This authoritative reference work presents a full image of the Prince of Darkness as he appears throughout traditional theology, mythology, art and literature, and popular culture. This nonsensationalist encyclopedia examines contemporary images of the devil and sorts out the many different forms these images take. Although much of the myths relating to Satan derive directly or indirectly from the Christian tradition, the key sources of diabolical images today are horror movies, heavy metal music, and conservative Christian literature. This encyclopedia gives a brief overview depicting the history and transformation of the meaning of the Prince of Darkness, and 300 entries cover subjects like the angel of death, backward masking (messages revealed when songs are played backward), neopagan witchcraft, UFOs, and The Satanic Bible. Extensive appendixes include the l992 FBI study of satanic ritual abuse, the most influential document ever written on the subject, as well as sample satanic scriptures and a satanic wedding ceremony. Satanism Today also includes a chronology, bibliographies, and references.

This comprehensive resource explores the intersection of religion, politics, and the supernatural that spawned the notorious witch hunts in Europe and the New World. "Witch Hunts in the Western World: Persecution and Punishment from the Inquisition through the Salem Trials" traces the evolution of western attitudes towards magic, demons, and religious nonconformity from the Roman Empire through the Age of Enlightenment, placing these chilling events into a wider social and historical context. Witch hunts are discussed in eight narrative chapters by region, highlighting the cultural differences of the people who incited them as well as the key reforms, social upheavals, and intellectual debates that shaped European thought. Vivid accounts of trials and excerpts from the writings of both witch hunters and defenders throughout the Holy Roman Empire, France, the British Isles and colonies, Southern Europe, Scandinavia, and Eastern Europe bring to life one of the most intriguing and shocking periods in Western history.

This in-depth and comprehensive resource explores the intersection of religion, politics, and the supernatural that spawned the notorious witch hunts in Europe and the New World. "Witch Hunts in the Western World" traces the evolution of western attitudes towards magic, demons, and religious nonconformity from the Roman Empire through the Age of Enlightenment, placing these chilling events into a wider social and historical context. Witch hunts are discussed in fascinating detail by region, highlighting the cultural differences of the people who incited them as well as the key reforms, social upheavals, and intellectual debates that shaped European thought. Vivid accounts of trials and excerpts from the writings of both witch hunters and defenders throughout the Holy Roman Empire, France, the British Isles and colonies, Southern Europe, Scandinavia, and Eastern Europe bring to life one of the most intriguing and shocking periods in Western history.

Accessible narrative chapters make this a fascinating volume for general readers while offering a wealth of historic information for students and scholars. Features include a complete glossary of terms, timeline of major events, recommended reading selections, index, and black and white illustrations.

DID THE DEVIL MAKE ME DO IT? The Purpose and Premise of this book. The Purpose: The book was not written simply to offer proof of the existence of the Devil, or to just characterize his behavior. It was written to offer a deep and detailed study on his existence, yes, but also on his origin, objectives and role in the affairs of human beings. Further, it was written to lay out the evidence of his involvement and offer biblical strategies to defeat his efforts to destroy the human family. The Premise: if mankind is enlightened enough to acknowledge the Devil's existence, recognize his actions of evil toward them as individuals and mankind in general, defeat him in their daily walk of experience by relying on God's Word and the Holy Spirit, as did Jesus, they can and will live abundant, peaceful and fulfilling lives. The Book explores question such as: Is the Devil real or a myth? Who is the Devil? What are his intentions toward Man? How can humans protect themselves from his attacks? Does human nature play a part in mankind's involvement with evil? What does human nature and evil have in common? Why hasn't the Devil been destroyed? Why do the righteous suffer? How to be blessed in the midst of the Devil? How to overcome both the Devil and self?

"The Goetia" is the most famous grimoire after the Key of Solomon. This volume contains a transcription of a hitherto unpublished manuscript of the Lemegeton which includes four whole grimoires: "Liber Malorum Spituum seu Goetia"; "Theurgia-Goetia"; "Ars Paulina" (Books 1 & 2); and, "Ars Almadel". This was owned by Dr Thomas Rudd, a practising scholar-magician of the early seventeenth century. There are many editions of the "Goetia", of which the most definitive is that of Joseph Peterson, but here we are interested in how the "Goetia" was actually used by practising magicians in the 16th and 17th century, before the knowledge of practical magic faded into obscurity. To evoke the 72 demons listed here without the ability to bind them would be foolhardy indeed. It was well known in times past that invocatio and ligatio, or binding, was a key part of evocation, but in the modern editions of the "Goetia" this key technique is expressed in just one word 'Shemhamaphorash', and its use is not explained. This volume explains how the 72 angels of the Shem ha-Mephorash are used to bind the spirits, and the correct procedure for safely invoking them using special seals incorporating the necessary controlling angel, whose name is also engraved on the breastplate and Brass Vessel.

Sigmund Freud and The Forsyth Case uses newly discovered primary sources to investigate one of Sigmund Freud's most mysterious clinical experiences, the Forsyth case. Maria Pierri begins with a preliminary illustration of the case, its historical context, and how it connects to Freud's interests in 'thought-transmission', or telepathy. Sigmund Freud and The Forsyth Case details Pierri's attempts to recover the lost original case notes, which are published here for the first time, to identify the patient involved and to set the case into the broader frame of Freud's work. The book also explores Freud's further investigations into thought-transmission, focusing around a meeting of the Secret Committee in October 1919 and his clinical work with his own daughter Anna. Occultism and the Origins of Psychoanalysis traces the origins of key psychoanalytic ideas back to their roots in hypnosis and the occult. Maria Pierri follows Sigmund Freud's early interest in 'thought transmission', now known as telepathy. Freud's private investigations led to discussions with other leading figures, including Sandor Ferenczi, with whom he held a 'dialogue of the unconsciouses', and Carl Jung. Freud and Ferenczi's work assessed how fortune tellers could read the past from a client, inspiring their investigations into countertransference, the analytic relationship, unconscious communication and mother-infant relationality. Pierri clearly links modern psychoanalytic practice with Freud's interests in the occult using primary sources, some of which have never before been published in English. These books will be essential reading for psychoanalysts in practice and in training, as well as academics and scholars of psychoanalytic studies, Freudian ideas, psychoanalytic theory, the occult, spirituality and the history of psychology.

Once associated with astrology and occultist prophecy, the art of interpreting personal character based on facial and other physical features dates back to antiquity. About Face tells the intriguing story of how physiognomics became particularly popular during the Enlightenment, no longer as a mere parlor game but as an empirically grounded discipline. The story expands to illuminate an entire tradition within German culture, stretching from Goethe to the rise of Nazism. In About Face, Richard T. Gray explores the dialectical reversal - from the occult to the scientific realm - that entered physiognomic thought in the late eighteenth century, beginning with the positivistic writings of Swiss pastor Johann Caspar Lavater. Originally claimed to promote understanding and love, physiognomics devolved into a system aimed at valorizing a specific set of physical, moral, and emotional traits and stamping everything else as ""deviant."" This development not only reinforced racial, national, and characterological prejudices but also lent such beliefs a presumably scientific grounding. In the period following World War I, physiognomics experienced yet another unprecedented boom in popularity. Gray explains how physiognomics had by then become a highly respected ""super-discipline"" that embraced many prominent strands of German thought: the Romantic philosophy of nature, the ""life philosophy"" propagated by Dilthey and Nietzsche, the cultural pessimism of Schopenhauer, Husserl's method of intuitive observation, Freudian psychoanalysis, and early-twentieth-century eugenics and racial biology. A rich exploration of German culture, About Face offers fresh insight into the intellectual climate that allowed the dangerous thinking of National Socialism to take hold.

This book contains 11 essays and a comprehensive bibliography. The essays reveal the extent to which Philip K. Dick's personal obsessions pre-figured postmodernist concerns with humanity's self-alienation, cultural and personal paranoia, and the politics of simulation, deceit, and self-deception. The contributors reveal how Dick's ontological concerns, stated in his repeated questioning of "What is real?," are also political concerns. Thus, they examine the philosophical and religious foundations on which his work rests, offering much-needed arguments which reveal both his philosophical depth and the extent to which he drew from esoteric and occult religions. His cultural critique also receives significant exposition, as the contributors reveal how Dick's fiction enacts the larger cultural struggles of cold war America, with its conflicting private visions and public realities, and its personal and political loyalties. The contributors argue for the significance of heretofore neglected or marginalized texts of Dick as well, including in their discussions many early short stories from the early 1950s and neglected novels of the mid-1960s, arguing that there is a need to understand how Dick shaped (or misshaped) his fictions so as to reimagine the life of his society.

'Intriguing' – Sunday Times 'A rousing read' – Irish Times 'A bright light of Francophone feminism' – New York Times Renowned journalist Mona Chollet recasts the witch as a powerful role model: an emblem of strength, free to exist beyond the narrow limits society imposes on women. Taking three archetypes from historic witch hunts – independent women, women who avoid having children and women who embrace ageing – Chollet examines how women today have the same charges levelled against them. She calls for justice in healthcare, challenging the gender imbalance in science and questioning why female bodies must still controlled by men. Rich with popular culture, literary references and media insights, In Defence of Witches is a vital addition to the cultural conversation around women, witches and the misogyny that has shaped the world they live in. With a foreword by Carmen Maria Machado and translated from French by Sophie R. Lewis.

The southwest Virginia murder trials of a young schoolteacher named Edith Maxwell made her a cause celebre of the 1930s. No newspaper reader or radio listener could avoid hearing of her case in 1935 or 1936, and few magazines neglected to run at least one story on the case. In the media attention that it received, the Maxwell case rivaled the Scopes monkey trial of the 1920s, and for some it seemed to involve many of the same sociological issues--the conflict between modernism and tradition, between urban and rural values, between the sexes, and between generations. Feminist organizations like the National Women's Party and other women's business and professional organizations rallied to Edith's defense because women were not allowed on criminal juries in Virginia in the 1930s.

Everyone needs freedom. Everyone desires freedom. Everyone deserves freedom. Freedom is not just a passion but a God given right. This book explores the realms of freedom and discusses some of the various types of freedom needed in different facets of human lives and endeavors. It lays hold on the reasons freedom may have been curtailed in certain environments, and how it can be released and restored. Freedom is discussed as a case of deliverance in the realms of the spirit and the natural. Learn how to raise a battle against the enemy in order to obtain emancipation from all manner of satanic terrorism and interferences. You need the gift of freedom. You can be free. This book provides the antidote to your freedom.