"In the sixteenth century, a rise in sexual violence in European society was exacerbated by pressure from church and state to change basic sexual customs...As the centuries since have shown escalating levels both of violence, general and sexual, and of state control, the witchcraze can be considered a portent, even a model, of some aspects of what modern Europe would be like."

Over three centuries, approximately one hundred thousand persons, most of whom were women, were put to death under the guise of "witch hunts", particularly in Reformation Europe. The shocking annihilation of women from all walks of life is explored in this brilliant, authoritative feminist history Anne Llwellyn Barstow. Barstow exposes an unrecognized holocaust -- the "ethnic cleansing" of independent women in Reformation Europe -- and examines the residual attitudes that continue to influence our culture.

Barstow argues that it is only with eyes sensitive to gender issues that we can discern what really happened in the persecution and murder of these women. Her sweeping chronicle examines the scapegoating of women from the ills of society, investigates how their subjugation to sexual violence and death sent a message of control to all women, and compares this persecution of women with the enslavement and slaughter of African slaves and Native Americans.

Ultimately Barstow traces the current backlash against women to its gynophobic torture-filled origins. In the process, she leaves an indelible mark on our growing understanding of the legacy of violence against women around the world.

In today's busy world, it can be hard to make time for magic but this practical guide helps keep you inspired and connected to your spirituality. Designed so that you can easily choose a spell, meditation, or ritual to suit your needs, Witch Life is the perfect tool for making your practice thrive, even in the busiest times.Emma Kathryn presents spells and workings for nearly every purpose, from protection rituals and kitchen witchery to candle magic and spirit work. Explore healing and hexing magic, moon and plant magic, and magical crafts. Discover exciting ways to celebrate the sabbats, harness the elements, and more. From worshipping deities to creating charms, this book offers something for beginners and experienced practitioners alike.

Develop your hidden intuitive skills and discover Wiccan wisdom with this beautifully illustrated divinatory deck and guidebook pack. Featuring key Wiccan symbols and archetypes, the cards help you connect to a place of deep inner knowledge to find the answers you seek. Each card represents a quality of energy and carries its own particular meaning in a reading, while 'high notes and low notes' offer insight into the possibilities and pitfalls you're likely to encounter on your present course. Including fascinating background on the history of Wicca and the Wiccan festivals through the year, along with a selection of card spreads to address all types of enquiry, The Witches' Oracle will help you develop your intuitive skills and weave magic into your life as you set out on your quest for guidance.

To me, Wicca will always be about experiencing the earth, working with what you can find and practising the craft for its true meaning. It promotes equality in all and has brought me many benefits: acceptance, kindness and self-love. Harmony Nice is at the heart of a growing community of modern-day wiccans who practise natural magic to improve their own lives and the world around them. In Wicca she encourages you to explore the positive impact that ritual, meditation and embracing nature can have on your creativity, confidence and sense of self-worth. Discover how to cast spells, start your own Book of Shadows, join a coven and feel empowered to follow a path that feels good and true to you.

This collection of forty elegant botanical cards draws inspiration from healers, helpers, and shaman who walk the thin places between one world and another. These wise folks find the plants of their practice at the edges of cultivated fields as well as deep in the woods, wilds, and along shorelines. From artist Siolo Thompson, the creator of the popular Linestrider Tarot (978-0-7387-4829-0), the lovingly illustrated cards in this deck each include an oracle property that provides guidance or meditative focus to a seeker. Includes plant diagrams, recipes, and folklore.

With 560 entries, a resource section, and 114 photos and illustrations, The Witch Book is an exhaustive A-to-Z exploration of people, places, events, literature and other matters related to the ever-timely and popular topic. Buckland defines both the darker Christian concept and the true concept of Wicca, concentrating on the Western European and later New World versions of Witchcraft and magic. From Abracadabra to Aleister Crowley to Gardnerian Witchcraft to Rosemary's Baby to sorcery and Zoroastra, The Witch Book is unmatched in its coverage of witchcraft.

How would you like to increase the power of your magick? Now you can, with the help of real Louisiana Hoodoo. In "Charms, Spells & Formulas, "you'll find rituals and recipes for incenses, oils, powders and washes that you can use to make changes in your life.
But that's just the beginning. You'll learn the secrets of how to make gris-gris bag charms for any purpose. You also get full instructions on how to set up your altar and perform the ritual to charge the bag so that it becomes a powerful magical tool. Need to improve your health or love life? Make a gris-gris bag
You'll also learn how to make magical dolls from cloth and clay, and how to increase the power of magical candles by adding herbs to them.
Do you think you might have been given the "evil eye?" You'll learn how to overcome it with the instructions given here. The book also includes full instructions on how to use prayers and Bible psalms to solve your problems.
Hoodoo is a tradition that is 200 years old. Within these pages you'll find the secrets of genuine Hoodoo and be able to put them to use You can use Hoodoo to help get rid of illness and bring prosperity, find romance and get rid of bad luck. If you are doing any sort of magick at all, you'll find that the techniques in this book will powerfully enhance your magick. And if you're new to magick, you'll be surprised at just how successful the magick in this book can be.
Are you ready to really make a change in your life? With the help of this book and some common herbs, you can do it. Get this book today

This book describes life as a Village Wisewoman in the wilds of West Cornwall. The first part of the book documents the tortuous and sometimes harrowing journey to achieve this unusual occupation. It is a tale that ultimately moves through surviving and into thriving. Cassandras past experiences directly inform her present practice and are intrinsic to being a wisewoman -- she acquires wisdom from actively experiencing and observing the vagaries of life. As part of her work she travels around the country giving talks about her profession, and without exception is asked each time what brought her to become a village wisewoman. Many people want to hear about that journey and this is one of the reasons for deciding to write the book. Following on from this, Cassandra tells of the practice of her craft, which includes many stories and observations regarding the day-to-day experiences of a traditional wisewoman including her personal approach to magic. At present the market is flooded with how-to-do books on witchcraft and associated themes. Almost without exception they inform in an authoritative way often including a cookbook of spells. There is far more to the Craft of the Wise than simply following someone elses recipes for performing magic. It entails old-fashioned qualities such as hard work, discipline, dedication and commitment. This book differs in that it describes the why as well as the how and in that sense challenges the reader to question and explore their own experiences of the worlds magical.

Part guided journaling practice, part interactive magical grimoire, The Magical Writing Grimoire shows you how to incorporate writing as a magical tool to create healing and amplify spell-casting. Whenever and wherever you are, word magic is with you. During times of chaos or pain, or simply when you need a cosmic boost, writing can help. In fact, healers, therapists, and magical practitioners have long incorporated writing in their practices. From letter writing for creating closure to dream diaries, writing is a powerful process for moving your dreams into manifestation. The Magical Writing Grimoire approaches writing as a self-actualizing, intentional, and healing act. You will learn how to combine writing with ritual and magic for self-discovery, clarifying intentions, creating and making things happen, and manifestation. You will also be guided in how to create a personal grimoire-a magical book of self rituals, spells, and intentions. Each chapter contains writing prompts that also incorporate magical ritual and tools including working with crystals, spell incantation, or candle alchemy. Other rituals and prompts may be set up for certain moon phases or ask you to bury or burn a piece of paper. Equal parts practical and inspiring, The Magical Writing Grimoire shows you how to wield your word as your wand.

What makes this book unique? The world of the gray witch has been largely avoided, misrepresented, or glossed over with various books geared gingerly towards 'protection magic'. These books, though informative and well written as they may be, have totally missed the spirit of the gray witch - - who she really is, how she relates to the world of shadow and light, and exactly what she's willing to do to stand her ground. In our society 'dark' is automatically viewed as 'evil'; and 'light' is automatically viewed as 'good'. We're expected to live completely within one realm and to totally avoid the other. This creates imbalance and is a great injustice to the true spirit of the ancient wise woman. This book puts matters to right and gives the public a view of just what the gray witch is - and what she isn't. The gray witch does not live in a world of chaos or unbridled black magic. She has a code of honor, a sense of propriety, and a relevance in today's society.

Is it possible to gain spiritual enlightenment even in difficult or threatening situations? What is the nature of evil and the role of seemingly bad things in the universe? In this thorough and thoughtful protection magick handbook, you are urged to take responsibility for your own actions, ask what you might learn from any situation, and hold compassion for those you may view as doing harm. Popular Wiccan author and teacher Christopher Penczak takes a threefold approach to protection magick in this guide for Witches, Pagans, shamans, and psychics. First, find out how to protect yourself using personal energy, will, and intent. Next, discover how to connect with your guardian spirits, angels, and patron deities. Finally, learn how to use traditional spellcraft and ritual for protection. This comprehensive guide to psychic self-defense and protection magick also includes an audio CD of protection meditations read by the author.Praise: "A wise, helpful book for beginners and intermediate students of the Craft."--PUBLISHERS WEEKLY

2005 Coalition of Visionary Resources (COVR) 1st Runner Up in Magic/Magick category

Buckland's Complete Book of Witchcraft has influenced and guided countless students, coven initiates, and solitaries around the world. One of modern Wicca's most recommended books, this comprehensive text features a step-by-step course in Witchcraft, with photographs and illustrations, rituals, beliefs, history, and lore, as well as instruction in spellwork, divination, herbalism, healing, channeling, dreamwork, sabbats, esbats, covens, and solitary practice. The workbook format includes exam questions at the end of each lesson, so you can build a permanent record of your spiritual and magical training. This complete self-study course in modern Wicca is a treasured classic--an essential and trusted guide that belongs in every Witch's library.

Praise: "A masterwork by one of the great Elders of the Craft. Raymond Buckland has presented a treasure trove of Wiccan lore. It is a legacy that will provide magic, beauty, and wisdom to future generations of those who seek the ancient paths of the Old Religion."--Ed Fitch, author of Magical Rites from the Crystal Well

"I read Buckland's Complete Book of Witchcraft with much pleasure. This book contains enough information and know-how for all approaches: the historical, the philosophical, and the pragmatic . . . quite entertaining, as much for the armchair enthusiast as for the practicing occultist."--Marion Zimmer Bradley, author of The Mists of Avalon

"Never in the history of the Craft has a single book educated as many people, spurred as many spiritual paths, or conjured as much personal possibility as Buckland's Complete Book of Witchcraft."--Dorothy Morrison, author of The Craft

Elves and dwarves, gnomes and frost giants. . . Norse mythology is filled with tales of such supernatural beings, nature spirits, and powerful deities. Many people know that the Norse people were fierce warriors, but did you know that they were powerful magicians as well?

Norse Magic has everything you need to learn in order to begin practicing Norse spirituality. Discover the history and religion of the Vikings, including Norse mythology, seasonal festivals, and magical techniques.

If you are interested in practicing Norse Wicca, you'll learn about the three-fold goddess and the god, as well as how to celebrate the holidays, all from the perspective of Norse Paganism. Discover the secrets of herb magic, cauldron magic, cord magic, elf magic, dwarf magic, and more. These magical techniques are presented in a clear, step-by-step format.

The practice of Norse magic enlists the help of the Asa-Gods, Light Elves and good Dwarves. It elicits aid from dead ancestors and the rulers of the Elements. It is an active magic, reserved for participants, not bystanders. In order to work the magic of this system you must attune yourself to the powers of the Elements, calling upon the Asa-Gods and other supernatural beings. Norse Magic includes complete instructions, exercises, and rituals for this technique.

The Norse Pagans were one of the last European societies to convert to Christianity, but their Pagan mythology and magic survived and continues to thrive. Norse Magic is your key to the study and practice of this powerful and ancient spiritual system.

Experience the simple, solitary path of the Hedgewitch and all it has to offer. Requiring few tools or complex rituals, a Hedgewitch relies instead on traditional folkloric knowledge, a relationship with nature, and the art of hedge riding (trance work) to create a more beneficial life for all. Joanna van der Hoeven shows you how to honor deity, work with the elements, celebrate the sabbats, and otherwise learn through nature. You will discover how to walk between worlds and establish an ever-growing relationship with the Fair Folk. This introductory guide includes everything you need to build your own Hedgewitch tradition. With it, you can connect to the wisdom of wild places and enjoy the enchantment that comes from living a truly magical life.

Death Becomes Her' was shortlisted for the Crime Writers Association Short Story Daggers.

Nothing says Christmas more than a good old fashioned ghost story on a dark winter's night, so sit back and enjoy a little pinch of Yuletide mayhem.

These extraordinary tales, one for each day of Christmas, explore the odd, the peculiar and the downright chilling, from a Strange encounter with an Icelandic Shaman, to a psychic policewoman, lively winged beasts and warnings from the recently departed.

Some of these stories appeared in the ebook The Strange Casebook, 2018

Traditionally much of the work of the Witch took place around the hearth, where, herbs, plants and other ingredients were specially blended to create medicines to mend the body and heal the spirit, and foods and wines were created to celebrate the festivals of the Wheel of the Year. Today's hearth is the kitchen, and for many Witches it is the work-centre where they make the recipes and other 'tools' of their trade.The book includes:Oils, lotions and ointments, for magical and healing purposes• Soaps and bathing distillations, to prepare for Magical undertakings.• Brews and teas, using herb lore to heal the body and mind.• Soups, stews and other foods to sustain the sick and aid healing.• Candles and incenses, for use in Rituals and Magic.• Cakes, biscuits and breads, to honour the Goddess and the God.• Sabbat foods and wines to celebrate the Wheel of the Year.• Sachets of herbs to be given to those seeking protection, healing, confidence and many other problems