My Amazon picks
These are the books and decks I point readers to on my pages, sorted by topic. Most are history and reference books, because I want you to read the sources, not only me.
About links on this page: some links go to Amazon and are marked “(paid link)”. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases, at no extra cost to you. How I choose and mark links.
How I pick
A book makes this list when it helps a beginner understand a topic I write about, and when it is clear about what is history and what is modern practice. I do not list prices or ratings, because they change on Amazon and you should check them there. Older books reflect their time, so read them with that in mind.
You can also browse everything on my Amazon storefront (paid link).
My own books
These are my own books, so I earn from them as the author as well.
The Novice's Guide to Tarot
by me, Lauri Mukkala
My card-by-card beginner guide, written to sit next to any Rider-Waite-Smith style deck.
The Novice's Guide to Witchcraft
by me, Lauri Mukkala
My plain-language starting point for anyone curious about witchcraft.
The Closet Witch
by me, Lauri Mukkala
My book for anyone who has to keep their practice private.
The 5-Minute Witch
by me, Lauri Mukkala
My book of small, doable practices for busy days.
The Magical Child
by me, Lauri Mukkala
My gentle guide for parents who want to share nature, intuition and wonder with their children.
Popular witchcraft books right now
The witchcraft books readers are buying and shelving most right now, with two histories at the end so you can see where modern practice comes from.
The Green Witch
Arin Murphy-Hiscock
A friendly beginner book on herb and nature-based practice.
Why it's here: Amazon Best Sellers, Wicca, Witchcraft & Paganism: #1
Psychic Witch: A Metaphysical Guide to Meditation, Magick & Manifestation
Mat Auryn
A popular modern guide that pairs meditation and psychic exercises with witchcraft practice.
Why it's here: Amazon Best Sellers, Wicca, Witchcraft & Paganism: #3
The Witch's Book of Self-Care
Arin Murphy-Hiscock
Gentle rituals and small practices for rest and care, a popular companion to The Green Witch.
Why it's here: Amazon Best Sellers, Wicca, Witchcraft & Paganism: #5
Buckland's Complete Book of Witchcraft
Raymond Buckland
A long-running workbook of modern Wiccan practice from the 1980s. Read it as one modern tradition.
Why it's here: Amazon Best Sellers, Wicca, Witchcraft & Paganism: #20; also on the Goodreads "wicca" shelf
Cunningham's Encyclopedia of Magical Herbs
Scott Cunningham
A classic reference to the folklore and magical associations of herbs. It is not a safety guide, so check safety separately.
Why it's here: Amazon Best Sellers, Wicca, Witchcraft & Paganism: #21; also on the Goodreads "wicca" shelf
Wicca: A Guide for the Solitary Practitioner
Scott Cunningham
A widely read introduction to solitary Wiccan practice. Read it as one modern tradition among many.
Why it's here: Goodreads "wicca" shelf: #1
Llewellyn's Complete Book of Correspondences
Sandra Kynes
A cross-referenced look-up book for colours, stones, herbs and planets.
Why it's here: Goodreads "witchcraft-nonfiction" shelf
Waking the Witch: Reflections on Women, Magic, and Power
Pam Grossman
Essays on the witch as a figure in culture, from folklore to film.
Why it's here: Goodreads "witchcraft-nonfiction" shelf
The Triumph of the Moon: A History of Modern Pagan Witchcraft (new edition)
Ronald Hutton
The standard history of how modern pagan witchcraft came to be, by a historian.
Why it's here: Goodreads "wicca" shelf; the standard history of modern pagan witchcraft
The Witch: A History of Fear, from Ancient Times to the Present
Ronald Hutton
A historian's long view of witch beliefs, from the ancient world to the trials.
Why it's here: Scholarly pick, not a sales rank: Ronald Hutton's general history (Yale University Press, 2017)
Popular tarot books right now
The tarot books readers come back to most, from friendly beginner guides to the classic study of the Rider-Waite-Smith cards, with two histories at the end.
Seventy-Eight Degrees of Wisdom
Rachel Pollack
A classic card-by-card study of the Rider-Waite-Smith deck, in the new Weiser edition.
Why it's here: Goodreads "tarot" shelf: #1
Holistic Tarot
Benebell Wen
A large, thorough reference on the cards, spreads and correspondences.
Why it's here: Goodreads "tarot" shelf: #2
Tarot for Your Self: A Workbook for the Inward Journey
Mary K. Greer
A workbook of exercises for reading the cards for yourself.
Why it's here: Goodreads "tarot" shelf: #3
Kitchen Table Tarot
Melissa Cynova
A chatty, practical beginner book that reads like a conversation with a friend.
Why it's here: Goodreads "tarot" shelf: #4
Modern Tarot: Connecting with Your Higher Self through the Wisdom of the Cards
Michelle Tea
A warm, personal walk through all 78 cards with rituals for each.
Why it's here: Goodreads "tarot" shelf: #6
Mary K. Greer's 21 Ways to Read a Tarot Card
Mary K. Greer
Twenty-one ways to look at a single card, useful when a meaning feels stuck.
Why it's here: Goodreads "tarot" shelf: #8
The Tarot: History, Symbolism, and Divination
Robert M. Place
A clear history of the cards and their symbols, from Renaissance Italy to modern decks.
Why it's here: Goodreads "tarot" shelf: #12
The Pictorial Key to the Tarot
A. E. Waite (Dover)
Waite's own 1910 guide to the deck, with plates of all 78 cards. Best read as a historical source.
Why it's here: Goodreads "tarot" shelf: #5
A Cultural History of Tarot: From Entertainment to Esotericism
Helen Farley
An academic but readable history of tarot from Renaissance courts to today.
Why it's here: Scholarly pick, not a sales rank: an academic history of tarot (Bloomsbury)
A Wicked Pack of Cards: The Origins of the Occult Tarot
Michael Dummett, Ronald Decker and Thierry Depaulis
The scholarly history of how a card game became an occult tool.
Why it's here: Scholarly pick, not a sales rank: the standard history of the occult tarot (Duckworth)
The Goetia and ceremonial magic: serious editions and scholarship
Primary texts in careful editions and the historians who explain them. These are books to study, not instructions to follow.
The Lesser Key of Solomon: Lemegeton Clavicula Salomonis
Joseph H. Peterson (editor)
The critical edition of the whole Lemegeton from the manuscripts, not only the Goetia.
Why it's here: Scholarly pick: the critical edition of the whole Lemegeton (Weiser)
The Goetia: The Lesser Key of Solomon the King
S. L. MacGregor Mathers and Aleister Crowley (ed. Hymenaeus Beta)
The 1904 Mathers and Crowley text in the 1995 Weiser edition. A primary source to study, not a how-to.
Why it's here: Goodreads "grimoires" shelf: #2
The Goetia of Dr Rudd
Stephen Skinner and David Rankine
A 17th-century version of the Goetia that pairs each spirit with an angel, with a long introduction.
Why it's here: Goodreads "grimoires" shelf
The True Grimoire
Jake Stratton-Kent
A study of the Grimorium Verum and its place in the older goetic tradition.
Why it's here: Goodreads "grimoires" shelf
Grimorium Verum
Joseph H. Peterson (editor and translator)
An edited translation of a famous 18th-century grimoire. A primary source to study, not a how-to.
Why it's here: Goodreads "grimoires" shelf: #1
Arbatel: Concerning the Magic of the Ancients
Joseph H. Peterson (editor and translator)
A short Renaissance text on angelic magic, with the Latin and an English translation.
Why it's here: Goodreads "grimoires" shelf
Grimoires: A History of Magic Books
Owen Davies
A readable academic history of magic books and the people who used them.
Why it's here: Goodreads "grimoires" shelf
Magic: A Very Short Introduction
Owen Davies
A pocket-sized history of what people have meant by magic, by a leading historian.
Why it's here: Scholarly pick, not a sales rank: Oxford Very Short Introductions
Magic in the Middle Ages
Richard Kieckhefer
An academic overview of magic in medieval Europe, a good base for the grimoire tradition.
Why it's here: Scholarly pick, not a sales rank: Cambridge Medieval Textbooks
Forbidden Rites: A Necromancer's Manual of the Fifteenth Century
Richard Kieckhefer
An edition and study of a real medieval manual of demonic magic from Munich.
Why it's here: Goodreads "grimoires" shelf
Popular art history books right now
The art history books readers pick up most, plus a few newer ones and two that sit close to the tarot and the occult.
Ways of Seeing
John Berger
A short, influential book about how we look at images.
Why it's here: Amazon Best Sellers, Art History: #1; Goodreads "art-history" shelf: #2
The Story of Art
E. H. Gombrich
The classic one-volume survey of art, written for readers new to the subject.
Why it's here: Goodreads "art-history" shelf: #1
The Story of Art Without Men
Katy Hessel
A survey of art history told through women artists, from the 1500s to now.
Why it's here: Goodreads "art-history" shelf: #7
The Secret Lives of Color
Kassia St. Clair
Short histories of 75 colours and the pigments behind them.
Why it's here: Amazon Best Sellers, Art History: #16; Goodreads "art-history" shelf: #22
What Are You Looking At? The Surprising, Shocking, and Sometimes Strange Story of 150 Years of Modern Art
Will Gompertz
A lively introduction to modern art from Impressionism onwards.
Why it's here: Goodreads "art-history" shelf: #34
The Short Story of Art
Susie Hodge
A compact guide to movements, works, themes and techniques, good for quick look-ups.
Why it's here: Pick, not a sales rank: a compact survey for quick look-ups
A Little History of Art
Charlotte Mullins
A short, readable history of art from cave paintings to today, in 40 chapters.
Why it's here: Pick, not a sales rank: a short recent history (Yale University Press)
The Other Side: A Story of Women in Art and the Spirit World
Jennifer Higgie
Women artists who worked with spirits, visions and the occult, from Hildegard to Hilma af Klint.
Why it's here: Pick, not a sales rank: women artists and the spirit world, close to this site
A Dictionary of Symbols (NYRB Classics)
Juan Eduardo Cirlot
An A to Z of symbols in art, myth and dreams. Read it as one scholar's interpretations.
Why it's here: Pick, not a sales rank: NYRB Classics reference
Pamela Colman Smith: The Untold Story
Stuart R. Kaplan, Mary K. Greer, Elizabeth Foley O'Connor and Melinda Boyd Parsons
An illustrated biography of the artist who drew the 1909 deck.
Why it's here: Pick, not a sales rank: the biography of the 1909 tarot artist (U.S. Games)
Decks I've reviewed
These are decks I have reviewed or am reviewing on my Substack. Where a review is out, you can read it first and decide for yourself.
Goetia: Tarot in Darkness
Fabio Listrani
A 78-card tarot by Fabio Listrani, Lo Scarabeo.
Notoria: Tarot in Light
Fabio Listrani
A 78-card tarot by Fabio Listrani, Lo Scarabeo.
Seasons of the Witch: Samhain Oracle
Lorriane Anderson and Juliet Diaz
A 44-card oracle by Lorriane Anderson and Juliet Diaz, Rockpool Publishing. The original 2020 edition, not the later deluxe set.
The Tarot of A. E. Waite and P. Colman Smith
Johannes Fiebig (ed.), with Rachel Pollack, Mary K. Greer and Robert A. Gilbert
A box set of the 1909 deck with a history book by Johannes Fiebig (ed.), with Rachel Pollack, Mary K. Greer and Robert A. Gilbert, Taschen.
Occult Tarot
Travis McHenry
A 78-card tarot by Travis McHenry, Rockpool Publishing.
Mythologia Fennica Tarot
Susanna Salo
A 78-card tarot by Susanna Salo, Rockpool Publishing. The 2024 Rockpool edition of the deck first published in Finland as Ukon pakka.
Seasons of the Witch: Yule Oracle
Lorriane Anderson and Juliet Diaz
A 44-card oracle by Lorriane Anderson and Juliet Diaz, Rockpool Publishing.
Alice in Wonderland Oracle
Paolo Barbieri (art)
An oracle deck by Paolo Barbieri (art), Lo Scarabeo.
Baroque Tarot
La Muci Design
A 78-card tarot by La Muci Design, La Muci.
Crystal Ball Pocket Oracle
Athene Noctua
A pocket oracle by Athene Noctua, Hay House.
Seasons of the Witch: Imbolc Oracle
Lorriane Anderson and Juliet Diaz
A 44-card oracle by Lorriane Anderson and Juliet Diaz, Rockpool Publishing.
Cthulhu Dark Arts Tarot
Maxime Le Dain, art by Fortifem
A 78-card tarot by Maxime Le Dain, art by Fortifem, Abrams.
Dark Reflections Tarot
La Muci Design
A 78-card tarot by La Muci Design, La Muci.
Dreamscapes Tarot
La Muci Design
A 78-card tarot by La Muci Design, La Muci.
Folklore Tarot
Rowan Ortins
A 78-card tarot by Rowan Ortins, U.S. Games Systems.
Heaven & Earth Tarot Kit
Jack Sephiroth (art), Jaymi Elford (book)
A 78-card tarot with a 160-page book by Jack Sephiroth (art), Jaymi Elford (book), Lo Scarabeo.
The Steampunk Tarot
Barbara Moore, art by Aly Fell
A 78-card tarot kit by Barbara Moore, art by Aly Fell, Llewellyn.
Lovely Animals Oracle
Helena de Almeida
A 44-card oracle by Helena de Almeida, AGM Urania / U.S. Games Systems.
Seasons of the Witch: Beltane Oracle
Lorriane Anderson and Juliet Diaz
A 44-card oracle by Lorriane Anderson and Juliet Diaz, Rockpool Publishing.
Secret Garden: Enchanting Messages from Quiet Spaces
Jessica Le
A mini inspiration deck by Jessica Le, Rockpool Publishing.
Steampunk Lenormand
Barbara Moore and Diana Cammarano
A 36-card Lenormand deck by Barbara Moore and Diana Cammarano, Lo Scarabeo / Llewellyn.
Surrealist Tarot
Massimiliano Filadoro, art by Luigi Di Giammarino
A 78-card tarot by Massimiliano Filadoro, art by Luigi Di Giammarino, Lo Scarabeo / Llewellyn.
Tarot of the Divine
Yoshi Yoshitani
A 78-card tarot by Yoshi Yoshitani, Clarkson Potter.
The Archeo: Personal Archetype Cards
Nick Bantock
An archetype card deck by Nick Bantock, Llewellyn.
Seasons of the Witch: Lammas Oracle
Lorriane Anderson and Juliet Diaz
A 44-card oracle by Lorriane Anderson and Juliet Diaz, Rockpool Publishing.
The Witch's Familiar Runic Oracle
Athene Noctua
A 24-card pocket oracle by Athene Noctua, Hay House.
The Fablemaker's Animated Tarot
Hit Point Press
A 78-card animated (lenticular) tarot by Hit Point Press, Hit Point Press.
The Phantomwise Tarot
Erin Morgenstern
A 78-card tarot by Erin Morgenstern, Clarkson Potter.
Seasons of the Witch: Mabon Oracle
Lorriane Anderson and Juliet Diaz
A 44-card oracle by Lorriane Anderson and Juliet Diaz, Rockpool Publishing.
The Solitary Witch Oracle
Lucy Cavendish, art by Lady Viktoria
A 45-card oracle by Lucy Cavendish, art by Lady Viktoria, Blue Angel Publishing.
More from my pages
Tarot
The Rider Tarot Deck
A. E. Waite and Pamela Colman Smith (U.S. Games Systems)
The standard U.S. Games edition of the 1909 Smith and Waite deck, the deck family my card meaning pages are written for.
Witchcraft and paganism
The Stations of the Sun: A History of the Ritual Year in Britain
Ronald Hutton
A detailed history of the festival year in Britain, useful for telling old customs from modern ones.
Liber Null & Psychonaut: An Introduction to Chaos Magic
Peter J. Carroll
The founding texts of chaos magic, in one Weiser volume. A primary source to study.
Cunningham's Encyclopedia of Wicca in the Kitchen
Scott Cunningham
Kitchen folklore and food magic, an easy way to bring the craft into daily cooking.
Herbs
Rosemary Gladstar's Medicinal Herbs: A Beginner's Guide
Rosemary Gladstar
A practical beginner guide to 33 common herbs. It does not replace advice from a doctor or pharmacist.
Crystals
Cunningham's Encyclopedia of Crystal, Gem & Metal Magic
Scott Cunningham
A classic reference to the folklore and magical lore of stones and metals.
Runes and Norse sources
Runes (Reading the Past)
R. I. Page
A short, reliable introduction to runic inscriptions by a leading runologist.
The Poetic Edda: Stories of the Norse Gods and Heroes
Jackson Crawford (translator)
A readable modern translation of the Old Norse poems about the gods and heroes.
Deities
The Hebrew Goddess
Raphael Patai
A classic study of the feminine divine in Jewish tradition, with a chapter on Lilith.
The Origin of Satan
Elaine Pagels
A historian of religion on how the figure of Satan took shape in early Christianity.
Lucifer: The Devil in the Middle Ages
Jeffrey Burton Russell
A scholarly history of the Devil in medieval thought.