As I attempted to digest stories of spiritual cannibalism, of curses that could cost a student her eyesight or ignite the pages of the books she read, I knew I was not alone in my skepticism. And yet, when I caught sight of the waving arms of an industrious scarecrow, the hair on the back of my neck would stand on end. It was most palpable at night, this creepy feeling, when the moon stayed low to the horizon and the dust kicked up in the breeze, reaching out and pulling back with ghostly fingers. There was something to this place that could be felt but not seen.

With these words, Karen Palmer takes us inside one of West Africa's witch camps, where hundreds of banished women struggle to survive under the watchful eye of a powerful wizard. Palmer arrived at the Gambaga witch camp with an outsider's sense of outrage, believing it was little more than a dumping ground for difficult women. Soon, however, she encountered stories she could not explain: a woman who confessed she'd attacked a girl given to her as a sacrifice; another one desperately trying to rid herself of the witchcraft she believed helped her kill dozens of people.

In "Spellbound, "Palmer brilliantly recounts the kaleidoscope of experiences that greeted her in the remote witch camps of northern Ghana, where more than 3,000 exiled women and men live in extreme poverty, many sentenced in a ceremony hinging on the death throes of a sacrificed chicken.

As she ventured deeper into Ghana's grasslands, Palmer found herself swinging between belief and disbelief. She was shown books that caught on fire for no reason and met diviners who accurately predicted the future. From the schoolteacher who believed Africa should use the power of its witches to gain wealth and prestige to the social worker who championed the rights of accused witches but also took his wife to a witch doctor, Palmer takes readers deep inside a shadowy layer of rural African society.

As the sheen of the exotic wore off, Palmer saw the camp for what it was: a hidden colony of women forced to rely on food scraps from the weekly market. She witnessed the way witchcraft preyed on people's fears and resentments. Witchcraft could be a comfort in times of distress, a way of explaining a crippling drought or the inexplicable loss of a child. It was a means of predicting the unpredictable and controlling the uncontrollable. But witchcraft was also a tool for social control. In this vivid, startling work of first-person reportage, Palmer sheds light on the plight of women in a rarely seen corner of the world.

The Book of Elven Magick, The Philosophy and Enchantments of the Seelie Elves, Volume 2, continues the progression of the color magicks and proceeds on into the nature and establishment of the Elven Vortex/Coven, and our theories on calling the directions/dimensions and much more. It is the completion of and companion to volume 1.

The Eternal Phoenix Tradition: Book of Light is a book of public information about the Eternal Phoenix Tradition as founded by Horus Khrinos Za. As the first book in the series, it contains a discussion about what Wicca is, a short description about what the Eternal Phoenix Tradition is, and contains the laws, rules, and regulations of the Eternal Phoenix Tradition as adopted by the Temple of the Eternal Phoenix.

Beginning in January 1692, Salem Village in colonial Massachusetts witnessed the largest and most lethal outbreak of witchcraft in early America. Villagers--mainly young women--suffered from unseen torments that caused them to writhe, shriek, and contort their bodies, complaining of pins stuck into their flesh and of being haunted by specters. Believing that they suffered from assaults by an invisible spirit, the community began a hunt to track down those responsible for the demonic work. The resulting Salem Witch Trials, culminating in the execution of 19 villagers, persists as one of the most mysterious and fascinating events in American history.
Historians have speculated on a web of possible causes for the witchcraft that stated in Salem and spread across the region-religious crisis, ergot poisoning, an encephalitis outbreak, frontier war hysteria--but most agree that there was no single factor. Rather, as Emerson Baker illustrates in this seminal new work, Salem was "a perfect storm": a unique convergence of conditions and events that produced something extraordinary throughout New England in 1692 and the following years, and which has haunted us ever since.
Baker shows how a range of factors in the Bay colony in the 1690s, including a new charter and government, a lethal frontier war, and religious and political conflicts, set the stage for the dramatic events in Salem. Engaging a range of perspectives, he looks at the key players in the outbreak--the accused witches and the people they allegedly bewitched, as well as the judges and government officials who prosecuted them--and wrestles with questions about why the Salem tragedy unfolded as it did, and why it has become an enduring legacy.
Salem in 1692 was a critical moment for the fading Puritan government of Massachusetts Bay, whose attempts to suppress the story of the trials and erase them from memory only fueled the popular imagination. Baker argues that the trials marked a turning point in colonial history from Puritan communalism to Yankee independence, from faith in collective conscience to skepticism toward moral governance. A brilliantly told tale, A Storm of Witchcraft also puts Salem's storm into its broader context as a part of the ongoing narrative of American history and the history of the Atlantic World.

The Empty Seashell explores what it is like to live in a world where cannibal witches are undeniably real, yet too ephemeral and contradictory to be an object of belief. In a book based on more than three years of fieldwork between 1991 and 2011, Nils Bubandt argues that cannibal witches for people in the coastal, and predominantly Christian, community of Buli in the Indonesian province of North Maluku are both corporeally real and fundamentally unknowable.

Witches (known as gua in the Buli language or as suanggi in regional Malay) appear to be ordinary humans but sometimes, especially at night, they take other forms and attack people in order to kill them and eat their livers. They are seemingly everywhere and nowhere at the same time. The reality of gua, therefore, can never be pinned down. The title of the book comes from the empty nautilus shells that regularly drift ashore around Buli village. Convention has it that if you find a live nautilus, you are a gua. Like the empty shells, witchcraft always seems to recede from experience.

Bubandt begins the book by recounting his own confusion and frustration in coming to terms with the contradictory and inaccessible nature of witchcraft realities in Buli. A detailed ethnography of the encompassing inaccessibility of Buli witchcraft leads him to the conclusion that much of the anthropological literature, which views witchcraft as a system of beliefs with genuine explanatory power, is off the mark. Witchcraft for the Buli people doesn't explain anything. In fact, it does the opposite: it confuses, obfuscates, and frustrates. Drawing upon Jacques Derrida s concept of aporia an interminable experience that remains continuously in doubt Bubandt suggests the need to take seriously people s experiential and epistemological doubts about witchcraft, and outlines, by extension, a novel way of thinking about witchcraft and its relation to modernity."

What does it mean to be a Psychic Witch? Psychic Witch is a guide to learning about and understanding what it means to be a practicing Witch with psychic ability. Carolyn shows you how listening to your inner voice, following nature's rhythms and living Magickally, can assist you in everyday life. She gives you the tools needed to open your psychic potential and the keys to being in balance with the natural world around you. You will learn about psychic energy, creating a spiritual practice through prayer, meditation, affirmations and chakra work, and how being psychic will affect you. This book will teach you the tools needed in order to work with and communicate with the Spiritual realms, what spell work to perform that will help enhance your psychic abilities and how using divination tools can assist you. Each chapter includes a Psychic lesson plan to help guide you along this journey and personal psychic stories by the author as well as her own psychic premonitions regarding future events. This is a must read for any Witch who has only just begun to tap into his or her psychic abilities.

The only book on Wicca you will ever need Learn about Wiccan festivals, history and Wheel of the Year. Perform your own magic so you will never need to buy another spell book again. A comprehensive guide to herbs, crystals, rituals, chants and incantations. Set up an altar in your own personal way. A rundown on the many Gods and Goddesses. Information on every other aspect of Wicca - from birth and death to the significance of full moons. It doesn't matter if you're new to Wicca or have been practising for years; this book, unlike any other on the market, will benefit you in many ways. Uncover all there is to know about being Wiccan, learn about nature and rediscover your place within this beautiful world.

Stewart Farrar was a World War II veteran, an accomplished script writer and a journalist who worked for many prominent and respected media companies such as Reuters and the newspaper Reveille. As a world traveller, Stewart had the opportunity to meet and work with many fascinating people and noted celebrities during his career. He was also a gifted photographer. In 1969, at the age of 53, he met Alex Sanders - the infamous "King of the Witches" - and his wife Maxine while interviewing the couple for Reveille. The encounter introduced him to a world of Witchcraft and magic and changed the course of his life. Farrar left his job as a journalist and devoted his life and career to writing about the Craft. The many books he authored on Witchcraft, together with his wife, Janet Farrar, have become widely read and respected works on the topic. Elizabeth Guerra and Janet Farrar have collaborated to record and explore Stewart Farrar's life and career in detail. This book tracks Farrar's development from an eager and talented adolescent to a college student and dedicated Communist to a gifted journalist and television, radio and film script writer and finally to his later life as a practitioner of Wicca and author of many non-fiction books and science fiction novels. Stewart Farrar found Witchcraft by accident but devoted the rest of his life to the subject by educating others. He became one of the most prolific and much loved writers on the subject, and in doing so, helped to make Wicca a viable and accessible path for many.

2014 Reprint of 1946 Edition. Full facsimile of the original edition, not reproduced with Optical Recognition Software. Intriguing, thoroughly researched volume provides expert historical view of demonology and the occult, drawing information from the Bible, literary classics, personal memoirs, correspondence, and court records. Scholarly, yet highly readable study defines witchcraft, then proceeds to examine ceremonial practices, the casting of spells and conjuring, celebration of the Black Mass, and much more. A masterfully written work for anyone interested in supernatural phenomena, this book has been hailed by critic H. L. Mencken as "learned, honest, and amusing." Summers made a lifelong study of this terrible yet important subject, the black and baleful shadow in our midst. He analyzes the historical traditions and present politics of this cult society, describing in detail its workings, its aims, its frantic proselytism, and its ends.

What is a priestess? Is she a ritualist? A leader? A shaman? A role model? A coach? A soothsayer? A sybil? Or is she all of these, or some of these, or none of these? This anthology is a vibrant tapestry of voices illuminating the roles and perspectives of priestesses in the ancient and modern worlds, and weaving them together to create the beautiful fabric of women's sacred service. The personal essays, academic articles, poetry, rituals and tools in this book will speak to your heart, inspiring you to step into your own spiritual authority.To see more about this volume and other Goddess Ink books, visit is at wwww.goddess-ink.com

Witchcraft in Early Modern England provides a fascinating introduction to the history of witches and witchcraft in England from the sixteenth to the eighteenth century. Witchcraft was a crime punishable by death in England during this period and this book charts the witch panics and legal persecution of witches that followed, exploring topics such as elite attitudes to witchcraft in England, the role of pressures and tensions within the community in accusations of witchcraft, the way in which the legal system dealt with witchcraft cases, and the complex decline of belief in witchcraft. Revised and updated, this new edition explores the modern historiographical debate surrounding this subject and incorporates recent findings and interpretations of historians in the field, bringing it right up-to-date and in particular offering an extended treatment of the difficult issues surrounding gender and witchcraft. Supported by a range of compelling primary documents, this book is essential reading for all students of the history of witchcraft.

How do we write about magic? Responding to a renewed interest in the history of the occult, this volume examines the role of magic in a series of methodological controversies in the humanities. In case studies ranging from the 'necromancy' of historiography to the strident rationalism of the 'New Atheism,' Magical Thinking sets out the surprising ways in which scholars and critics have imagined the occult. The volume argues that thinking and writing about magic has engendered multiple epistemological crises, profoundly unsettling the understanding of history and knowledge in Western culture. By examining how scholarly writing has contended and conspired with discourses of enchantment, the book reveals the implications of magic - and its scholarship - for intellectual history.

First published in 1984, Magical Rites from the Crystal Well is a single, elegant source for Neopagan lore, rites and celebrations. From the pages of the magazine Crystal Well, which in the 1960s and 1970s helped to shape the face of modern Earth-centered spirituality in America, comes a wealth of loving direction for people who want to reconnect wit htheir deep spiritual roots.
The workings are designed for groups large or small, but easily adaptable for solo practice. Within these pages you will find:
Celebrations of the seasons Pagan Festivals Rites of the Moon Magical Dance Candle Spells Rituals of Power Blessings and cleansings Rites of passage
So take your place in the sunlight, among the moonbeams, under the starshine, as you joyfully worship in the sanctuary of the Earth.

Traditionally, the Witch's arsenal of magical power has always included the ability to influence others from a distance, blessing, cursing and placing a glamour or the Evil Eye on someone in order to reward, punish or control them in some way. Many of these techniques have been lost, though we can see their descendants in the techniques of mesmerism, faith healing and stage hypnotism.
As part of his exploration of Visceral Magick, Author and Witch Peter Paddon has rediscovered techniques and exercises that enable the practitioner to use gestures, gaze and energy connections to influence others from across a room, or in some cases around the world.
In this book, Peter describes the underlying theories and philosophies (drawing on the mysteries of Ancient Egypt, Pre-Christian Celtic Wales and medieval Christian Mysticism), and lays out a series of techniques and the exercises that develop the required skills to use them, on order to heal, curse, entrance, bless, and create illusions and other subtle influences in others to manipulate their thoughts and actions. He includes a discussion of the ethical ramifications of these techniques, as well as practical applications in ritual, spell-crafting and daily life.
Whether it is the "Evil Eye," "Jedi mind-tricks" or "defense against the Dark Arts," these techniques have been the mainstay of myth, legend and fantasy for millenia, but their place in our worldview stems from real magical tools wielded by our ancestors.
"Too often, the modern witchcraft movement has focused its attention on being an "acceptable" practice in a modern world. It has often sacrificed much of its unique contributions upon the altar of religion. Albeit, this aspect of our resurgence heeded a deep call and the initial sacrifice had wisdom and purpose. But as they say "how many stripes can a zebra loose before it is no longer a zebra?" In the case of the Craft, witches do witchcraft, and magic is at the heart of our soul; and we must return our "stripes." It is time for witches to be witches... and enchantment is one of the major stripes on the metaphorical zebra of witchery. Thank you Peter for bringing all of us to that state of spirit that wields the power of change through the arts of enchantment. This practice helps to give us back one of our most legendary attributes. My advice is that readers of this book apply the lore and techniques offered. It invites witches to wield the power of change upon self, the world and our universe. Now let's cast enchantment for a better life and a better world. It all starts in the mirror."
Orion Foxwood
Author of "The Candle and the Crossroads" 2012 Red Wheel Weiser
"Introduction to Southern Conjure" DVD 2009 Pendraig Publishing

Druidry and Wicca are the two great streams of Western Pagan tradition. Both traditions are experiencing a renaissance all over the world, as more and more people seek a spirituality rooted in a love of nature and the land. Increasingly, readers are combining the ideas of both traditions to craft their own spiritual practice. In this down-to-earth, inspiring guide, Philip Carr-Gomm offers a name for this Path that draws on the common beliefs and practices of Wicca and Druidry: DruidCraft. DruidCraft draws on the traditions of scholarship, storytelling, magical craft and seasonal celebration of both the Craft and Druidry to offer inspiration, teachings, rituals, and magical techniques that can help you access your innate powers of creativity, intuition and healing.

Exu and the Quimbanda of Night and Fire is the companion to Pomba Gira. Together they give the most complete account of this sorcerous cult. Exu is the fusion of Umbanda, Angolan sorcery, European demonology and Kardec's Spiritsm, erupting in a uniquely Brazilian cult of practical magical action. Spells, workings, hierarchies and origins are all given in detail. This is an essential text for students of the grimoires, Satanism and Traditional Witchcraft, as well as those drawn to or working within the cults of Quimbanda, Candomble, Santeria, Palo Mayombe and the African diaspora religions. Quimbanda is a living tradition that gets results. It is a massive storehouse of magical lore, heresies and history which has absorbed aspects of Goetia, Grimorium Verum, Red Dragon and even Huysman's La Bas. The origin of Exu is explored from the iconic Baphomet of Eliphas Levi and the influence of St Cyprian, the patron saint of necromancers, back to Umbanda and the traditional African religions. Exu revels in a unique heritage that encompasses a Gnostic account of the crucifixion mystery, the concealed nature of St Michael Archangel and the native shamanism of the Caboclos. A forceful spirit, Exu presides over the kingdom of the world, and offers a fierce path for those that would take him as companion. The Seven Legions of Exus are 'hot' spirits, and their work is considered black magic. The perils of this work are given, with the dangers of obsession by the Qlippoth and vampirism described. Guidance is offered and the path to ascension shown. In Exu and the Quimbanda of Night and Fire Frisvold gives explicit workings for good and ill, a herbarium and details of offerings, powders and baths, songs and seals. He discusses the fearsome Exu Mor for the first time, a subject not treated in his previous works. Frisvold is an intiate and gives an insider's view, drawing upon his years of experience in the cult. With access to texts, manuscripts and personal testimony this is the most definitive work on Exu available in English.