Books like The Book of the Sacred Magic of Abramelin the Mage — picked by fans

Not necessarily the world’s first novel (the world’s first novel is probably lost) nor even the world’s first great novel (that would be Petronius’ Satyricon, which you should also not get caught reading), The Golden Ass is definitely the world’s first great novel that has survived through the centuries intact.

It’s the story of a man who tries just one time to dabble in magic and accidentally turns himself into a donkey. The poor guy has a bunch of adventures as he tries to figure out how to, you know, stop being a donkey.

That doesn’t sound so bad, but no one’s ever going to let you read a book with the title The Golden Ass. It just means the golden donkey! There’s nothing filthy about it! But no one will believe you!

John Faustus is the original bad influence. He makes a deal with the devil for absolute power, uses his new power to play childish pranks on people, and has a pretty good but stupid time until the devil shows up one day and literally rips him to pieces. Didn’t think that one through, did you, John? 

If you get caught reading this book, try saying something like, “Well, now I know not to do that!” But, still, those pranks of his sound fun…

Katharine Briggs spent her whole life learning every single thing about every fairy, goblin, bogie, and sprite, and she put it all in one book.

Now, fairies are famous for their dislike of being talked about—cautious people refer to them as “the fair folk” or “the people of peace” so as not to offend. But Briggs put it right in the title! An Encyclopedia of Fairies! That was a very dangerous thing to do.

If your parents know anything about anything, they will object to your reading a book so dangerous. Still, you’ve got to learn these things sometime, don’t you?

Seven hundred years ago, someone (no one knows who) wrote a book full of mysterious letters and even more mysterious drawings of unknown plants described in unreadable paragraphs.

For centuries, people have struggled to eke some meaning from the book’s pages. Cryptologist William F. Friedman (the man who broke the Japanese code in WWII) spent his life trying to decipher the book. And all in vain.

No one knows what information the book contains. It could be anything! Simple steps for building a hydrogen bomb? Your parents’ deepest, darkest bathroom secrets? Maps of Atlantis? Maybe! This is the most dangerous book in the world!

I probably shouldn’t have even mentioned it.

Aleister Crowley (1875-1947) remains understudied and misunderstood. His colorful and often scandalous biography still occludes his intellectual and spiritual brilliance. Crowley robustly argued a deep commonality between Western ritual magick and Indian Yoga.

This book is his magnum opus; the first part, “Mysticism,” deals with the “eight limbs of Yoga.” Crowley’s argument is that a pursuit of magic and meditation, which he sees as two sides of the same coin, should manifest one’s inner genius and lead to a purposeful life aligned with one’s true will.   

Reading High Magick, opened my eyes. Before my formal magickal training, I innately knew that Magick and Witchcraft open a path to access the divinity within. My Wiccan Elder High Priestess recognized this inner sight and chose me for private Magickal lessons with tailored parables in the oral, storytelling Goddess tradition. I didn’t realize I had been learning High Magick. Although structured in a linear, Divine Male perspective, this book offers the same endpoint: Magick is a direct connection to the Divine Source. I have always applied magick to transform trauma into wellbeing and Damien Echols, sentenced to death and later acquitted, did the same. By incorporating magickal practices, he preserved his humanity and safeguarded himself against negativity, thus elevating his awareness to envision his release from prison.

The Inner Temple of Witchcraft is one of the most influential books I have ever read. The book lays a fantastic foundation for any witch, starting with going inward and developing meditation and psychic skills to enhance your magick. In the dedication in my book, I wrote that Psychic Witch was sort of my love letter to The Inner Temple of Witchcraft, and it truly is. The Anniversary Edition includes expanded material and a foreword by Laurie Cabot, whose work, particularly her book Power of the Witch, has also been immensely influential on both of us as authors. Christopher once told me that my book was to The Inner Temple of Witchcraft what The Inner Temple of Witchcraft was to Laurie's Power of the Witch, and you can see a line of influence on these topics from Laurie to Christopher to my book. This was one of… show more.

Stephanie Graegin’s art is warm and welcoming. I was already familiar with the adorable anthropomorphic characters in her other books when I discovered Little Fox in the Forest. She seems to have created an entire world all her own that translates so well from book to book. You can always expect caring, kindness, and friendship in Stephanie’s world. 

The wordless story introduces two friends, a girl and a boy. When a cute little, sweatered fox snatches the girl’s favorite stuffed animal from the playground, her friend helps her try to find it. They run into the woods together and happen upon the most amazing alternate universe.

The girl and boy locate the stuffed animal only to discover that the little fox who found it seems to need it so much more. Through a happy ending, we learn that sharing can feel rewarding too.

Weather, magic, the power to control the weather, and the power of friendship… This story has all the ingredients I love. Perfect for slightly younger readers, it’s packed with quirky cartoony illustrations and has a wonderful cast of characters, including my favourite: the farting cloud cat, Nim. A gentle magical adventure that will leave young readers looking up at the sky and wondering…

This book surprised the heck out of me. In a genre where overpowered main characters are the norm, this story proved that even the greatest of powers can have limitations. It proves that with enough creativity, even the simplest of abilities can astound and amaze. The story also does an amazing job of mixing in intrigue and mystery without needing to constantly explain or do information dumps. I could blather on about this story, but above all else, the way in which it was executed makes it a must-mention on this list.