Dusty old tomes - essential reference works

So now you know who Cunning Folk are, you may be asking, how do I get started practising the trade?  Well as I mentioned in the last post it was often a profession learned from books.  So here are some which you will find useful in your studies and career:

• Firstly and most importantly - A BIBLE (preferably the King James Version). Often called “The most magical book in the world”. If you only have a Bible, you have all the books you ever need to make magic. At the coronation ceremony of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953, a Bible was presented to Her Majesty with the words, “We present you with this book, the most valuable thing that this world affords”. To uncover the true magical value of the Bible you need to read, understand and use it. You might like to have a copy in plain English for comprehension, such as the ubiquitous New International Version. For ceremonial use however, I am of the opinion that you cannot beat good old King James, a.k.a the Authorised Version. The beauty of the language and the powerful feeling it invokes is unparalleled.

Not a fan of the Bible? Don't want to read it, much less use it? I have a post for you coming soon!

Books

• Secondly, you will need a good herbal. You can go for a classic work, such as Culpeper's "Complete Herbal", or Mrs Grieve's "A Modern Herbal". Both of these can be found online. More useful for magical work would be either Scott Cunningham's "Encyclopedia of Magical Herbs" for a mostly traditional and European perspective, or Catherine Yronwode's "Hoodoo Herb and Root Magic" for a more American perspective. Get both and compare the entries.
• Also, if you plan to collect herbs in the wild, a field guide is a must. Make sure it has clear, colour photographs and clearly marks toxic plants. The one I use is called "Herbs and Healing Plants" by Deiter Podlech which is organised by flower colour for easy identification in the field, and also gives useful medicinal remedies for each plant.

...books...

Other books, not essential, you might like to have:

• "Secrets of the Psalms" by Godfrey Selig – written in German in the 17^th Century this is a classic text giving magical uses for every psalm of the Bible and is a must if you enjoy biblical magic, and for selecting suitable psalms for various operations.
• "Pow Wows or Long Lost Friend" by George Hohman – another translated German classic, written in 1820, this had a huge influence on magic in America and is the basis for many spells we use today.
• "Natural Magic" by Doreen Valiente – Doreen was a well known witch and helped revive witchcraft in the 50s and 60s alongside Gerald Gardner. This is a book of traditional European folk magic, not so much spells but the beliefs about animals, plants, weather lore, numbers etc. Really useful for understanding the folk traditions and symbolism of our ancestors.
• For more complex workings, and to understand the basis of many charms and procedures, you would do well to get a copy of some of the classical grimoires, or textbooks of magic. Good choices would be the Key or Clavicle of Solomon, the Lemegeton or Lesser Key of Solomon, the Grimorium Verum, the Grand Grimoire etc. Most of these can be found online here, or extracts in compilation works such as AE White's "Book of Ceremonial Magic" / "Book of Black Magic and Pacts" (they are the same book - my copy for some inexplicable reason is called the "Book of Spells"!) or Idries Shah's "Secret Lore of Magic" (a really great work containing, among other things, the rare and wonderful Arabic 'Book of Aptolcater', one of my favourite grimoires.  "Secret Lore" is sadly out of print but can still be picked up – I got my copy in a secondhand shop for a pound!). I probably don't need to mention that you won't be able to jump in and use these ancient grimoires straight away!

(Grimoires)

• To better understand the history of Cunning Craft and its practitioners, a must read is Owen Davies' "Popular Magic". Full of entertaining anecdotes of real life cunning men and women from the past, it also compares the continental and American workers to English practices. It is an essential read to place the craft, and indeed this blog, in context and understand where we have come from.
• One final book I completely recommend is a relatively new one and that is Jim Baker's "Cunning Man's Handbook". In my opinion, it is one of the most important works on magic to have been released so far this century, and probably the most important on the topic of Cunning Craft. If you don't already have it you need to get a copy as soon as possible. Yes it is fairly expensive, but you get what you pay for! I have devised my instructional posts to compliment this work and I will refer to it often. If you are serious about understanding and practising Cunning Craft you need this book, so start saving your pennies if you have to.

and more books

Other books I like that are not strictly relevant to Cunning Craft, but I recommend all the same:

• "Mastering Witchcraft" by Paul Huson. For many people of a certain age this was their intro book to witchcraft and magic and you will spot its influence on many a horror film from the 1970s. Huson studied many of the classical grimoires in the British Museum and mixed them with folk magic to produce what I think is a totally unique volume which works surprisingly well. Certainly it has stood the test of time and I can personally attest to the effectiveness of its rituals. Its methods are somewhat similar to Cunning Craft, in that it uses ceremonial and folk magic all at the same time, but minus any specific religious dogma. Despite the famous 'Lord's Prayer backwards' ritual at the beginning, it is not really pagan, and definitely not Wiccan. I love it.
• "The God of the Witches" – by Margaret Murray. A more populist and easy to read version of her seminal work "The Witch Cult in Western Europe". Both books have long been debunked together with Dr Murray's theories on medieval witchcraft as an organised and ancient religion dating back to prehistoric times, driven underground by Christian persecution. However they are fascinating in their details of confessed witchcraft practices, whether or not these were real or invented under torture, and they paint a picture of the historical mindset around witch beliefs. Murray's works had a big influence on the development of modern Wicca and witchcraft as you will immediately discover upon reading them. I personally love 'God of the Witches' for the immersive and compelling world it creates, regardless of 'truth'. Also, as a Cunning Practitioner it is good to suss out what you are up against!
• "The Satanic Witch" by Anton Szandor LaVey. Do not be put off by the word 'satanic'. This volume from the founder of the Church of Satan has nothing to do with Satanism and not a lot to do with witchcraft either. Rather it is a work on manipulation, and specifically, how a woman can manipulate men to get what she wants. Some of it is dubious, like the 'LaVey personality synthesiser' but most of it is genius and I have used its methods successfully time and time again. For my female readers, you NEED this book. Reading it changed my life.
• "Charms Spells and Formulas" by Ray T. Marlbrough. Last but by no means least is this classic work on Hoodoo style magic from 1986. If you want to learn the basics of American folk magic, this is the book for you. It details mojo (charm) bags, doll spells and basic recipes for oils and incenses. This is the perfect book for beginners to practical folk magic. My own copy is nearly falling apart and covered in notes, but I still return to it even after all these years.

I hope that you will be able to get a copy of at least some of these works.  They are my personal recommendations and I am constantly lending them out!  What is your favourite book on magic?  Let me know in the comments!

I must go, I'm in the library

Q et I