

Larry Silver Author Of Europe Views the World, 1500-1700

From my list on values in European historical periods.

Why am I passionate about this?

A retired professor, an art historian who taught at Berkeley, Northwestern, and the University of Pennsylvania. Since my main interest is the emergence of Europe from the late Middle Ages and into the Early Modern period around 1500, I naturally gravitate to non-fiction books that engage with the shifting interests and values of that era, and my own books include similar efforts to discuss visual art in relation to religion, literature, politics, and wider contemporary cultural movements. Among my own books I would cite: Rubens, Velázquez, and the King of Spain (with Aneta Georgievska-Shine); Europe Views the World, 1500-1700; and the forthcoming Art and Dis-Illusion in the Long Sixteenth Century.

Larry's book list on values in European historical periods

Larry Silver Why did Larry love this book?

An unlikely complement to Huizinga tracing the overlap between magical beliefs in religion as well as astrology and the emerging accusations of witchcraft. Deeply immersed in research about 16th-17th century England, this book offers a form of historical anthropology for baseline views of the strange ideas that drove spiritual life.

By Keith Thomas,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Religion and the Decline of Magic as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Witchcraft, astrology, divination and every kind of popular magic flourished in England during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, from the belief that a blessed amulet could prevent the assaults of the Devil to the use of the same charms to recover stolen goods. At the same time the Protestant Reformation attempted to take the magic out of religion, and scientists were developing new explanations of the universe. Keith Thomas's classic analysis of beliefs held on every level of English society begins with the collapse of the medieval Church and ends with the changing intellectual atmosphere around 1700, when science and…


Book cover of Witchcraft and the Shamanic Journey

Christopher Penczak Author Of The Mighty Dead

From my list on the mystical witch.

Why am I passionate about this?

Witchcraft as a mystical tradition is the purpose of my life. All of the craft, rituals, and spells revolve around the core concept of connecting to the divine and exploring consciousness, and that has been the purpose of my writing, teaching, and community work. While there are lots of things focused upon the “how” of Witchcraft, I like to reflect on the why and I am always seeking the philosophy, art, and poetry that can take me deeper into the mystical experience of life. 

Christopher's book list on the mystical witch

Christopher Penczak Why did Christopher love this book?

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. 

By Kenneth Johnson,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Witchcraft and the Shamanic Journey as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

An inspiring guide for those who seek to reclaim the ways and the lore of their ancestors, this text uncovers the spiritual experience at the core of shamanism.


Book cover of Hex Life: Wicked New Tales of Witchery

Marsheila Rockwell Author Of Sisters of Sorcery

From my list on contemporary fantasy about witches.

Why am I passionate about this?

I learned to read when I was three and the first book I remember reading was Ozma of Oz, which featured some great witches (even though they weren’t called that). I’ve been fascinated by women using magic to change the world around them ever since, and books about witches have remained a staple of my reading diet. As an adult, I learned more about the theory and practice of witchcraft and even spent some time in a coven. These days, I guess you’d call me more of a hedgewitch; I maintain no formal practice, just try to live in “a good way” like my Ojibwe ancestors taught.

Marsheila's book list on contemporary fantasy about witches

Marsheila Rockwell Why did Marsheila love this book?

Hex Life is an anthology of witchy stories, many featuring contemporary witches.

Anthologies are often a mixed bag, but they generally have something for everyone, so even if every story doesn’t resonate with you, you can find little gems that do.

This anthology has eighteen possible new treasures to unearth, and while I liked them all, the one that sparkled brightest for me was Angela Slatter’s “Widows’ Walk.”

“Widows’ Walk” is the story of four witchy Widows, the many cats they keep, and the young girl they set out to help. Stories about witches often involve vengeance or righting wrongs, and this is no exception. But what stands out about this story is the grace, warmth, and sweetness with which said wrongs are righted.

Highly recommended.

By Kelley Armstrong, Rachael Caine, Sherrilyn Kenyon

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Hex Life as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Brand-new stories of witches and witchcraft written by popular female fantasy authors, including Kelley Armstrong, Rachel Caine and Sherrilyn Kenyon writing in their own bestselling universes!

These are tales of witches, wickedness, evil and cunning. Stories of disruption and subversion by today's women you should fear. Including Kelley Armstrong, Rachel Caine and Sherrilyn Kenyon writing in their own bestselling universes.

These witches might be monstrous, or they might be heroes, depending on their own definitions. Even the kind hostess with the candy cottage thought of herself as the hero of her own story. After all, a woman's gotta eat.

Bring…


Book cover of Waking the Witch: Reflections on Women, Magic, and Power
Book cover of Light Magic for Dark Times: More Than 100 Spells, Rituals, and Practices for Coping in a Crisis
Book cover of Witch's Wheel of the Year: Rituals for Circles, Solitaries & Covens

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Interested in witchcraft, the moon, and astrology?

Witchcraft 339 books
The Moon 130 books
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