After discussing the terminology of talismanic magic (or necromancy) and its position in divisions of science in the Middle Ages, this book traces the history of talismanic texts from the Classical period through the Arabic world to the Latin Middle Ages. The principal authorities are Hermes and Aristotle, and the search for the 'secret knowledge' of these ancient sages is shown to have been a catalyst for the translating activity from Arabic into Latin in 12th-century Spain. The second half of the volume is devoted to examples of the kinds of divination prevalent in Arabic and Latin-reading societies: chiromancy, onomancy, scapulimancy, geomancy and fortune-telling. The book ends with advice on when to practice alchemy and a prophetic letter of supposed Arabic provenance, warning of the coming of the Mongols. Several editions of previously unedited texts are included, with translations.

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.

A fiery, intersectional guide for activists and witches alike, Revolutionary Witchcraft is an empowered introduction to the history and practice of politically-motivated magic. From the politically charged origins of the word "witch" to the present-day magical resistance, this bold handbook explores the role of witchcraft in our modern world. Author, activist, and practicing witch Sarah Lyons takes readers on a journey through a leftist history of magic -- from the witch hunts of early modern England, through the Salem Witch Trials, and up to our present moment. Pairing mystical acts, including sigil magic and soul flight, with core organizing tactics, like power mapping and protests, Revolutionary Witchcraft offers a blueprint for building a politically grounded magical praxis. From social justice to environmental activism, this radical re imagining of political activism addresses today's most pressing problems with empowering, inclusive rituals and magical actions. Each chapter introduces a key concept, like dreaming big, experiencing magical initiation, and joining the revolution, supported by a surprising historical case study on the power of mystical action. Full of actionable ideas for magical organising, and an appendix packed with customised spells, Revolutionary Witchcraft is the perfect companion for the magical uprising.

In the living room of a London flat, a man stands naked and blindfolded. His wrists are bound together behind his back with red cord, which is looped round his neck and holds his arms up to make a triangle. A white cord is tied round his right ankle. What do witches do? What is it like to be a witch? Experience the process through the eyes of Stewart Farrar, author, journalist and witch, as he describes in detail in this new paperback edition for 2021 the activities and practices of modern-day witches. Principles of healing and clairvoyance as well as rituals, invocations and initial rites are covered in depth as Farrar accompanies the reader into the personal life of his own coven.

The Parlement of Paris was the largest secular court in Christendom. Although its criminal archives have been preserved virtually intact, historians of the period of the great witch trials, as well as scholars of the Ancien Regime in general, have been discouraged by the notorious difficulties of research into them, and have effectively avoided these records. Alfred Soman was the first historian to have undertaken the task. In the fifteen articles republished here, which include both detailed investigations of particular cases and broad-ranging overviews, he contends that criminal justice in the 16th- and 17th-century France was far more humane and less severe than traditional assumptions would suggest. As early as 1588, the High Court began to take steps to restrain indiscriminate witch hunting, particularly in the eastern provinces where prosecutions were instigated not in conformity with, but in defiance of, the highest judicial authority in the land. Le Parlement de Paris, la plus grande cour de justice de l'Occident, nous a legue ses archives criminelles quasiment intactes. Pourtant les historiens des proces de sorcellerie, ainsi que les specialistes des aspects institutionnels et sociaux de l'Ancien Regime, decourages par les difficultes notoires de la recherche, ont evite l'exploitation de ces documents. Alfred Soman est le premier chercheur A en avoir releve de defi. Dans cette serie de quinze articles, qui comprennent des enquAtes detailles, ainsi que des essais de synthese, il soutient que l'ancienne justice a ete beaucoup plus clemente et moins 'injuste' que de vieilles idees reAues ne le pretendent. Des 1588, la Haute Cour commenAa A reprimer les nombreuses poursuites pour faits de sorcellerie, plus particulierement dans l'Est du royaume, oA(1) certains sieges subalternes entamaient des actions criminelles intempestatives, prenant le contre-pied de la politique mise en place par le Pouvoir judiciaire central.

Modern day witches are a culmination of the old and new-they travel to the grocery store, work nine to fives, and teach in our classrooms. They carry black tourmaline and quartz, and wave bay and rosemary bundles over their doorways. Within an ancient sacred practice, a new generation of witches are rising; those who understand the power of action paired with energy and intent, who fight for the best versions of themselves through whispered chants and candlelight and match their activism with manifestation. The modern witch creates change within the hearth, the heart, and the world, one spell at a time. Frankie Castanea is at the centre of a thriving community of modern practitioners who use witchcraft to enrich their lives day-to-day and improve the world around them. In Spells for Change, Frankie demonstrates how witchcraft has both personal and worldwide applications, whether it's protecting the home or self from negative energies through boundaries and charms or binding a harmful person to help a friend. Each brings you closer to creating change within yourself, the environment around you, and the society we live in, and closer to a greater awareness of the Universe and the energies that exist within it. Including studies of meditation, grounding, manifestation, cleansing, protection, banishing and binding, this book will teach you how to enact personal and global change. From justice spells and banishing unwanted energy to spells to help you on the journey to self-love and self-prioritization, Frankie shows that, at its heart, witchcraft is a force for good that is ultimately about refining your identity and reclaiming your power.

By the spring of 1645, civil war had exacted a terrible toll upon England. Disease was rife, apocalyptic omens appeared in the skies, and idolators detected in every shire. In a remote corner of Essex, two obscure gentlemen began interrogating women suspected of witchcraft, triggering the most brutal witch-hunt in English history. Witchfinders is a spellbinding study of how Matthew Hopkins, 'the Witchfinder General', and John Stearne extended their campaign across East Anglia, driven by godly zeal. Exploiting the anxiety and lawlessness of the times, and cheered on by ordinary folk, they extracted confessions of satanic pacts resulting in scores of executions.

The strix was a persistent feature of the folklore of the Roman world and subsequently that of the Latin West and the Greek East. She was a woman that flew by night, either in an owl-like form or in the form of a projected soul, in order to penetrate homes by surreptitious means and thereby devour, blight or steal the new-born babies within them. The motif-set of the ideal narrative of a strix attack - the 'strix-paradigm' - is reconstructed from Ovid, Petronius, John Damascene and other sources, and the paradigm's impact is traced upon the typically gruesome representation of witches in Latin literature. The concept of the strix is contextualised against the longue-duree notion of the child-killing demon, which is found already in the ancient Near East, and shown to retain a currency still as informing the projection of the vampire in Victorian fiction.

The Witchcraft Reader offers a wide range of historical perspectives on the subject of witchcraft in a single, accessible volume, exploring the enduring hold that it has on human imagination. The witch trials of the late Middle Ages and the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries have inspired a huge and expanding scholarly literature, as well as an outpouring of popular representations. This fully revised and enlarged third edition brings together many of the best and most important works in the field. It explores the origins of witchcraft prosecutions in learned and popular culture, fears of an imaginary witch cult, the role of religious division and ideas about the Devil, the gendering of suspects, the making of confessions and the decline of witch beliefs. An expanded final section explores the various "revivals" and images of witchcraft that continue to flourish in contemporary Western culture. Equipped with an extensive introduction that foregrounds significant debates and themes in the study of witchcraft, providing the extracts with a critical context, The Witchcraft Reader is essential reading for anyone with an interest in this fascinating subject.

Throughout history, magic has been as widely and passionately practiced as religion. But while religion continues to flourish, magic stumbles towards extinction. What is magic? What does it do? Why do people believe in magic? Ariel Glucklich finds the answers to these questions in the streets of Banaras, India's most sacred city, where hundreds of magicians still practice ancient traditions, treating thousands of Hindu and Muslim patients of every caste and sect. Through study and interpretation of the Banarsi magical rites and those who partake in them, the author presents fascinating living examples of magical practice, and contrasts his findings with the major theories that have explained (or explained away) magic over the last century. These theories, he argues, ignore an essential sensory phenomenon which he calls "magical experience": an extraordinary, though perfectly natural, state of awareness through which magicians and their clients perceive the effects of magic rituals.

Histories you can trust. This 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.

Witches are on the go! If we are not living out our day-to-day lives, balancing home life and work, we're organizing rituals and keeping track of spells. The Hectic Witch's Planner is a journal-style planner that not only helps you keep track of appointments and important dates but encourages you to plan out your long-term goals, your rituals and even helps you pause and reflect with journal prompts. This is a planner for witches built by some of the busiest witches around.

This 280-page 12 month weekly-planner is filled with journal prompts, planting guides, holiday information, moon phases, along with monthly suggestions to help you try new witchy things! Full-color with bound pages, you can keep this book in your bag or tote without worrying about pages loosening and falling out like in classic spiral-bound planners. We do not have time for pages falling out. We weren't kidding when we said this is for busy witches!

A lavishly illustrated celebration of green witchcraft—romance, mythology, and folklore that are sure to enchant your inner witch!   In these trying times, couldn’t we all use more magic in our lives? Equal parts practical guide and beautiful keepsake, The Green Witch’s Guide to Magical Plants & Flowers shows you how to bring more love and contentment into your life using elements of nature. In this little grimoire, Chris Young and Susan Ottaviano, 2 Green Witches, unlock the secrets hiding in your garden, transforming everyday flowers, fruits, and plants into bath salts, herbal infusions, soaps, sachets, tinctures, and more.   Enchanting all-natural recipes illuminate pathways to love, health, peace, prosperity, and harmony. Learn how a rose petal bath can stoke your sense of desire, how meadowsweet flowers on your nightstand can restore peace between two lovers, and how facial oil made from tulip petals can protect you from heartbreak.   Celebrate green witchcraft and the magical properties of the natural world with The Green Witch’s Guide to Magical Plants & Flowers.

Introducing the first official Harry Potter knitting book - a deluxe guide to creating over 25 authentic Harry Potter knits based on the iconic films. Channel the magic of the Harry Potter films from the screen to your needles with the ultimate knitter's guide to the Wizarding World. Featuring over 25 magical knits, the book includes patterns for clothing, home projects and keepsakes pulled straight from the movies - and even includes a few iconic costume pieces as seen on-screen. With yarn suggestions based on the true colours used in the films, projects ranging from simple patterns like the Hogwarts house scarves to more complex projects like Mrs Weasley's Christmas jumper, knit your own wizarding world. Projects: Crafty Creatures: patterns for Hedwig; Cornish Pixie; Fluffy the Three-Headed Dog. Wizarding Wardrobe: patterns for Mrs Weasley's Home-Knit Christmas jumpers; and Hogwarts' house scarves. Inspired Apparel: clothes and accessories inspired by characters, artefacts and themes from the films such as a Expecto Patronum! mittens and Quidditch socks. Delightful Decor: dress your home with Harry Potter decorative accessories such as Hogwarts House mug cosies and Seven Horcruxes tea towels. A true fan must-have, this book also includes fun facts, original costume sketches, film stills, and other behind-the-scenes treasures. Harry Potter Knitting Magic is sure to have fans everywhere summoning needles, conjuring yarn, and practicing their best knitting wizardry.

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.

An initiation signals a beginning: a door opens and you step through Amanda Yates Garcia's mother initiated her into the goddess-worshipping practice of witchcraft when she was thirteen years old, but Amanda's true life as a witch only began when she underwent a series of spontaneous initiations of her own. Descending into the underworlds of poverty, sex work and misogyny, Initiated describes Amanda's journey to return to her body, harness her natural power, and finally reclaim her witchcraft to create the magical world she envisioned. Peppered with mythology, tales of the goddesses and magical women throughout history, Initiated stands squarely at the intersection of witchcraft and feminism. Amanda shows that practising magic is about more than spells and potions; magic is nothing less than claiming power for oneself and taking back our planet in the name of Love. Initiated is both memoir and manifesto, calling the magical people of the world to take up their wands, be brave, and create the enchanted world they long to live in. 'Godesses, ecstasies, fairy tales: Initiated is full of my favourite things, told with savage grace. This book will change your life.' FRANCESCA LIA BLOCK

A complete introduction to modern magic and witchcraft with spells and incantations for love, happiness, and success. The Practical Witch's Spell Book is an enchanting handbook for anyone with a penchant for the magical and who wants to add joy to their daily life. To practice witchcraft is to be purposeful whether it's to help heal, bring about prosperity, imbue your home with positivity, or even to fall in love. To be a practical witch is to tap into an inner place of intention, energy, and magic to bring about positive change in your life and those of your loved ones. With life's increasingly frenetic pace, a magical approach to living is more important now than ever. In this must-have guide for spell-casters of all levels you will find hundreds of spells, blessings, and incantations for love and romance, contentment and happiness, success and prosperity, health and healing, work and vocation, and money and wealth, all to enrich your mind and spirit, and to improve your life and the world around you. Also included are ritual resources, magical correspondences, lucky colors and numbers, moon spells, and all the essential tools you need for making magic.

In this major new book, Wolfgang Behringer surveys the phenomenon of witchcraft past and present. Drawing on the latest historical and anthropological findings, Behringer sheds new light on the history of European witchcraft, while demonstrating that witch-hunts are not simply part of the European past. Although witch-hunts have long since been outlawed in Europe, other societies have struggled with the idea that witchcraft does not exist. As Behringer shows, witch-hunts continue to pose a major problem in Africa and among tribal people in America, Asia and Australia. The belief that certain people are able to cause harm by supernatural powers endures throughout the world today.

Wolfgang Behringer explores the idea of witchcraft as an anthropological phenomenon with a historical dimension, aiming to outline and to understand the meaning of large-scale witchcraft persecutions in early modern Europe and in present-day Africa. He deals systematically with the belief in witchcraft and the persecution of witches, as well as with the process of outlawing witch-hunts. He examines the impact of anti-witch-hunt legislation in Europe, and discusses the problems caused in societies where European law was imposed in colonial times. In conclusion, the relationship between witches old and new is assessed.

This book will make essential reading for all those interested in the history and anthropology of witchcraft and magic.

'Romance, mystery, and a family curse - The Ladies of the Secret Circus has it all' Popsugar From the author of A Witch in Time comes a magical story spanning from Jazz Age Paris to modern-day America of family secrets, sacrifice, and lost love set against the backdrop of a mysterious circus. Perfect for fans of The Night Circus and The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue. The surest way to get a ticket to Le Cirque Secret is to wish for it . . . Paris, 1925: To enter the Secret Circus is to enter a world of wonder - a world where women weave illusions, carousels take you back in time, and trapeze artists float across the sky. Bound to her family's circus, it's the only world Cecile Cabot knows until she meets a charismatic young painter and embarks on a passionate affair that could cost her everything. Virginia, 2004: Lara Barnes is on top of the world, but when her fiance disappears on their wedding day every plan she has for the future comes crashing down. Desperate, Lara's search for answers unexpectedly lead to her great-grandmother's journals. Swept into a story of a dark circus and ill-fated love, secrets about Lara's family history come to light and reveal a curse that has been claiming payment from the women in her family for generations. A curse that might be tied to her fiance's mysterious fate . . . Why readers love The Ladies of the Secret Circus . . . 'A spellbinding historical fantasy . . . Fans of Erin Morgenstern's The Night Circus will love this page-turning story of dark magic, star-crossed love, and familial sacrifice' Publishers Weekly (starred review) 'At times decadent and macabre, The Ladies of the Secret Circus is a mesmerizing tale of love, treachery, and depraved magic percolating through four generations of Cabot women' Luanne G. Smith, author of The Vine Witch 'Ambitious and teeming with magic, Sayers creates a fascinating mix of art, The Belle Epoque, and more than a little murder' Erika Swyler, author of The Book of Speculation 'The Ladies of the Secret Circus is a dazzling tale, laced with sinister magic, blood and beauty, love and loss. This is a book that will haunt you long after the last page is turned' Alyssa Palombo, author of The Spellbook of Katrina Van Tassel 'Spellbinding. The Ladies Of The Secret Circus is a dazzling, high-wire feat of storytelling' Catherine Taylor, author of Beyond the Moon 'The Ladies of the Secret Circus is a book to get lost in' BookPage

Gender at stake critiques historians' assumptions about witch-hunting as well as their explanations for this complex and perplexing phenomenon. The authors insist on the centrality of gender, tradition and ideas about witches in the construction of the witch as a dangerous figure. They challenge the marginalisation of male witches by feminist and other historians. The book shows that large numbers of men were accused of witchcraft in their own right, in some regions, more men were accused than women. The authors analyse ideas about witches and witch prosecution as gendered artefacts of patriarchal societies under which both women and men suffered. They challenge recent arguments and current orthodoxies by applying crucial insights from feminist scholarship on gender to a selection of statistical arguments, social-historical explanations, traditional feminist history and primary sources, including trial records and demonological literature. The authors assessment of current orthodoxies concerning the causes and origins of witch-hunting will be of particular interest to scholars and students in undergraduate and graduate courses in early modern history, religion, culture, gender studies and methodology.

Welcome to the world of witchcraft! Create 22 easy-to-make tools you'll turn to again and again from magic candles and fumigation sticks to runes and oracles and much more.