Raymond Buckland (1934–2017)

An excellent basic witchcraft book, fondly know Gardnerians and Alexandrians as Uncle Bucky's Big Blue Book. It gives a great perspective from the viewpoint of a man who grew up around the craft, and Romani culture. He met and got to know Gerald Gardner. And he is largely responsible for not only the visible emergence of British Traditional Wicca in the U.S. but later in life a more progressive emergence of ways to merge some of those ideas with modern Paganism. I have come to respect him show more and this book a lot more in my old age. Hindsight is always 20/20. show less

For those working with folk magic or those who don't like their spells to be wiccan flavored, this is an excellent resource. I would have liked to see more information on making your own candles, as buying them for ritual use can get expensive. Still, this is a good addition to a folk magic or general occult library.

A funny little relic of history. Has a lot of good stuff for the bare-bones of Wicca and Witchcraft while also being wildly outdated in some aspects. All to be expected.
I enjoyed reading it and now have a solid foundation to continue studying on.

A great 101 book. The textbook presentation works well, along with the questions at the end of every chapter. Buckland gives you a little bit of everything, and some suggestions on how to continue your studies if you like a particular field. The only criticism I have would be that he perpetuates what I call the "Wicca Myth." He does it while he tells you that the sources supporting it have been called into question. Odd.