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Books > Humanities > Religion & beliefs > Alternative belief systems > Occult studies > Witchcraft
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.
Now in paperback! Following the category-dominating success of
Witchery, indigenous medicine woman and seer Juliet Diaz initiates
readers following the current witchy trends of herbal medicine and
magic into a deeper, wilder connection with the ancient healing
power of over 200 plants. All it will take is for you to slow down
and pay attention to the world around you and, I promise, you will
find the world within you. Indigenous seer, gifted plant whisperer,
and Witchery author Juliet Diaz invites you to walk the path of the
Plant Witch. Journey far beyond the basic medicinal and magical
properties of plants, deep into Mother Earth's drumming heart.
Drawn from ancestral practices passed down by generations of
teachers, the lessons in this book will awaken your intimate
connection with nature, your ancestors, your guides, and to your
true self through the powerful magic of plants. Within these pages,
you will learn: Essential, magical, and medicinal properties of 200
herbs, flowers, trees, and fruits. Rituals for abundance,
cleansing, and connecting with spirits. Spells to ward against
evil, find answers, and protect against self-sabotage. Potions to
open your third eye, bring luck, and promote creativity.
Communication techniques for speaking and listening to plants. The
optimal moon phases and seasons to work with different plants. Even
as humans forget our place in nature's rhythm and cause harm to our
Earth Mother, the spirits of plants still call out to us, appear in
our dreams, and inspire us as they push through cracks in
cement-resilient and determined to thrive. From abre camino and
acacia to yucca and ZZ plant, each has unique personality and
wisdom to share if we are only willing to listen.
Craft your own magic with this comprehensive guide to creating,
customizing, and casting unique spells, charms, and potions. Make
your own magic! Spellcrafting is a step-by-step guide to writing
your own spells and timing them for the best effect. As a
spellcrafter, you may know how to create spells but you're ready to
learn more. From different types of spells to the intentions and
powers of different ingredients, you will have everything you need
to create unique magic that works best for you. Spellcrafting goes
beyond basic spell books to explore how and why your magic works,
what you can do to improve and strengthen it, and how to
troubleshoot when things don't go as planned. Now you can take your
magic into your own hands and create a completely personalized
spell for wherever life may take you.
From Nikki Van De Car, the best-selling author of Practical Magic,
comes a fully-illustrated, enchanted introduction to the witch's
world of modern potions, including tinctures, infusions, herbal
DIYs, and magically-infused craft cocktails. Witchcraft meets
cocktail craft in Potions, a contemporary introduction to the world
of infusions, tisanes and herbal teas, homemade tinctures, and
expertly mixed alcoholic beverages, all imbued with a healthy dose
of everyday enchantment. As with all magic, intention is what makes
a potion a potion, and author Nikki Van De Car uses her signature
blend of holistic remedies, DIY projects, and accessible magical
rituals to guide readers through the wide world of potion-making.
From homebrewed kombuchas to crystal-charged cocktails, this fully
illustrated guide is an essential addition to the arsenal of
kitchen witches and enchanted mixologists. Organized around a
series of intentions -- including Creativity, Calm, Love, Harmony,
and Protection -- the chapters in this book each include teas,
cocktails, kombuchas, non-alcoholic beverages, and DIY components
like bitters, shrubs, and infusions, that enhance the reader's
spellwork. Every recipe will involve a brief ritual of some kind,
whether setting an intention, or using a crystal, sun magic, or
moon magic, and each recipe will involve some form of herbal magic.
Each cocktail is accompanied by a vibrant, full-color illustration,
and each chapter includes longer mystical rituals to support the
reader's overall magical practice.
A manual for constructing talismans, mixing magical compounds,
summoning planetary spirits, and determining astrological
conditions, Picatrix is a cornerstone of Western esotericism. It
offers important insights not only into occult practices and
beliefs but also into the transmission of magical ideas from
antiquity to the present. Dan Attrell and David Porreca's English
translation opens the world of this vital medieval treatise to
modern-day scholars and lay readers. The original text, Ghayat
al-Hakim, was compiled in Arabic from over two hundred sources in
the latter half of the tenth century. It was translated into
Castilian Spanish in the mid-thirteenth century, and shortly
thereafter into Latin. Based on David Pingree's edition of the
Latin text, this translation captures the spirit of Picatrix's role
in the European tradition. In the world of Picatrix, we see a
seamless integration of practical magic, earnest piety, and
traditional philosophy. The detailed introduction considers the
text's reception through multiple iterations and includes an
enlightening statistical breakdown of the rituals described in the
book. Framed by extensive research on the ancient and medieval
context that gave rise to the Latin version of the text, this
translation of Picatrix will be an indispensable volume for
students and scholars of the history of science, magic, and
religion and will fascinate anyone interested in the occult.
This richly illustrated history provides a readable and fresh
approach to the extensive and complex story of witchcraft and
magic. Telling the story from the dawn of writing in the ancient
world to the globally successful Harry Potter films, the authors
explore a wide range of magical beliefs and practices, the rise of
the witch trials, and the depiction of the Devil-worshipping witch.
The book also focuses on the more recent history of witchcraft and
magic, from the Enlightenment to the present, exploring the rise of
modern magic, the anthropology of magic around the globe, and
finally the cinematic portrayal of witches and magicians, from The
Wizard of Oz to Charmed and Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
Wonder and Skepticism in the Middle Ages explores the response by
medieval society to tales of marvels and the supernatural, which
ranged from firm belief to outright rejection, and asks why the
believers believed, and why the skeptical disbelieved. Despite
living in a world whose structures more often than not supported
belief, there were still a great many who disbelieved, most notably
scholastic philosophers who began a polemical programme against
belief in marvels. Keagan Brewer reevaluates the Middle Ages'
reputation as an era of credulity by considering the evidence for
incidences of marvels, miracles and the supernatural and
demonstrating the reasons people did and did not believe in such
things. Using an array of contemporary sources, he shows that
medieval responders sought evidence in the commonality of a report,
similarity of one event to another, theological explanations and
from people with status to show that those who believed in marvels
and miracles did so only because the wonders had passed evidentiary
testing. In particular, he examines both emotional and rational
reactions to wondrous phenomena, and why some were readily accepted
and others rejected. This book is an important contribution to the
history of emotions and belief in the Middle Ages.
Witchcraft and a Life in the New South Africa reconstructs the
biography of an ordinary South African, Jimmy Mohale. Born in 1964,
Jimmy came of age in rural South Africa during apartheid, then
studied at university and worked as a teacher during the
anti-apartheid struggle. In 2005, Jimmy died from an undiagnosed
sickness, probably related to AIDS. Jimmy gradually came to see the
unanticipated misfortune he experienced as a result of his father's
witchcraft and sought remedies from diviners rather than from
biomedical doctors. This study casts new light on scholarly
understandings of the connections between South African politics,
witchcraft and the AIDS pandemic.
The Routledge History of Witchcraft is a comprehensive and
interdisciplinary study of the belief in witches from antiquity to
the present day, providing both an introduction to the subject of
witchcraft and an overview of the on-going debates. This extensive
collection covers the entire breadth of the history of witchcraft,
from the witches of Ancient Greece and medieval demonology through
to the victims of the witch hunts, and onwards to children's books,
horror films, and modern pagans. Drawing on the knowledge and
expertise of an international team of authors, the book examines
differing concepts of witchcraft that still exist in society and
explains their historical, literary, religious, and anthropological
origin and development, including the reflections and adaptions of
this belief in art and popular culture. The volume is divided into
four chronological parts, beginning with Antiquity and the Middle
Ages in Part One, Early Modern witch hunts in Part Two, modern
concepts of witchcraft in Part Three, and ending with an
examination of witchcraft and the arts in Part Four. Each chapter
offers a glimpse of a different version of the witch, introducing
the reader to the diversity of witches that have existed in
different contexts throughout history. Exploring a wealth of texts
and case studies and offering a broad geographical scope for
examining this fascinating subject, The Routledge History of
Witchcraft is essential reading for students and academics
interested in the history of witchcraft.
Feeling Exclusion: Religious Conflict, Exile and Emotions in Early
Modern Europe investigates the emotional experience of exclusion at
the heart of the religious life of persecuted and exiled
individuals and communities in early modern Europe. Between the
late fifteenth and early eighteenth centuries an unprecedented
number of people in Europe were forced to flee their native lands
and live in a state of physical or internal exile as a result of
religious conflict and upheaval. Drawing on new insights from
history of emotions methodologies, Feeling Exclusion explores the
complex relationships between communities in exile, the homelands
from which they fled or were exiled, and those from whom they
sought physical or psychological assistance. It examines the
various coping strategies religious refugees developed to deal with
their marginalization and exclusion, and investigates the
strategies deployed in various media to generate feelings of
exclusion through models of social difference, that questioned the
loyalty, values, and trust of "others". Accessibly written, divided
into three thematic parts, and enhanced by a variety of
illustrations, Feeling Exclusion is perfect for students and
researchers of early modern emotions and religion.
Strange Histories is an exploration of some of the most
extraordinary beliefs that existed in the late Middle Ages through
to the end of the seventeenth century. Presenting serious accounts
of the appearance of angels and demons, sea monsters and dragons
within European and North American history, this book moves away
from "present-centred thinking" and instead places such events
firmly within their social and cultural context. By doing so, it
offers a new way of understanding the world in which dragons and
witches were fact rather than fiction, and presents these riveting
phenomena as part of an entirely rational thought process for the
time in which they existed. This new edition has been fully updated
in light of recent research. It contains a new guide to further
reading as well as a selection of pictures that bring its themes to
life. From ghosts to witches, to pigs on trial for murder, the book
uses a range of different case studies to provide fascinating
insights into the world-view of a vanished age. It is essential
reading for all students of early modern history. .
A fascinating and enlightening celebration of mushrooms and the
magic of the forest for those who revel in mushroom imagery and
lore. Mushrooms--as a decorative element, as a signifier of the
mystery of the forest, and as an adorable emblem of witchy
cottagecore dreams--have proliferated in the collective
consciousness as of late. Mushroom Magick is a whimsical collection
of mushroom facts and fables divided into three sections: first,
profiles of 22 well-known mushrooms include information on biology
and common uses as well as a rundown of their energetic properties
and suggestions for incorporating them into spellwork. Section two
provides a world-spanning collection of mushroom myths and fables.
The final section is a taste of the spells and rituals that you can
perform with common mushrooms such as creminis, shiitakes, and
portobellos--carved candles, floor washes, teas, and even some
yummy meals can improve your love life, super-charge your good
fortune, or even cast a well-deserved hex upon your most hated
enemy.
This book represents the first systematic study of the role of the
Devil in English witchcraft pamphlets for the entire period of
state-sanctioned witchcraft prosecutions (1563-1735). It provides a
rereading of English witchcraft, one which moves away from an older
historiography which underplays the role of the Devil in English
witchcraft and instead highlights the crucial role that the Devil,
often in the form of a familiar spirit, took in English witchcraft
belief. One of the key ways in which this book explores the role of
the Devil is through emotions. Stories of witches were made up of a
complex web of emotionally implicated accusers, victims, witnesses,
and supposed perpetrators. They reveal a range of emotional
experiences that do not just stem from malefic witchcraft but also,
and primarily, from a witch's links with the Devil. This book,
then, has two main objectives. First, to suggest that English
witchcraft pamphlets challenge our understanding of English
witchcraft as a predominantly non-diabolical crime, and second, to
highlight how witchcraft narratives emphasized emotions as the
primary motivation for witchcraft acts and accusations.
In Freud's Early Psychoanalysis, Witch Trials and the Inquisitorial
Method: The Harsh Therapy, author Kathleen Duffy asks why Freud
compared his 'hysterical' patients to the accused women in the
witch trials, and his 'psychoanalytical' treatment to the
inquisitorial method of their judges. He wrote in 1897 to Wilhelm
Fliess: 'I ... understand the harsh therapy of the witches'
judges'. This book proves that Freud's view of his method as
inquisitorial was both serious and accurate. In this
multidisciplinary and in-depth examination, Duffy demonstrates that
Freud carefully studied the witch trial literature to develop the
supposed parallels between his patients and the witches and between
his own psychoanalytic method and the judges' inquisitorial
extraction of 'confessions', by torture if necessary. She examines
in meticulous detail both the witch trial literature that Freud
studied and his own case studies, papers, letters and other
writings. She shows that the various stages of his developing early
psychoanalytic method, from the 'Katharina' case of 1893, through
the so-called seduction theory of 1896 and its retraction, to the
'Dora' case of 1900, were indeed in many respects inquisitorial and
invalidated his patients' experience. This book demonstrates with
devastating effect the destructive consequences of Freud's
nineteenth-century inquisitorial practice. This raises the question
about the extent to which his mature practice and psychoanalysis
and psychotherapy today, despite great achievements, remain at
times inquisitorial and consequently untrustworthy. This book will
therefore be invaluable not only to academics, practitioners and
students of psychoanalysis, psychotherapy, literature, history and
cultural studies, but also to those seeking professional
psychoanalytic or psychotherapeutic help.
The Salem witch hunt of 1692 is among the most infamous events in
early American history; however, it was not the only such episode
to occur in New England that year. Escaping Salem reconstructs the
"other witch hunt" of 1692 that took place in Stamford,
Connecticut. Concise and accessible, the book takes students on a
revealing journey into the mental world of early America,
shattering the stereotype of early New Englanders as quick to
accuse and condemn.
Drawing on eyewitness testimony, Richard Godbeer tells the story
of Kate Branch, a seventeen-year-old afflicted by strange visions
and given to blood-chilling wails of pain and fright. Branch
accused several women of bewitching her, two of whom were put on
trial for witchcraft. Escaping Salem takes us inside the
Connecticut courtroom and into the minds of the surprisingly
skeptical Stamford townspeople. Were the pain and screaming due to
natural or supernatural causes? Was Branch simply faking the
symptoms? And if she was indeed bewitched, why believe her specific
accusations, since her information came from demons who might well
be lying? For the judges, Godbeer shows, the trial was a legal
thicket. All agreed that witches posed a real and serious threat,
but proving witchcraft (an invisible crime) in court was another
matter. The court in Salem had become mired in controversy over its
use of dubious evidence. In an intriguing chapter, Godbeer examines
Magistrate Jonathan Selleck's notes on how to determine the guilt
of someone accused of witchcraft, providing an illuminating look at
what constituted proof of witchcraft at the time. The stakes were
high--if found guilty, the two accused women would be hanged.
In the afterword, Godbeer explains how he used the trial evidence
to build his narrative, offering an inside perspective on the
historian's craft. Featuring maps, photos, and a selected
bibliography, Escaping Salem is ideal for use in undergraduate U.S.
survey courses. It can also be used for courses in colonial
American history, culture, and religion; witchcraft in the early
modern world; and crime and society in early America.
Invite joy and healing into your life using your own magic with
this self-help guide from the author of Witchcraft Therapy, Mandi
Em. Witchcraft is a practice where everyone can self-soothe and
find their alignment again through performance, play, following
impulses, and inviting joy into their lives. Beyond spell jars and
candle magic, there's a whole world of uncommon ways to inject some
childlike wonder and play therapy into your daily practice. Now you
can pursue joy, healing, and fun, with this guide to finding
happiness through magic, filled with straight-talk self-care advice
backed up by magical spells, rituals, recipes, meditations, and
more! Happy Witch is an uncommon spell book full of witchy
self-care spells and rituals that think outside the box of what a
witch's practice usually looks like. From kinetic cloud dough play
for moving through your emotions to using dance as a form of
manifestation, Happy Witch brings out your inner child to help you
undertake your healing through magic. Woven through with BS-free
empowering messages, suggestions, and encouragement on how to build
your intuitive practice that you love, this self-help guide is your
perfect companion for magical healing.
Rediscovering Renaissance Witchcraft is an exploration of
witchcraft in the literature of Britain and America from the 16th
and 17th centuries through to the present day. As well as the
themes of history and literature (politics and war, genre and
intertextuality), the book considers issues of national identity,
gender and sexuality, race and empire, and more. The complex
fascination with witchcraft through the ages is investigated, and
the importance of witches in the real world and in fiction is
analysed. The book begins with a chapter dedicated to the stories
and records of witchcraft in the Renaissance and up until the
English Civil War, such as the North Berwick witches and the work
of the 'Witch Finder Generall' Matthew Hopkins. The significance of
these accounts in shaping future literature is then presented
through the examination of extracts from key texts, such as
Shakespeare's Macbeth and Middleton's The Witch, among others. In
the second half of the book, the focus shifts to a consideration of
the Romantic rediscovery of Renaissance witchcraft in the
eighteenth century, and its further reinvention and continued
presence throughout the nineteenth, twentieth and twenty-first
centuries, including the establishment of witchcraft studies as a
subject in its own right, the impact of the First World War and end
of the British Empire on witchcraft fiction, the legacy of the
North Berwick, Hopkins and Salem witch trials, and the position of
witchcraft in culture, including filmic and televisual culture,
today. Equipped with an extensive list of primary and secondary
sources, Rediscovering Renaissance Witchcraft is essential reading
for all students of witchcraft in modern British and American
culture and early modern history and literature.
Based on research in the Inquisitorial archives of Northern Italy,
The Night Battles recounts the story of a peasant fertility cult
centered on the benandanti, literally, "good walkers." These men
and women described fighting extraordinary ritual battles against
witches and wizards in order to protect their harvests. While their
bodies slept, the souls of the benandanti were able to fly into the
night sky to engage in epic spiritual combat for the good of the
village. Carlo Ginzburg looks at how the Inquisition's officers
interpreted these tales to support their world view that the
peasants were in fact practicing sorcery. The result of this
cultural clash, which lasted for more than a century, was the slow
metamorphosis of the benandanti into the Inquisition's mortal
enemies-witches. Relying upon this exceptionally well-documented
case study, Ginzburg argues that a similar transformation of
attitudes-perceiving folk beliefs as diabolical witchcraft-took
place all over Europe and spread to the New World. In his new
preface, Ginzburg reflects on the interplay of chance and
discovery, as well as on the relationship between anomalous cases
and historical generalizations.
Discover magical solutions to cope with whatever life throws your
way in this fun self-help guide to invoking your inner power.
Self-help is hard (and therapy is expensive!), but magic makes it
easier than ever. In Witchcraft Therapy, you will learn how to use
the mystical powers of intention, mindful manifestation,
divination, and righteous indignation to cope with whatever life
throws your way. Author and witchy wellness guru Mandi Em offers
advice in her own unique brand of positivity providing spells,
rituals, and more that you can do right at home. Complete with
wisdom like "Remember that 'f*ck off' is a banishing spell,"
Witchcraft Therapy will have you feeling more empowered and
liberated than ever.
Katharine Briggs enjoys an unchallenged reputation in the world of
folklore studies. The theme of this volume, the witch figure as a
malevolent intermediary in folk belief, was chosen to reflect that
aspect of Briggs's scholarship exemplified in her study of
witchcraft, Pale Hecate's Team. The contributors draw on the
disciplines of archaeology, comparative religion, sociology and
literature and include: Carmen Blacker, H.R. Ellis Davidson,
Margaret Dean-Smith, L.V. Grinsell, Christina Hole, Venetia Newall,
Geoffrey Parrinder, Anne Ross, Jacqueline Simpson, Beatrice White,
John Widdowson. Originally published in 1973.
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