Books by Isaac and Phaedra Bonewits

(and How to Get Them)

as of December, 2007

After a great deal of thought, Isaac and Phaedra have decided to cease selling autographed books via this website. We will probably bring copies of recently released titles to major festivals, but it just is not cost effective to lock money into inventory when our turnover is so slow. We encourage you to purchase our books at your local metaphysical shop. Naturally, we will be happy to autograph your copies no matter where you purchase them!
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A Bookstore Note:
Isaac strongly recommends that his readers purchase their copies of his work through their local occult, metaphysical, and new age bookstores.  However, if you don’t have one of those, then use Amazon.com or BarnesandNobel.com. Large chain bookstores, including Walmart, should have copies as well. If a bookstore claims it “can’t” get the book, let both Isaac and the publisher know!

New! If you live in Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, or Japan you can order Isaac’s books through your local version of Amazon.com!

A Warning:
If you are looking for “fluffy bunny” history or a treatment of modern Pagan and magical beliefs and practices as if they had arisen in a vacuum, or think that no one should ever criticise other religions for any reason on earth, then you may find his writing a bit too “strong” for you. On the other paw, he also tends to include subtle jokes and very bad puns...

A Request:
If you’ve read and enjoyed one or more of Isaac’s books, please consider posting a positive review at Amazon.com and barnesandnoble.com. Those reviews really effect book sales, even in brick and mortar stores!

Coming in Fall 2010 from Llewellyn Worldwide

The Laws of Magic: From Antiquity to the Quantum Age
by Isaac Bonewits

The most revolutionary chapter in his classic Real Magic will be expanded to a book-length discussion of the twenty-plus principles that describe how magic works around the world, with quotes from ancient writers, renaissance mystics, Buddhist sages, anthropologists and folklorists, nineteenth and twentieth century occultists, and quantum physicists.

This book will not be shipping until late 2010 at the earliest.

Bookstores: The Publisher is Llewellyn Worldwide. It will be carried by all major book distributors and available in major bookstore chains and small shops.

Neopagan Rites:
A Guide to Creating Public Rituals that Work
by Isaac Bonewits

Based on Isaac’s forty years of experience leading public Neopagan rituals for large groups, Neopagan Rites will provide the liturgical answers that modern Druids, Wiccans, Asatruar, and other Neopagans have long sought. Unitarian Universalists and members of other liberal religious traditions will also find useful advice and practical tips about liturgical issues that have long puzzled them. There are many books available on how to do rituals with a half a dozen friends in your livingroom, but this is the first book that tells you how to do them with twenty, two hundred, or two thousand people in a public park or temple.

Isaac goes into every aspect of liturgical design, preparation, and performance, including a detailed treatment of issues and factors that many ritual leaders and attendees (and authors of other books) have never considered. How many people will be attending your ritual? How well do they know each other? How familiar are they with the ceremony? How much of a worldview and polytheology do they share? What are the leadership styles and organizational structures involved? Do any of the participants have challenges to full participation such as mobility impairments, sensory difficulties, or allergies? How does the choice of location affect results? How do you effectively use music, dance, and other arts in your ceremonies? What do you do when things go wrong? Isaac discusses these and many more elements of effective public worship rituals, including the polytheology of worship and the technical vocabulary needed to understand the concepts involved. This book will take Neopagan liturgy into the next phase of our evolution.

Isaac has special weekend seminars and weeklong intensives available based on this book Check his Presentations page for details.

Don't pay over $250 for a used copy of Rites of Worship like some folks are doing! Get a copy of Neopagan Rites and give yourself a lovely Yule present for far less. Here are some rave reviews of the first edition:

The Lammas 2004 edition of Pagandoms leading journal PanGaia, said, “The book works on many levels: as a straightforward textbook on designing and leading rituals, its full of earthy common sense that can be applied to ceremonies both large and small. But for readers who like their how-to books laced with plenty of theory, this book does something that I would not have thought possible: it explains the elements of successful ritual design in a manner that can be applied to a variety of Pagan ceremonies, from traditional Witchcraft to eclectic Wicca to the multifarious strands of cultural or reconstructionist Pagan variants.”

“Bonewits is one of the most articulate and learned of Neopagan thinkers. [This] is a book that can help both beginning and seasoned ritual leaders. ...Most highly recommended.” (Carl McColman)

Fritz Jung, webmaster of Witchvox.com, had this to say: “Over the years, Wren and I have attended countless Pagan rituals—both private and public—ranging in size from 4 people to nearly 2000. Many have been magickal and amazing and many have been simply horrifying... We’ve watched as over 1200 Pagans introduce themselves one by one, the consummation of the ‘body and blood of the Goddess,’ 200 Pagans waiting hours for the ‘celebs’ to finally show up to ‘lead’ us all and a few High Priest/esses pushing personal agendas to those trapped in sacred space. (Well, we all have ‘our stories,’ eh? Personally, these days we really *need* to know in advance what will be going on before we participate.) In contrast, we have also experienced some truly moving and magickal circles that have manifested powerful and profound change for and within all those in attendance.

Having recently read Isaac’s Rites of Worship, I find myself asking the obvious question: ‘Where was this book all those years ago?’ And whereas Wren and I have attended hundreds of rituals, I do believe that Isaac has led/attended thousands. Based upon those years of experience, Isaac in this book details essentially everything that you need to know in order to present a powerful and magickal ritual. This brilliant book will easily ‘upgrade’ the impact and effectiveness of your rituals. Good show Isaac... Keep that good stuff comin’ ”

Click here to order Neopagan Rites from: Amazon.com or BarnesandNoble.com.

Bookstores: The ISBN is 0738711993 The Publisher is Llewellyn Worldwide. It is carried by all major book distributors and available in major bookstore chains and small shops.

Real Energy:
Systems, Spirits, and Substances to Heal, Change, and Grow
by Isaac & Phaedra Bonewits

Energy. Psi, prana, mana, chi, divine power, the tao, reiki, or “vibes,” every system of magic and mysticism calls the energies that power its practices by different names. Whether questioning the power of prayer or a healing session with a Reiki master an underlying question exists of whether this energy is all the same or if they exist as distinctly different “wavelengths” of some universal power?

When New Agers, occultists, spiritual healers, metaphysicians, artists, and Neopagans talk about the “energies” they use, what do they actually mean? Now, for the first time, a single book discusses the vocabulary, magic, metaphysics, art, and science of energy from a multi-model, 21st century perspective.

Isaac and Phaedra join their sixty-five years of magical experience to produce a unique work. Lessons included will cover the physical vocabulary of energy, the metaphysical vocabulary of energy, how the laws of magic affect energy, and the importance of focus.

Real Energy will then take these lessons to the next level giving you direction on how to understand and begin working with different energies. Half of the book is dedicated to showing you how to work with specific energies, including: the four elements, crystals, plants, animals, your own body, nature spirits, ancestors, and deities to accomplish your goals and enhance life experiences. Specific energy work practices are also covered, including: Reiki, The Huna System, working with “pure” ESP and PK, Feng Shui, and the Tantra System.

Christopher Penczak, author of The Temple of Shamanic Witchcraft and Instant Magick, says:
"Real Energy has everything you could possibly want in a book about the metaphysics of energy--science, history, magic, mysticism, a multicultural perspective, humor, and most importantly, practical application. Highly recommended for anybody working with the nebulous worlds of energy, healing, and spirits."

Oberon Zell-Ravenheart, headmaster, Grey School of Wizardry, and author of the Grimoire for the Apprentice Wizard, says:
"Real Energy brilliantly articulates the integral synthesis of science and magick we have been seeking since the dawn of the scientific revolution. Here is the foundation for a true 'meta-physics' involving living energies in a conscious cosmology paradigm."

You can click here to order it from Amazon.com or BarnesandNoble.com.

Bookstores: The ISBN is 1564149048 The Publisher is New Page Books. It is carried by all major book distributors and available in major bookstore chains and small shops.

Bonewitss Essential Guide to Druidism

With a foreword by Philip Carr-Gomm, Chosen Chief of the Order of Bards Ovates & Druids!

The most renowned (or notorious) Druid priest in North America, Isaac has spent the last four decades devoted to Druidic study. Now, he imparts his wisdom through this elegant and thoughtful tour of ancient and modern Druidism. With scholarship and wit, Isaac explores the Paleopagan, Mesopagan, and Neopagan Druids, and helps to demystify their origins, their rituals, and their prayers.

This book provides a complete overview of Druidic history, from its origins amid the Proto-Indo-European peoples, to its extermination by the Roman Empire and the Roman Church, its revival by fraternal organizations in the eighteenth century, and its triumphant renaissance as a polytheistic earth religion in the twentieth century. He discusses many historical notes and ritual details not found in other books on the topic, including the dangerous links between pubs and the founding of Druidic organizations. He also offers opinions on the nature of Druidism, Druidry, and Draíocht and speculates on their future evolution.

Bonewits's Essential Guide to Druidism is a unique and engrossing introduction to a people and a spirituality that retain their relevance and fascination today.

For an in-depth review by the Reformed Druids of North America’s leading scholar, see the Lughnasadh 2006 edition of A Druid Missal-any at the main RDNA website (about three-quarters of the way down that page).

You can click here to order it from Amazon.com, or BarnesandNoble.com.

Bookstores: The ISBN is 0-8065-2710-2. The Publisher is Citadel Press/Kensington. It is carried by all major book distributors and available in major bookstore chains and small shops.

Bonewitss Essential Guide to Witchcraft and Wicca

The latest version of Isaac’s controversial book on all the things, real and imaginary, that have been called Witchcraft over the last 1500 years is now out from Citadel Press.

Like previous editions, it includes a foreword and appendix by Ashleen O’Gaea (author of The Family Wicca Book), a succinct summation of Wicca’s true origins, a glossary, a recommended (and not!) reading list, an analysis of where Wiccan ritual came from (and how and why it works), and an introduction to Wiccan duotheology. It also contains a new appendix by Jenny Gibbons on current scholarly information about the Burning Times, plus some corrections and expansions of Isaac’s previous opinions, based on new research. This book is the fruit of the author’s over thirty years of Wiccan study and practice and will be quoted and argued over for years to come.

Here is a page of rave reviews of the current and previous editions.

You can click here to order it from Amazon.com, or BarnesandNoble.com.

Bookstores: The ISBN is 0-8065-2711-0. The Publisher is Citadel Press/Kensington. It will be carried by all major book distributors and available in major bookstore chains and small shops.


The Pagan Man: Priests, Warriors, Hunters, and Drummers

This is the first book directed to Pagan men that isn’t exclusively focused on Wicca—instead, Isaac chose to include Norse, Egyptian, Santerian, Greek, and Celtic Reconstructionists together with a wide variety of Wiccan paths. Among the topics not mentioned in the title are Pagan men as fathers, as members of men’s groups, and as members of sexual minorities, as well as some controversial quotes from Pagan men on Pagan women and a chapter of ritual materials specifically for Pagan men.

Who are the men who’ve chosen the Pagan path? They’re fathers, sons, brothers, and lovers, warriors, healers, and poets. They come from every background and profession, and they’re blazing trails into new social, cultural, and political territories, defining themselves in a faith community traditionally seen as dominated by women—yet they've been there all along!

Isaac Bonewits, one of America’s leading experts on ancient and modern Paganism, breaks new ground with this fascinating portrait of the fastest growing religious movement in the Western world. Drawing on interviews with over forty Pagan men—and his own forty years in the Neopagan community—he explores the issues and desires that have led tens of thousands of men to embrace Pagan spirituality. He examines the ways in which men have created, added to, and benefited from the Pagan experience, incorporating their own rituals, rites of passage, and symbols. The Pagan Man offers novices and experienced practitioners a wide range of practical information on every aspect of the Pagan lifestyle, including:

  • Today’s most popular Pagan traditions
  • Sages, wise men, and well-known Pagans of our time
  • Bardic circles, drumming circles, and other Pagan gatherings
  • Drumming, dancing, and calling down the Gods
  • The nine virtues, codes of chivalry, and other core Pagan beliefs attracting men and boys today
  • Pagans and the Goddess—women as partners and Goddesses

Frank, engaging, and inspirational, this book encourages Pagan men of every stripe—Wiccans, Druids, Norse Pagans, and even Masons—to step away from the shadows and stereotypes, and joyfully celebrate their own special relationships with the Gods and Goddesses of the New Old Religions.

Here’s what some reviewers have said:

“Characteristically exciting, original, perceptive, and challenging.” (Ronald Hutton, Author, Triumph of the Moon)

“I like Isaac’s work because it is direct and incisive but often laced with his distinctive brand of humour. The questions he tackles are deeply serious but he believes we can have fun while exploring them. An excellent book!” (Philip Carr-Gomm, Chosen Chief, OBOD, Author, The Rebirth of Druidry)

“A timely and necessary book, a vitally important book in the emerging Post-Feminist Pagan literature, general in scope so as to be informative and widely relevant, personal in voice so as to be genuine, communicative, and just plain useful. Hopefully it will inspire imitators, but will retain permanent value.” (Harold Moss, Founder, Church of the Eternal Source)

“What a glorious testament and vindication to all the dedicated men in our Pagan community whose devotion to the Goddess and Her avatars—the women in our lives—is our all-consuming passion.” (Oberon Zell-Ravenheart, Founder, Church of All Worlds, Author, Grimoire for the Apprentice Wizard)

“Once again Isaac dares to go where few others have gone before, namely into the hearts and minds of Pagan men. An excellent survey of the issues and themes facing Pagan men of all traditions. Great for men starting on the path who want to know what they are getting into and experienced practitioners who are looking for a fresh perspective on Paganism.” (Christopher Penczak, Author, Sons of the Goddess)

“A must read for Pagan men and women everywhere, The Pagan Man is a valued and useful resource for Pagan men and women to use in achieving a better understanding of themselves as Pagans and as a guide in improving their religious, social, sexual, personal and family lives.” (Searles O'Dubhain, Founder, www.summerlands.com)

“A well researched book offering fresh insights on what it means to be a Pagan man. Isaac offers a captivating glimpse of the world of male spirituality.” (Kerr Cuhulain, Author, The Wiccan Warrior)

“Bonewits, possibly the best-known and most widely acquainted of living Pagan writers, provides introductions to Celtic, Druidic, Norse, Egyptian, Hellenic and other forms of modern Pagan practice, and how the differing polytheologies impact the individual male in the communities growing out of those practices. As always, his fluent style is punctuated with a reverent irreverence by which the highly approachable author refuses to take himself too seriously. He presents his important material with a smile rather than a stern grimace, and the reading is much the better for it.” (Ramfis S. Firethorn, Author, Blindfold on a Tightrope)

“Isaac Bonewits proves, once again, that he’s one of the greatest Pagan scholars and authors in our community today. The Pagan Man covers ground too often neglected—the role of men in the growing Pagan religions—with accuracy, elegance, and just a touch of humour. Bravo!” (Dagonet Dewr, Exec. Dir., Pagan Pride Project)

You can click here to order it from Amazon.com, or BarnesandNoble.com.

Bookstores: The ISBN is 0-8065-2697-1. The Publisher is Citadel Press (Kensington). It is distributed by all the major book distributors.

Errata: On pages 185 and 186, in the men’s ritual of “Building the Temple,” there is an editing error. The psychic structure of the temple is a three-dimensional Golden Rectangle, so only two of the walls should be squares, while the other four sides should be identical golden rectangles.

Book coverRites of Worship: A Neopagan Approach

This book is now Out of Print!

A new edition has been published by Llewellyn Worldwide, under the title Neopagan Rites. See above for more information.

Authentic Thaumaturgy

Book CoverIsaac’s book on magic for fantasy role playing (“FRP”) gamers, out-of-print for many years, was republished in a Second Edition in 1999. Originally a rewrite of Real Magic for FRP gamers, the book now discusses the major innovations in game magic theory that have developed during the 1990s, especially the GURPS® and the Magic: The Gathering® systems, as well as a great deal of polytheological materials on magic and religion not included in Real Magic.

The original edition of Authentic Thaumaturgy had a profound effect on the FRP community in the 1980’s and became a favorite of many Dungeon Masters (game referees) and players. The new edition has attracted the same kind of attention.

There is now an eBook version (PDF) of Authentic Thaumaturgy available, courtesy of the folks at Steve Jackson Games’ eBook department: e23! You can download a free 8-page preview to check out the Table of Contents and the Introduction.

You can click here to order it from Amazon.com, or BarnesandNoble.com.

Bookstores: The ISBN is 1556343604. The Publisher is Steve Jackson Games. It is distributed by all the major book distributors.

Excerpts from Authentic Thaumaturgy can be found on this website, as well as on the publisher’s website.

Here is a page of Reviews of A.T..

For those of you who have already purchased A.T., here’s some typo corrections: In Table 5.1 (on page 52), the percentile numbers for Clairolfaction should be “64–65.” In Table 5.2 (also on page 52), the percentile numbers for Amplifying should be “31–45” and for Flair should be “01–30” — the former typo is over 20 years old! If you role the same number twice while determining a character's psi talents, just role again.

Real Magic

Book CoverIsaac’s first book was an interdisciplinary examination of global patterns of magical and religious beliefs and practices, compared with the results of parapsychological research and common sense. Topics covered included the twenty-odd (!) Laws of Magic, over forty varieties of psychic talents, magical focusing techniques, Neopagan Witchcraft and Druidism, etc.

Real Magic has been used by Neopagan teachers (and others) since 1971 as the perfect beginner’s introduction to the occult.

PanGaia, the leading English-language Pagan journal, declared Real Magic the third most respected classic Pagan book in print (behind only Starhawk’s Spiral Dance and Scot Cunningham’s Wicca: A Guide for the Solitary Practitioner) according to a committee of 33 Pagan authors. Dagonet Dewr (editor of PanGaia’s  sister publication, newWitch Magazine) said:

“Groundbreaking and thought provoking, this seminal work of magical theory was perhaps the first logical, rigorously sensible look at magic: how it works, why it works, and how you can use it. No serious student should miss the chance to enjoy Bonewits’ precise and dryly amusing prose. Special attention should be paid to how Real Magic handles the interplay of magic and morality, as well as the clear, concise, and brilliant simplification of the universal laws of magic.”

Ordering information: The ISBN is 0877286884. You should be able to get Real Magic from most mainstream bookstores and (of course) from any occult or esoteric bookstore. It is carried by most New Age and secular book distributors. Real Magic is available directly from Red Wheel/Weiser, PO Box 612, York Beach, ME, USA 03910. Voice phone is 1-800-423-7087. Fax phone is 1-207-363-5799 (Eastern time). Credit card ordering is possible by voice phone, fax, or by email.

You can click here to order it from Amazon.com, or BarnesandNoble.com.

Bookstores: The ISBN is 0877286884. The Publisher is Red Wheel/Weiser/Conari. It is distributed by all the major book distributors.

The Druid Chronicles (Evolved)…

…were partly written and partly edited by Isaac in the early 1970’s. They included much of the history, customs and liturgies (at least the Pagan materials) of the Reformed Druids of North America and their branches. This has been out-of-print for many years. A few years ago, a new edition was incorporated into a senior thesis called A Reformed Druid Anthology, which was updated in 2003 and posted as a series of PDF files at that link, by former Carleton Arch Druid Michael Scharding. If you can physically visit Northfield, Minnesota, you might want to see the Carleton College Archives’ Modern Druids Collection. According to College Archivist, Eric Hillemann, “The Modern Druids Collection includes the archives of the Reformed Druids of North America, and in particular of the Carleton grove, as well as a reference collection on other post–1963 druidic groups (RDNA offshoots and others) consisting of donated publications and other material.” Supposedly, St. Olaf’s College across the street from Carleton also has a small collection of Mesopagan Druid materials which may have influenced the founders of the RDNA.

Copyright © 2007 c.e., Isaac Bonewits. This text file may be freely distributed on the Net, provided that no editing is done, the date is retained, and everything in this notice box is included. If you would like to be on one or more of Isaac Bonewits’ emailing lists, click here to get subscription information.

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(P. E.) Isaac Bonewits, Adr.Em./ADF
Email: ibonewits@neopagan.net
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This webpage is copyright © 2007 c.e., Isaac Bonewits
Most recently updated: August 12, 2009 c.e.
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