The Well-Read Witch

Witches: five silhouetted figures. [Photograph]. Retrieved from Encyclopædia Britannica ImageQuest.
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One thing I know for sure is that I am too lazy, disorganized and anti-social to be a competent witch who belongs to a close-knit coven. I never know what phase of the moon we are in and my black thumb prevents me from cultivating the necessary herb garden for effective rituals and spells. I don't even cook from recipe books, so putting together a whole spell is out of the question. I have never read any of the Harry Potter books.   However, that doesn't mean I'm not intrigued by witches, Wiccans, pagans, and the spiritually adventurous.

Whether you celebrate Halloween, harvest festivals in the church parking lot, or Samhain, witches are a part of our collective imagination and historical record and autumn is the time they are most likely to be on our imaginative radar. Witches, witchcraft, witch hunters, and witch panics make for riveting reading in the categories of fiction and non-fiction. So keep one lamp on for yourself, pretend you're not home to hand out candy, and read about witches.

Non-Fiction

America Bewitched: The Story of Witchcraft After Salem by Owen Davies
A Brief History of Witchcraft by Lois Martin
Brujas, Bultos, y Brasas: Tales of Witchcraft and the Supernatural in the Pecos Valley collected and edited by Nasario Garcia
The Crafty Witch: 101 Ideas for Every Occasion by Willow Polson
The Enemy Within: 2,000 Years of Witch-Hunting in the Western World by John Demos
The Penguin Book of Witches edited by Katherine Howe
Six Women of Salem: The Untold Story of the Accused and Their Accusers in the Salem Witch Trials by Aarilynne Roach
Wiccan Celebrations: Inspiration for Living By Nature's Cycle by Silver Elder

Witchcraft Medicine: Healing Arts, Shamanic Practices, and Forbidden Plants by Claudia Muller-Eberling, Christian Ratsch, and Wolf-Dieter Storl

Witches, Midwives, and Nurses: A History of Women Healers by Barbara Ehrenreich and Deirdre English
Witches, Rakes, and Rogues: True Stories of Scam, Scandal, Murder,and Mayhem in Boston, 1630-1775 by D. Brenton Simons


Fiction

Bless Me Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya
The Book of Life by Deborah Harkness
The Book of Spirits by James Reese
Brida by Paulo Coehlo
Bruja Brouhaha by Rochelle Staab
The Burning Times by Jeanne Kalogridis
The Circle by Bentley Little
Dark Birthright by Jeanne Treat
Daughter of the Blood by Anne Bishop
A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness

The Witching Hour by Anne Rice

Lasher by Anne Rice
Taltos: Lives of the Mayfair Witches by Anne Rice