Buckland's Complete Book of Witchcraft Paperback – 8 September 2002

This book is best for the beginners.

Nice book. If anyone wants to begin their training in Wicca, this, along with Scott Cunningham's "Guide for the solitary practitioner" and Silver Ravenwolf's "Teen Witch" are worth it.

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❤️Buckland's complete Book of Witchcraft is just that, very complete. It is a fantastic users guide to basic wican ceremony, sabbots and divination techniques complete with a list of suggested readings if you choose to go deeper into any of the subjects he introduces.I would recommend this book be in the library of any student of the craft from the serious seeker on , although it's probably not your first book.

Overall I liked Buckland's information about Wicca in this book, however, I think he should have stopped there. Unfortunately what spoils it for me is the pseudo science and especially the pseudo history. I have several history degrees (in the topic area of early modern and medieval witchcraft) and some of the conclusions he comes to are just massive leaps. For example, suggesting that there is undeniable historical evidence to suggest that witches practiced naked, due to the many woodcuts and illustrations of such which abounded at the time. These images were, in fact, created by Christians in order to illustrate the depravity of those who participated in Devil worship; they were not illustrations of real Esbats and Sabbats.In addition to this, suggesting that grimoires were passed down throughout the medieval and early modern periods is also tenuous, given that the population was largely illiterate. Another historical gripe is suggesting that those who were persecuted for witchcraft were actually witches. They were not, they were Christians. A very very small amount of them may have practiced witchcraft, however, this has been widely demonstrated by historians to be based upon Christian superstitious practices, and not worship of older Gods. It is unlikely that the majority of the persecuted population even knew about Paganism or 'Old Gods'; again, most of them were illiterate and had never travelled outside of their own villages.What also doesn't help Buckland's case is lauding people like Uri Geller, who has been widely proven to be a fraud and an illusionist, not someone with magical energetic powers.Take this book with a pinch of salt and look at Wicca for what it is, a fairly new religion which takes inspiration from older, pre-Christian Pagan beliefs. Don't get sucked in by pseudo history and people trying to make it more than it is. If you're interested in the actual history of Paganism, especially in Britain, then read something by an actual historian, such as "Pagan Britain" by Ronald Hutton.

I’m not a Wiccan but in regard to Witchcraft I like to learn from many sources. This book has a lot of useful information a practitioner or beginner can use. More than many of the books I’ve encountered. But just so you know it is a Wiccan-Witchcraft book even though the title just says Witchcraft.

This is one of the best books on Witchcraft I have ever purchased. Very comprehensive guide with easy to understand language and layout. Highly recommend this book for any one who is practising or looking to start practising. This book covers a wide range of topics and will always be a useful reference.

This book is amazing for beginners and I would highly recommend if you are starting out and not sure where to start. It has everything you need to know and handy questions at the end of each lesson (chapter) to test your knowledge.

excellent, clear no-nonsense language. not too American or Christian or any denomination. Comprehensive and well organised throughout. A great beginners' book but also for more advanced for revising. Also has tests to aid learning. Highly recommend this sensible book which really does <nearly> have it all. Not useful for specific spells but gives all the basic principles.