Since William Penn presided over the state's only official witch trial in 1684, witchcraft and folk magic have been a part of the history of the Keystone State. English and German settlers brought their beliefs in magic with them from the Old World--sometimes with dangerous consequences. In 1802, an Allegheny County judge helped an accused witch escape an angry mob. Susan Mummey was not so fortunate. In 1934, she was shot and killed in her home by a young Schuylkill County man who was convinced that she had cursed him. In other regions of the state, views on folk magic were more complex. While hex doctors were feared in the Pennsylvania German tradition, powwowers were and are revered for their abilities to heal, lift curses and find lost objects. Folklorist Thomas White traces the history and lore of witchcraft and the occult that quietly live on in Pennsylvania even today.

Cotton Mather chronicles the Salem witch trials which took place in New England in the late 18th century. Together with the trials, this book holds detailed accounts of devilish phenomena Mather believed were linked to the discovery of the local witches. Mather discusses a range of spiritual phenomena reported by various figures in the fledgling society of New England. Sudden apparitions, visions, and other strange goings on which she believed were linked to the frequent finding of witches are cataloged. The bulk of the text however is concerned with the trials of many witches, the causes of their accusations, and the circumstances under which they were tried. Mather's book is today one of the best and most complete primary narratives of what came to be known as the Salem witch trials; with accounts of witnesses, judges, and evidence put forward all present. Furthermore, Mather's book was published in 1693, shortly after the trials were concluded.

Bestselling author Philip Matyszak explores how the Greeks and Romans used magic, who performed it – and why. Magic was everywhere in the ancient world. The supernatural abounded, turning flowers into fruit and caterpillars into butterflies. Magic packed a cloud of water vapour with energy enough to destroy a house with one well-aimed thunderbolt. It was everyday magic, but it was still magical. Philip Matyszak takes readers into that world. He shows us how to make a love potion or cast a curse, how to talk to the dead and how to identify and protect oneself from evil spirits. He takes us to a world where gods, like humans, were creatures of space and time; where people could not just talk to spirits and deities, but could even themselves become divine; and where divine beings could fall from – or be promoted to – full godhood. Ancient Magic offers us a new way of understanding the role of magic, looking at its history in all of its classical forms. Drawing on a wide array of sources, from Greek dramas to curse tablets, lavishly illustrated throughout, and packed with information, surprises, lore and learning, this book offers an engaging and accessible way into the supernatural for all.

POSSESSION DEMONIACAL AND OTHER AMONG PRIMITIVE RACES, IN ANTIQUITY, THE MIDDLE AGES, AND MODERN TIMES by T. K. OESTERREICH PROFESSOR AT THE UNIVERSITY OF TUBINGEN LONDON. Originally published in I930. Contents include; TRANSLATORS NOTE . . . . ix FOREWORD xi PART I THE NATURE OF THE STATE OF POSSESSION INTRODUCTION THE CONSTANT NATURE OF POSSESSION THROUGHOUT THE AGES ....... 3 CHAPTER I. SOURCES . . . . . .12 II. THE EXTERNAL SIGNS OF POSSESSION . . 17 Changes in the physiognomy of the possessed, 17. Changes of voice, 19. Muscular strength, 22. Old descriptions, 25. III. THE SUBJECTIVE STATE OF THE POSSESSED . 26 i. THE SOMNAMBULISTIC FORM OF POSSESSION. Apparent substitution of the spiritual individuality oper ating in the organism, 26. Examples of dialogues with possessing spirits, 29. Autobiography of one of these, 81. Somnambulistic possession without inner duplica tion, 32. Transformation of the personality, 34. The problem of division of the subject, 36. ii. THE LUCID FORM OF P