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Paganism 101: Getting Started | Notes

This notes page will mostly be recommendations. I had something on my original version of the "Getting Started" page, before I rewrote it 900 times, about pirating books and just wanted to say...you should pirate books. I personally do end up buying some of the books that I pirate, but I also just really want to make sure I'm not giving money to somebody with really dogshit ideas. Which a lot of pagan authors unfortunately have.

Last updated August 17th, 2025

Recommendations will be broken down by tradition. Also the Sacred Texts Archive is a good place to look for mythology and folklore. Mentioning it here because it is not actually about paganism, but I think it's useful.

General Paganism

  • The Path of Paganism: An Experience-Based Guide to Modern Pagan Practice by John Beckett | Referenced this book a few times in the Pagan101 introduction
  • To Walk a Pagan Path: Practical Spirituality for Every Day by Alaric Albertsson | What it says on the tin, I really liked this one

Aztec Polytheism

  • Teochan | Haven't looked too deeply into this one, admittedly. Seems well put together.

Canaanite Polytheism

  • Whispers of Stone: Modern Canaanite Religion by Tess Dawson | She's a bigot, don't buy this book. Decent information in here though (still fact check)

Celtic Reconstructionism

Celtic is being used as an umbrella, most Celtic pagans don't practice a "Pan-Celtic" type of paganism.

  • Ancient Fire by Segomaros Widugeni | Gaulish paganism
  • Irish Paganism: Reconstructing Irish Polytheism by Morgan Daimler | Love this book, Daimler's work is always well done
  • Irish Witchcraft from an Irish Witch by Lora O'Brien | I have criticisms of her, but she has some useful information in her books
  • The CR FAQ | Old website, but still cited pretty often in Celtic pagan spaces.

Demonolatry & Satanism

There's overlap so, I figure one section should be fine

  • Daemonolater's Guide to Daemonic Prayer & Prayer Cords by S. Connolly | What it says on the tin
  • Daemonolater's Guide to Daemonic Offerings by S. Connolly | Offerings for demons
  • Demonolatry.org | I think S. Connolly runs this site?
  • The Complete Book of Demonolatry by S. Connolly | THE book on demonolatry
  • The Infernal Gospel by Rev. Cain | Like the Unholy Bible...edgy, annoying. Good if you want to be a Satanist though.
  • The Unholy Bible by Rev. Cain | Edgy and annoying, but if you're looking to be a Satanist...

Heathenry

Norse and Germanic paganism

  • Asatru: A Beginner's Guide to the Heathen Path by Erin Lale | Not great, but adequate.
  • On Black Wings | Thank you to by partner for telling me about this one
  • The Longship | Has a lot of good information
  • The Way of Fire and Ice: The Living Tradition of Norse Paganism by Ryan Smith | I adore this book, my copy is actually falling apart. Covers basically everything a Norse pagan would need to know

Hellenic Polytheism

  • Baring the Aegis | Did something weird (iirc, had something to do with BLM?), but she has some decent information
  • Hellenic Polytheism: Household Worship by Labrys | Labrys are ethnonationalists, but the information in the book is fine. Do not buy it though.
  • Hellenion | I do not support this organization for a variety of reasons, but their calendar is useful and they have good information on festivals and rituals
  • Hellenismos: Practicing Greek Polytheism Today by Tony Mierzwicki | Pretty solid, and he's not racist from what I can tell. The bar is really low, unfortunately.

Kemetic Polytheism

  • Celebrating the Egyptian Gods by Sharon LaBorde | Focused entirely on deities, but still very good for beginners
  • Following the Sun: A Practical Guide to Egyptian Religion by Sharon LaBorde | Take everything with a tablespoon of salt, but I generally like LaBorde's books. You just need to fact check and use common sense.
  • Satsekhem | Haven't looked at their stuff too much, but the resource list seems pretty thorough (another rec from my boyfriend)
  • The Twisted Rope | They've been around for quite a while and were a source I used when I was first getting into paganism that wasn't Wicca

Proto-Indo-European

  • Deep Ancestors: Practicing the Religion of the Proto-Indo-Europeans by Ceisiwr Serith | I like this guy. Lots of research went into this one.

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