The gods only know how many "witch 101" books exist that will take the reader by the hand and show them how to be a witch; but what if you don't even know if that's what you want, you just want to explore the very general ideas involved? I actually missed Pagan Curious when it came out, but the follow-up volume Pagan Curiouser released this year (2026) and prompted me to go back and take a look at them as a set. At the risk of betraying the deep secrets of the book reviewer (or at least this book reviewer), I will admit that sometimes I look to see what others have already written about my latest assignment. Certainly not to just mimic someone else, but occasionally I don't know exactly how I'm feeling about a book and reading someone else's thoughts can help crystalize my own. If I had friends who read the same books I'd talk to them but I usually don't, so I poke at the thoughts of strangers. When I started to formulate a review after reading two books by Debra DeAngelo, Pagan Curious and Pagan Curiouser, I found a low-star review by someone who said, in part, that if you have questions like "What’s the day to day life of practicing this religion look like? What’s the organizational structure of this religion? What is the underlying mythos of this religion? You won't find answers here." Which made me laugh because that's essentially what I want to say in a very *positive* review about these books.
Simply put, these are the books that I needed back when I was first getting started. I'm fully invested in the idea that "There's More Out There", but the nature of "More" still eludes me. Having someone like DeAngelo who has no end point in mind when showing you the ropes is so refreshing. The introductory books I've seen have varying levels of open-mindedness to them, but I've never seen someone so close to zero on the scale of beliefs they need to lead you towards. That said, these books are not all fluff. When it comes to staple tools of investigating your spirituality the author does have plenty of practical guidance. With tarot, for example, she has a firm opinion on learning with Rider-Waite, but even there she explains that it is simply the starting point for so many other decks that it makes sense in her opinion to be familiar with the Rosetta Stone of tarot, before happily encourging you to dive into any deck that appeals to your interests. In her sections on tools she gives as broad a description as possible to things like chalices and wands while still discussing their essential functions. (I am amused by the fact that in two books she lists two different pronunciations for the athame, which tracks with some of the sillier arguments I've seen in pagan circles over the years.) She really is trying to get you on to your own path rather than her own.
All that being said, she definitely is coming from an eclectic pagan point of view. A reader is quite unlikely to feel a strong calling to ceremonial magic or Gardnerian Wicca from DeAngelo's books, unless as a result of thinking "none of this sounds right to me" and going off in a different direction. My own experience is that folks likely to be pulled in that direction aren't going to be so aimlessly studying but forewarned is forearmed. I don't think there would be a particular danger in reading "Pagan Curiouser" without reading the prior volume. It definitely presumes you've done some work already in sorting out where your path may lead, but the explorations of topics in the mind-body connection, mindfulness particularly as it relates to your experience moving through the world, and some fundamentals of considering the working of magic is not likely to confuse someone who is just starting out. Leave them with questions? Certainly, but then isn't that almost always the case with these things?
Classic introductory works like Cunningham's Wicca: A Guide for the Solitary Practitioner, or the more recent solid entries like A Witch's Guide to Crafting Your Practice are definitely good starting points for most readers, but if you're not even sure that you're shopping in the right section of the bookstore at this point, Pagan Curious and its sister Pagan Curiouser are the lightest possible touch you can place on the balance as you weigh your options. Even though I wish I'd found them years ago, I'm happy I've get them on my shelf now.
~review by Wanderer
Author: Debra DeAngelo
Pagan Curious: A Beginner's Guide to Nature, Magic & Spirituality
Llewellyn Worldwide, 2022
pp. 292, $19.99
Pagan Curiouser: A Joyful Path of Nature, Magic & Spirituality
Llewellyn Worldwide, 2026
pp. 320, $19.99
