The Lemegeton, an actual old-ass grimoire that was not written with entertainment in mind, really works. It can take a good deal of study and experimentation to get results out of it, but the bones are solid.

I second this. Solid grimoire and a staple of western esotericism 'The book of solomon's magic' by Poke Runyon has some great explanations and instructions for beginners, in case anyone wants to try working with it. The Heptameron and Grimorium Verum are solid grimoires on their own, but they complement the Lemegeton really well.

But does it require things that the average person can't attain, like a solid gold talisman or anything like that?

No. Substitutions are always possible.

Old doesn't mean better, usually practices grow better with more people practicing them, witchcraft by itself is school that is easy to get to, and for people who are better at intuitive practices, all magick schools have ceremonies and rituals, there is just difference in their executions If you want schools that is better defined with more rules, then look into ceremonial matick also called high magick, if you don't mind working with angels look for 'angels and arc angels the magicians guide' , that book itself is good from begginer to intermediate lvl, it's simple to grasp, and is based on the tree of life Keep in mind however all schools contain rituals and similar practices, this is not Harry Poter so don't expect fire balls or levitating feathers Decide why you want to get into the occult and go from there, witch craft is only one of many practices, after you have a better idea on what you view or what you want to get out of magick, go to the sidebar of this sub and pick the one that you feel you want to pursue, or the one that interests you the most, a lot of people get into witch craft since it's the most well known school, only to find out later it doesn't suit them and change it, ain't nothing wrong with that, I myself started there before thinking it's bad since it sounded like some scammers trying to convince you in some bs to me, after which I moved to ceremonial magick As I said if you want better structure go with ceremonial magick,but if that one doesn't sound good, there are many others, planetary magick, chaos magick ( this one focus entirely on the result ) shamanism, druidism, demonology, hermeticism etc, decide what you want then decide where you wanna go from there

The books are guides--even the ones that seem stupid can at least guide you about what you do not believe and don't want to do and jog ideas about what you do believe and want to do instead. If you are interested in witchcraft, explore books and websites related to folk magic in your ethnic culture and see what--if anything--inspires you. Experiment with spell work, keep a journal. Learn about and practice concentration, meditation, trance work (self-hypnosis), energy work, and astral temple work (guided meditation/imaginative concentration practices.) Also look into the intersection of witchcraft and Chaos Magic. If you are interested in broader occultism, rummage around here and online to figure out what aspect of it most appeals to you. Sure you can pull up a 16th century grimoire and a spooky spell in it, but for it to 'work,' you still need to have some foundation in concentration, meditation, trance, etc, etc.

Check out the Gallery of Magick books available on Amazon. They're results-oriented, so they're not all that educational.

Draja Mickaharic's works resulted from his years as a working New York City witch doctor If you do the exercises he gave his students, you Wil get solid results but the exercises take time The fastest and most accessible are the Gallery of Magick works

Copied from another thread because this gets asked a lot: Beginners Resources Here is a list of books and channels that provide solid starts across several traditions and approaches to magick/the occult. I'd highly recommend checking out Foolish Fish's channel. He has some really good instructional videos and recommendations that cover a lot of traditions/approaches, and it's free. There's no one true path. I think your best bet is to check around, be open minded/receptive, and see what speaks to you.

Gallery of Magick books. Best modern grimoires.

I 2nd this. Easy 2 digest & practice

Quaeria

Practical Protection Magick works well if you want, well, protection, so I'd suggest that ?

The Long Lost Friend Romanus Buchlein I've had good results with charms from both, which are widely used in my tradition. Both are in the public domain and easily found online in pdf form