Thanks Minty. ^_^ Ooh, and does anyone have a good Egyptian Paganism book recommendation? I've seen a few on Amazon but the reviews are iffy...

Many Blessings of Peace, Love and Laughter on your wedding; and congratulations on the little one.

I don't know of any books by title, but there is channel that I watch on youtube that covers a lot of topics she comes up with on discussing Egyptian paganism. Her username is Pagyptian if you want to look her up. I think she did a book review on that topic. I hope this helps.

I'm very newly learning and practicing. I have read that Scott Cunningham's books are the best starting place for beginners, but have also read that his books are too "marketedrd" to be good. Unfortunately the opinions I have read are not detailed in explaining why they believe the way they do. Can sone of you give me your opinion on this as well as a recommendation for THE best book to start with, if you had to choose just one?

I suppose books that are "too marketed" somehow lose their esoterica cred. Not that I care about esoterica cred. It's the information in the book that interests me.

I'll say this for Scott Cunningham's Encyclopedia of Magical Herbs: If you're looking for a comprehensive modern-day book on herb lore, with plant illustrations, and that also includes a lot of the unusual names of herbs that have been lost over the centuries, this is a pretty good book. I liked it so much, in fact, that I went to Amazon's website for France and purchased the French edition of the book – just to get the French names of all these herbs in the same context as the English edition.

As for "THE best book to start with..." I couldn't give you a title from the perspective of a practitioner. But I can say that one of my personal favorites is Starhawk's The Spiral Dance (San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1979). I especially like her Tables of Correspondences at the back of the book, as well as her chapter on "The Wheel of the Year" which describes eight major neo-pagan festivals ("sabbats") for marking the progression of the year.

-- Nephele

Personally, I love Scott Cunningham. I own all of his books. It shouldn't really matter if he's 'overmarketed'. Now Silver Ravenwolf is one I won't read. She's misleading and focuses on impressionable teenagers and I don't like her.

One thing, though, you need know that is important: Read anything you can. Read all you can. The good, the bad, the 'over-marketed', the great, etc...read it all. Take in what means something to you- ignore what does not. Then, when all is said and done remind yourself that everything you have read is nothing but bullshit.

All you have read or will ever read is simply another person's opinion on a religion that has no real dogma or set of rules. It's a personal thing, and though it is vital to learn and gather information by reading what others think- what is most important is what you think of it.

Thank you both very much for the replies; they were very helpful. I will take your advice and wisdom to heart...and then tell myself it is bullshit

I'm sorry about the typos in my post. When I type on my phone, for some reason, the keyboard takes up so much space that I literally cannot see what I am typing, and this forum is extremely difficult for me to edit on, on my phone, once I am able to notice a typo. I'll try to be more careful as I find that to be kind of rude if someone is continually typing like that.

A lot of what helped me find my path aside from reading a lot of pagan books, was actually reading books meant for role playing table top games. I would read about the different religions in the worlds of the games and I learned how to build up what I believed. The greatest piece of advice anyone gave me was that the easiest way to find your way is to study what interests you. I love reading mythology and fairy tales, so I studied the different myths and legends of the different cultures of the world and went from there.

I will definitely check that out! Thanks!

I also avoid Silver Ravenwolf's books or any books without a decent source list in the back. I prefer academic level books first and foremost (I'm an anthropologist) and I always recommend reading histories and myth collections to newbies. I enjoy most of Scott Cunningham's work, I admit. I find that the more you read the more you learn to sort fact from fiction and fluff from substance. It comes with time.

Very wise words!

Ahh, I've not heard of $ilver RavingmadWolf for a long while... can't say I missed her

I quite like Scott Cunningham, although I only have one of his books. I'd love to get the book you mentioned, Nephele, it sounds great

Kate West also has a down-to-earth aspect to her writing that I appreciate as well. I'm no Wiccan, but I still find a lot of info in books written from their perspective. The Real Witches Handbook, The Real Witches Kitchen, The Real Witches Garden, and The Real Witches Year... I dip into them all the time (there are some more of her books here for those that wish to peruse them).

I also liked A Witch Alone by Marian Green (a cheaper copy can be found here ).

The only other books I have of the pagan persuasion are stuff about Trad Craft by Robert Cochrane and a book by Ronald Hutton (which I cannot for the life of me seem to get through... maybe it's the small print size, or the fact that I find his writing style quite boring - I just don't know).

I also have two books in this series... I admit to not having read them as I'm missing book two I think, and I have this need of reading things in order or I don't read them at all

Everything else I have is just about myths and legends... and herblore (which I find fascinating).

Yay I got tons of books from the library and wrote down all the recommendations I've found on this thread (thanks everyone).

I just have to share. I have been intrigued by Aldous Huxley's writing for a long time, so much so that my email address is Wednesday.Huxley.... So, the first book I decided to read as my introduction to Paganism is a memoir of someone coming into it, and she quotes Huxley several times in the first chapter. I am quite familiar with his work, but never would have dreamed he would be quoted in a book about coming to Wicca. Seeing his quotes in that context, now that I know a little about the Craft, does make perfect sense. But coincidence? I think not! Really cool!

A happy, safe, and blessed Litha to all!

Same to you, Ms. M... and to all reading this

[is a bad pagan] I completely forgot, I've been so stressed lately. And I just had to deal with a ton of bull from my college, ugh thank the gods Litha is here.