The Path of the Devil is organized around three fundamental theories: witch hunts as functional sacrificial ceremonies, realistic conflict and strategic persecution, and scapegoat phenomena. All conjectures point to the role of epidemic disease, war, and climactic and economic hardships as considerable factors. However, such crises have to be differentiated: when war is measured as a quantitative characteristic it is found to inhibit witch hunts, while epidemic disease and economic hardship encourages them. The book integrates the sociologies of collective behavior, contentious conflict, and deviance with cross-disciplinary theory and research. The final chapters examine the Salem witch trials as 'a perfect storm, ' and illustrate the general patterns found for early modern witch hunts and 'modern witch hunts, ' which exhibit similarities that are found to be more than metaphorica

Naming the Witch explores the recent series of witchcraft accusations and killings in East Java, which spread as the Suharto regime slipped into crisis and then fell. After many years of ethnographic work focusing on the origins and nature of violence in Indonesia, Siegel came to the conclusion that previous anthropological explanations of witchcraft and magic, mostly based on sociological conceptions but also including the work of E.E. Evans-Pritchard and Claude Levi-strauss, were simply inadequate to the task of providing a full understanding of the phenomena associated with sorcery, and particularly with the ideas of power connected with it. Previous explanations have tended to see witchcraft in simple opposition to modernism and modernity (enchantment vs. disenchantment). The author sees witchcraft as an effect of culture, when the latter is incapable of dealing with accident, death, and the fear of the disintegration of social and political relations. He shows how and why modernization and witchcraft can often be companiens, as people strive to name what has hitherto been unnameable.

Poison Prescriptions is a stunningly illustrated grimoire of some of the most notorious plants: henbane, datura, belladonna, among others. It is also a practical guide to plant magic, medicine and ritual, offering advice to professional and home herbalists, to those interested in forgotten lore and the old ways, and to all those who wish to reclaim control of their own wellbeing. This book urges the resurrection of the ancient tradition of using these witching herbs in ritual and medicine. Now is the time to relink magic and medicine in the context of modern herbalism and contemporary witchcraft. Discover: Safe ways of interacting with the witching herbs to usher in wellbeing and healing. Practical activities ranging from meditations and folklore writing to wreath making and beer brewing. Step-by-step instructions to creating the powerful witches' Flying Ointment and using it in ritual, sex magic and lucid dreaming.

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.

Gathered together for the first time, here you will find the ground breaking columns of Christopher Penczak from the first years of newWitch magazine. The City Witch column followed his experiences and insights traveling the country, interacting with the spirits of place in urban environments and the challenges of practicing magick on the road. City Witch continued the teachings found in his award winning book, City Magick. Through the introduction, learn about the impetus of the column and his reflections looking back on the book that started it all. City Witchcraft brings all the original articles together, with new editing and art, to provide inspiration for a new generation of Witches, magicians and shamans living on the road and in the city, helping them find the magick wherever they are.

An anthology of primary documents and scholarly interpretations of witchcraft from the 15th to 18th century This unique anthology is the first to provide a multicultural perspective on witchcraft from the 15th to 18th century. Featuring primary documents as well as scholarly interpretations, Witches of the Atlantic World builds upon information regarding both Christian and non-Christian beliefs about possession and the demonic. Elaine G. Breslaw draws on Native American, African, South American, and African-American sources, as well as the European and New England heritage, to illuminate the ways in which witchcraft in early America was an attempt to understand and control evil and misfortune in the New World. Organized into sections on folklore and magic, diabolical possession, Christian perspectives, and the question of gender, the volume includes selections by Cotton Mather, Matthew Hopkins, and Samuel Willard, among others; Salem trial testimonies; and commentary by a host of distinguished scholars. Together the materials demonstrate how the Protestant and Catholic traditions shaped American concepts, and how multicultural aspects played a key role in the Salem experience. Witches of the Atlantic World sheds new light on one of the most perplexing aspects of American history and provides important background for the continued scholarly and popular interest in witches and witchcraft today.

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.

We no longer believe in witches as our ancestors once did. However, in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, any unforeseen or unexplained events were likely to be attributed to witchcraft. The stories of the individuals within this book show how superstition and prejudice played an important and powerful part in the lives of the populace of Yorkshire from the Middle Ages right through to the nineteenth century

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 Book of Elven Magick: The Philosophy and Enchantments of the Seelie Elves, Volume 1, explores the Elven viewpoint concerning magick and the world, and traditional spiritual and religious myths. It covers the tools of magick and gives magical ceremonies that can be adapted for use by modern elves, magicians, and faerie folk. It is a unique and original take on magic and the world of Faerie.

2011 Reprint of 1929 Edition. Full facsimile of the original edition, not reproduced with Optical Recognition Software. Francesco Maria Guazzo was an Italian priest in Milan. In the "Compendium Maleficarum" (Compendium of the Witches), he cites numerous experts on the subject, among them Nicholas Remy. He describes the eleven formulas or ceremonies previous to the vow to Satan, allegedly necessary to participate of the Sabbath; besides, Guazzo offers detailed descriptions of the sexual relationships between men and succubi, and women and incubi. The book was not translated into English until 1929, when this was accomplished under the direction of the witchcraft scholar Montague Summers. It discusses witches' alleged powers to transport themselves from place to place, create living things, make beasts talk and the dead reappear. Also discusses witches' powers, poisons and crimes, sleep-inducing spells and methods for removing them, apparitions of demons and specters and more. Guazzo also established also a classification of the demons, inspired by a previous work by Michael Psellus.

Many of the herbal and magical practices of the Scots are echoed in traditional Norwegian folk medicine and magic. This is a valuable resource book not only for the serious folklorist, but also for a wider audience interested in a deeper look at rural Scottish practices. Ms. Hopman has done an amazing amount of research, and her Scottish herbalism section is far more detailed than I've seen elsewhere. A "must have" for the northern European folklorist's library.
Jane T. Sibley, Ph.D., author of "The Hammer of the Smith" and "The Divine Thunderbolt: Missile of the Gods."
Through her books, Ellen Evert Hopman lifts the veil between worlds of the present and the past. She guides the reader on a fascinating journey to our ancient Celtic history, simultaneously restoring lost knowledge and entertaining the reader. Be prepared to be educated and delighted.
Wendy Farley, Clan McKleod
The first things is WOW Ellen Hopman has given us a volume that belongs in Harry Potter's library. This wonderful collection of enchantments, faery lore and herbal potions, is presented by a practicing herbalist and (I suspect) magician. It is a useful manual of magic, an unusual tourist guide to Scotland, certainly a delightful read, and at the very least, a comprehensive and thoroughly footnoted collection of folk lore for humorless librarians and scholars.
Matthew Wood MS (Scottish School of Herbal Medicine) Registered Herbalist (American Herbalists Guild)
Every now and again, a book emerges from the waves of occult and magical authorship that delves into the deep and ancestral waters of old magic This book is one of those rare occasions. From the lore of herbs to the blessing of stones; from avioding the elf-blast to healing through Faerie blessing - Ellen guides the reader through ancient groves of oral lore to discover a power and spirit that connects the reader to the oldest of magics, the earth and her elements. I am confident that the Scottish Ancestral Wise Ones, are renewed through this book and the old ways live once again
Orion Foxwood, Traditional Witch Elder, Conjurer in Southern Root-Doctoring and Faery Seer (www.orionfoxwood.com), author of "The Faery Teachings" (R.J. Stewart Books) and "The Tree of Enchantment" (Weiser Books).

The history of witchcraft and sorcery has attracted a great deal of interest and debate, but until now studies have been largely from the Anglo-Saxon perspective. This book shows how that approach has blurred our understanding and definition of the issues involved, and sheds new light on the history of witchcraft in England. What had thus far been seen as peculiar to England is here shown to be characteristic of much of northern Europe. Taking into account major new developments in the historiography of witchcraft--in methodology, and in the chronological and geographical scope of the studies--the authors explore the relationship between witchcraft, law, and theology; the origins and nature of the witch's sabbath; the sociology and criminology of witch-hunting; and the comparative approach to European witchcraft. An impressive amount of archival work by all of the contributors has produced an indispensable guide to the study of witchcraft, of interest not only to historians, but to anthropologists, criminologists, psychologists, and sociologists.

REPRINT 2009 of 1891 edition. John C. Bourke was Captain of the U.S. Third Cavalry, and an author of several books. Perhaps he is most famous for On the Border with Crook, published in 1891. Scatalogic Rites of All Nations is a curious and fascinating treatise on the employment of excrementitious agents in religion, therapeutics, divination, and witchcraft in all parts of the world. Included are such exotic chapters as "The Urine Dance of the Zunis," "The employment of Excrement in Food by Savage Tribes," "Posture in Latrines," and dozens of other titles.

Scotland, in common with the rest of Europe, was troubled from time to time by outbreaks of witchcraft which the authorities sought to contain and then to suppress, and the outbreak of 1658-1662 is generally agreed to represent the high water mark of Scottish persecution. These were peculiar years for Scotland. This work deals with this subject.

"There are forces better recognized as belonging to human society than repressed or left to waste away or growl about upon its fringes." So writes Valerie Flint in this powerful work on magic in early medieval Europe. Flint shows how many of the more discerning leaders of the early medieval Church decided to promote non-Christian practices originally condemned as magical--rather than repressing them or leaving them to waste away or "growl." These wise leaders actively and enthusiastically incorporated specific kinds of "magic" into the dominant culture not only to appease the contemporary non-Christian opposition but also to enhance Christianity itself.