Fans pick 87 books like Witchcraft and the Shamanic Journey

By Kenneth Johnson,

Here are 87 books that Witchcraft and the Shamanic Journey fans have personally recommended if you like Witchcraft and the Shamanic Journey. 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 What We Knew in the Night: Reawakening the Heart of Witchcraft

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?

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. 

By Raven Grimassi,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked What We Knew in the Night as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Explores the roots of witchcraft while providing an integrated magical system to serve the modern witch

Raven Grimassi is among the pioneering authors of the modern witchcraft renaissance. In What We Knew in the Night, he presents a cohesive and complete system of witchcraft based on traditional sources. The author’s premise is that, beginning in the 1980s, with the rise of modern metaphysical publishing, authors began presenting very personal witchcraft practices. In the process, traditional and formerly well-established practices fell into obscurity, which potentially lead to confusion.

What We Knew in the Night uncovers and clarifies those buried gems for…


Book cover of Thorn in the Flesh

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?

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…. 

By Rosaleen Norton,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Thorn in the Flesh as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Hardcover. 8vo. xxiv + 128pp. Red cloth with gilt titling to spine. Frontispiece & 8 pages of color & black and white illustrations. Rosaleen Norton was a natural rebel whose bohemian lifestyle, outspoken occultism, and unusual and often sexually-charged artwork attracted widespread condemnation from the conservative establishment. She suffered frequent arrest, her art exhibitions were raided, a book of her art banned, and in one notorious case, her paintings burned at the censor's order. She died in relative obscurity in 1979, yet left the world a rich and unusual artistic legacy. Some of this was hidden away in two battered…


Book cover of Lady of the Sea: The Goddess Who Births the New Age

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 is the book I wished I had when reading the classic Dion Fortune novels The Sea Priestess and Moon Magic, though Margie certainly is not writing commentary of those novels. She provides a context for the bigger themes in such stories I was ignorant of when first reading Fortune. Lady of the Sea weaves a grand vision of the Goddess from ancient roots, including Egypt, the Celts, indigenous lore, Avalonian traditions, and the modern New Age, but does so with such skill, grace, and practical purpose. It is the best book for deeply describing the inner temple of the Moon, Sea, and Stars and how to work in them as a modern mystic. For that alone it is worth it, but everything leading to and from those sections supports your understanding of why the Lady of the Sea is important to us all.  

By Margie McArthur,

Why should I read it?

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


Book cover of Between the Worlds: Witchcraft and the Tree of Life-A Program of Spiritual Development

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?

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. 

By Stuart Myers,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

Witches, pagans, Goddess worshippers and Qab alists will find interest in this guide to spiritual develop ment in the Wiccan Tradition. This complete system of Qabali stic Witchcraft has explanations, illustrations and appendix es for easier learning. '


Book cover of Witch Hunt

Alesha Escobar Author Of The Wayward Wizard

From my list on heroes when secret agencies mess things up.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’m an avid fantasy reader and enjoy stories filled with magic, danger, and a mix of humor and romance thrown in. When I’m not writing my own fantasy novels, you might catch me tucked away in a corner, reading a book, and fueling my imagination. Since my own book, The Wayward Wizard, features a secret organization trying to intercept the supernatural, I knew similar stories would make a perfect list to share with fellow fantasy readers.

Alesha's book list on heroes when secret agencies mess things up

Alesha Escobar Why did Alesha love this book?

Who’s ever been blamed at work for something they didn’t do?  Well, the Office of Preternatural Affairs takes it to a whole new level when they suspect one of their agents, Cèsar Hawke, of murdering a woman. I mean, she was found dead in his home…but he claims he’s innocent. And he’s going to hunt down a shaman who can speak to the dead to prove it.

This wickedly fun story takes the urban fantasy detective trope and infuses it with humor, danger, and twists & turns.

By SM Reine,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

There are scratches on Cèsar Hawke’s arms, a discharged Glock on his coffee table, and a dead woman in his bathtub. Yeah, maybe he brought the waitress home for some fun—he was too drunk to remember it—but he knows for a fact that he didn’t kill her. He’s an agent with the Office of Preternatural Affairs. He doesn’t hurt people. He saves them. The cops disagree. Now Cèsar is running. Isobel Stonecrow speaks with the dead. She brings closure to the bereaved and heals broken hearts. But when she talks to the wrong spirit, the OPA puts a bounty on…


Book cover of Soul Retrieval: Mending the Fragmented Self

Jamie Della Author Of The Book of Spells: The Magick of Witchcraft

From my list on magick and witchcraft as self-care and wellness.

Why am I passionate about this?

When my Mexican maternal grandmother died the month before I was born, she left the door between the worlds ajar. Conversations with my nana’s spirit instilled faith that I could converse with all spirits, from the consciousness of land to trees, herbs, and even ideas. Being raised a Christian Scientist taught me the power of mind over matter and instilled the authority and responsibility for my own wellness through my Divine essence. This upbringing prepared me for my Witchcraft path that considers self-care as tending of my Divine spirit, illuminates the Divine light in all of Life, and teaches how to manifest Magick through our relationships, self-love, and personal healing.

Jamie's book list on magick and witchcraft as self-care and wellness

Jamie Della Why did Jamie love this book?

Witchcraft offers a path for incorporating Magickal ritual into a healing practice. When we experience trauma, we fragment our spirit and these disconnected parts become our shadow selves that block the manifestation of our deepest desires. This is what happened to me and why I weave together Magick and retrieving lost parts of our souls. Only when we come to wholeness with the deep healing practices found in Soul Retrieval can we reclaim these splintered aspects of self and focus all, not merely part, of our energy onto creating the life of our dreams. Soul Retrieval helped me address my mental wellness and release suffering, which has in turn given me a magick touch for manifestation.

By Sandra Ingerman,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

With warmth and compassion, Sandra Ingerman describes the dramatic results of combining soul retrieval with contemporary psychological concepts in this visionary work that revives the ancient shamanic tradition of soul retrieval for healing emotional and physical illness. This revised and updated edition includes a new afterword by the author.


Book cover of In The Company Of Witches

Vickie Carroll Author Of It's Only Murder

From my list on cozy mysteries about women at work.

Why am I passionate about this?

As a cozy-style mystery writer, I get to live in a world where I know that everything will work out as it should in the end. I look for this in the books that I read and recommend. Do they give the reader something interesting to ponder as they go along with the sleuth (amateur or “real detective)? My father was a police captain, and I grew up looking at things through the eyes of “the law”, I admit. Most people find comfort reading about a small town where nothing will go too wrong. The bad stuff and the bad people are kept at arm’s length, and all is well.

Vickie's book list on cozy mysteries about women at work

Vickie Carroll Why did Vickie love this book?

Wallace puts a new spin on witches and witchcraft as she introduces us to a family of witches living in a small New England town.

The Warren witches have used their magic for good and have devoted their skills to protecting and helping the citizens of Evenfall for four hundred years. But when a guest dies at the family B & B, one of the witches becomes a prime suspect.

The main character has a rare talent that lets her commune with ghosts. But her skills are rusty, so she tries using her investigative techniques hoping that her witchy skills will be there if she needs them.

Magical thinking is fun, but the reader can see it’s love and family that’s the true story and the magic here.

By Auralee Wallace,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked In The Company Of Witches as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

When a guest dies in the B&B she helps her aunts run, a young witch must rely on some good old-fashioned investigating to clear her aunt's name in this magical and charming new cozy mystery.

For four hundred years, the Warren witches have used their magic to quietly help the citizens of the sleepy New England town of Evenfall thrive. There's never been a problem they couldn't handle. But then Constance Graves--a local known for being argumentative and demanding--dies while staying at the bed and breakfast Brynn Warren maintains with her aunts. At first, it seems like an accident...but it…


Book cover of The Golden Bough

Eve Lestrange Author Of Widdershins

From my list on occult, witchcraft, and a little mystery.

Why am I passionate about this?

From the time I was very young, Witchcraft and the supernatural have always fascinated me. I can remember staying up late to watch horror movies or reading an Edgar Allen Poe book under the sheets with a flashlight when I was supposed to be asleep. I knew this was never a phase or something I would “outgrow”; the spell had been cast and I was forever in its power. I’ve tried to read everything I could on Witchcraft, its history and practice and anything regarding the occult. It was all of this reading and research that really helped me to write Widdershins and everything that came after. Enjoy the list!

Eve's book list on occult, witchcraft, and a little mystery

Eve Lestrange Why did Eve love this book?

Being a fan of history, mythology, and folklore really drew me to this book. It delves into ancient magic, pagan practices, and other traditions that continue to this day. The book was thoroughly researched and opens a window into mankind’s beliefs and superstitions throughout the ages. The book explores the similarities between different cultures’ creation myths and ritualistic practices as well as Christianity’s appropriation of many pagan holidays, rituals, and locations. Anyone interested in mythology or folklore should definitely have this on their reading list.

By James George Frazer,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Golden Bough as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Published originally in two volumes in 1890, this extraordinary study of primitive myth and magic, collected from sources around the world, led Frazer to identify parallel patterns of ritual, symbols and belief across many centuries and many different cultures.
Frazer's learning inspired a whole generation of ethnographers and comparative anthropologists, and had a particularly powerful effect on many other thinkers and writers such as Sigmund Freud, D H Lawrence, Joyce, Yeats and T S Eliot.


Book cover of The White People and Other Weird Stories

James Stoorie Author Of AfterWitch

From my list on supernaturally troubled teenagers.

Why am I passionate about this?

As long as I can remember I have found the world a terrifying yet magical place. My first memories are of reading ghost stories, the best mirrors for my emotional experiences. As a teenager supernatural tales continued to inspire me and still do. Sometimes a starkly realistic approach can prove too dull or intrusive; far better to process or confront issues by presenting them as fantastical. When I return to these books, or discover similar stories, I listen hard to what they are trying to tell me. I won’t learn overnight for, as the villain in The Doll Maker states: “the life so short, the craft so long to learn.”

James' book list on supernaturally troubled teenagers

James Stoorie Why did James love this book?

“I wanted to be alone in my room and glad over it all to myself.” In the framing story, two Victorian gents struggle to decipher the hidden meanings of a teenage girl’s diary they have recently uncovered. Partially written in a secret language, that could equally derive from folklore sayings or teen slang, the contents appear to hint at an inauguration into pagan rituals and witchcraft in the nearby woods. A unique attempt to conjure a dark magic out of the missing memories of childhood, this novella explores both the excitement and peril of keeping your first secrets. “I was afraid something had happened to me…”

By Arthur Machen,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked The White People and Other Weird Stories as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Machen's weird tales of the creepy and fantastic finally come to Penguin Classics. With an introduction from S.T. Joshi, editor of American Supernatural Tales, The White People and Other Weird Stories is the perfect introduction to the father of weird fiction. The title story "The White People" is an exercise in the bizarre leaving the reader disoriented and on edge. From the first page, Machen turns even fundamental truths upside-down, as his character Ambrose explains, "there have been those who have sounded the very depths of sin, who all their lives have never done an 'ill deed'" setting the stage…


Book cover of Witchcraft : A Tradition Renewed

Melusine Draco Author Of Traditional Witchcraft for the Seashore

From my list on real old-fashioned witchcraft.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am an Initiate of traditional British Old Craft and the Khemetic Mysteries. My own teaching methods and writing draw on historical sources supported by academic texts and current archaeological findings; endorsing Crowley’s view that all magic is an amalgam of science and art, and that magic is the outer route to the inner Mysteries. I have been a member and later Principal of the Coven of the Scales since 2000 having inherited it on the deaths of Bob and Meriem Clay-Egerton and author of some 60 fiction and non-fiction books on the subject of magic and Old Craft in order to shape the reader’s understanding of this particular tradition. 

Melusine's book list on real old-fashioned witchcraft

Melusine Draco Why did Melusine love this book?

Evan John Jones who was once a part of Robert Cochrane’s own coven – is still one of the most controversial figures in contemporary witchcraft nearly 40 years after his death in 1966. It was an interesting time and as Evan wrote, you knew something was there, but it was a case of trying to find it and hold on to it! When this book came out in 1990 and as Evan was one of the first ‘real’ witches I had been privileged to meet, it was interesting to read many of these traditional teachings for the first time.

By Evan John Jones, Doreen Valiente,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

Revealing the secrets of ancient rituals and the philosophy of witchcraft, this book delves deep into modern witchcraft. The nature of the rites are shown to revolve around traditional witchcraft passed down from ancient times.'


Book cover of What We Knew in the Night: Reawakening the Heart of Witchcraft
Book cover of Thorn in the Flesh
Book cover of Lady of the Sea: The Goddess Who Births the New Age

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