Now greatly expanded, the classic anthology of contemporary texts reexamines the phenomenon of witchcraft, taking into account the remarkable scholarship since the book's publication almost thirty years ago.Spanning the period from 400 to 1700, the second edition of Witchcraft in Europe assembles nearly twice as many primary documents as the first, many newly translated, along with new illustrations that trace the development of witch-beliefs from late Mediterranean antiquity through the Enlightenment. Trial records, inquisitors' reports, eyewitness statements, and witches' confessions, along with striking contemporary illustrations depicting the career of the Devil and his works, testify to the hundreds of years of terror that enslaved an entire continent.Thomas Aquinas, Martin Luther, Thomas Hobbes, and other thinkers are quoted at length in order to determine the intellectual, perceptual, and legal processes by which folklore was transformed into systematic demonology and persecution. Together with explanatory notes, introductory essays--which have been revised to reflect current research--and a new bibliography, the documents gathered in Witchcraft in Europe vividly illumine the dark side of the European mind.

    The first serious academic study of lycanthropy and "blood-lust" written in English, this book draws upon a vast body of observation, myth, and lore.

    Odin All Father crossed the Rainbow Bridge to walk among men in Midgard. Thor defended Asgard with his mighty hammer. Mischievous Loki was constantly getting into trouble with the other gods, and dragons and giants walked free. This collection of Norse sagas retold by author Padraic Colum gives us a sense of that magical time when the world was filled with powers and wonders we can hardly imagine.

    This superb sourcebook contains many new translations of seminal Celtic texts, including stories, poems, and prose pieces, some dating from as far back as the seventh century. Key ingredients in this rich cauldron of ancient lore include sections on: . Shamanic Memory, including chapters on: The Memory of the Earth--The Memory of the Trees--The Memory of Animals--and The Memory of Ancestors . Vision Poets, Druids, and Shamanic Guardians, including chapters on: Initiations--ShapeshiftingóDru . . . and Vision Poets . The Bright Knowledge, including chapters on: Prophecy and Divination--Healing and Soul Restoration-Dreams and Visions . Otherworldly Journeys, including chapters on: The Journey Quest--The House of the Sidhe. These ancient tales are accompanied by detailed commentaries, comprehensive background material, and practical shamanic insights. This wide-ranging sourcebook contains new translations of seminal texts, and is a must-have for any devotee of one the world's richest religious traditions.

    Mystics. Prophets and astrologers. The Celts were a dynamic and unique people who left not only a rich legacy of artifacts, archaeological treasures, and dramatic myths, but also a vast body of wisdom and mystical symbolism that reflect universal truths about life. "The Celtic Book of Living and Dying" is a masterfully adorned collection of this ancient Celtic wisdom, tracing life from birth through death and into the afterlife. Travel back in time to a world where druids and bards, saints and angels reign as guardians of the soul. Voyage between realms, the unexpected at every turn. With its mix of more than 40 Celtic-style full-color artworks, over 40 painterly landscape photographs, and a wealth of illuminating words, poetry, insights, and timeless tales of heroes and giants, unknown creatures and magical lands, "The Celtic Book of Living and Dying" is a window into a long-ago world that continues to shape the dreams, thoughts, and ideas of today.

    In this translation, the author discusses books of the black art, old gods, daemons of hell, runes and magical signs, theory and practice of magic.

    Now, with a new introduction and full-color artwork, this passionate and important text shows even more clearly that the religion of the Goddess—which is tied to the cycles of women’s bodies, the seasons, the phases of the moon, and the fertility of the earth—was the original religion of all humanity.

    Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions that are true to the original work.

    Most magical practitioners won't even discuss them. Why? Because they'd much rather find a positive solution that benefits all concerned. And, there's nothing wrong with that. Occasionally, though, our problems are such that nothing in the positive solution arena will handle them. It's time to make a decision to stand tough, be strong, and take definitive action to defend ourselves. And, if you're ready to do that-if you're ready to own that action and take responsibility for it-then Utterly Wicked is the book for you! Jam-packed with more than one hundred rituals, incantations, hexes and curses, this book is the quintessential primer for learning all those magical tricks that no one wants to talk about. Do you know the proper way to enter a cemetery? Utterly Wicked tells you how, as well as the proper methods for collecting and using graveyard dirt. Explore the little known secrets of the 11" fashion doll and see why it's become such a valuable magical tool. Then learn to prepare Hot Foot Powder, Four Thieves Vinegar, Goofer Dust, and other magical components specifically designed to obliterate your toughest problems. Most important, though, you'll also find the tools to protect yourself, your family, and your home from ever being bothered with these sorts of difficulties again. A must have for any Witch's bookshelf!

    A Deed Without a Name seeks to weave together some of this cutting-edge research with insider information and practical know-how. Utilising her own decades of experience in witchcraft and core-shamanism Lee Morgan pulls together information from trial records, folklore and modern testimonials to deepen our understanding of the ecstatic and visionary substrata of Traditional Witchcraft. Those who identify themselves as 'Traditional' tend to read a lot of scholarly texts on the subject and yet still there remains a vast gulf between this information and knowledgeably applying it in practice; this book aims to close that gap.

    People all over the world embrace the ideas discussed in this work: the animistic worldview, spiritual communion with the dead and the Unseen World, sorcery and magic. Author and Mystic Robin Artisson explores these mystical themes from the perspective of The Old Faiths and pre-Christian metaphysical impulses of Europe and the British Isles. Bringing a new perspective to these ancient practices and making them more accessible, this book is a key to the door that leads into the mythical dimension of each person, and every feature of the sacred landscape. It helps to unlock the hidden wisdom in folklore, shed light on the enigma of the human being, and manifest an experience of the wisdom of the Old Ways- insofar as a book can. This book is about getting out of books and back into the spiritual dimension of the Land itself, and requires considerable dedication and work.

    These men and women regarded themselves as professional anti-witches, who (in dream-like states) apparently fought ritual battles against witches and wizards, to protect their villages and harvests. If they won, the harvest would be good, if they lost, there would be famine. The inquisitors tried to fit them into their pre-existing images of the witchesâ�� sabbat. The result of this cultural clash which lasted over a century, was the slow metamorphosis of the benandanti into their enemies â�� the witches. Carlo Ginzburg shows clearly how this transformation of the popular notion of witchcraft was manipulated by the Inquisitors, and disseminated all over Europe and even to the New World. The peasantsâ�� fragmented and confused testimony reaches us with great immediacy, enabling us to identify a level of popular belief which constitutes a valuable witness for the reconstruction of the peasant way of thinking of this age.

    Broadly labeled yokai, these creatures come in infinite shapes and sizes, from tengu mountain goblins and kappa water spirits to shape-shifting foxes and long-tongued ceiling-lickers. Currently popular in anime, manga, film, and computer games, many yokai originated in local legends, folktales, and regional ghost stories.Drawing on years of research in Japan, Michael Dylan Foster unpacks the history and cultural context of yokai, tracing their roots, interpreting their meanings, and introducing people who have hunted them through the ages. In this delightful and accessible narrative, readers will explore the roles played by these mysterious beings within Japanese culture and will also learn of their abundance and variety through detailed entries, some with original illustrations, on more than fifty individual creatures. The Book of Yokai provides a lively excursion into Japanese folklore and its ever-expanding influence on global popular culture. It also invites readers to examine how people create, transmit, and collect folklore, and how they make sense of the mysteries in the world around them. By exploring yokai as a concept, we can better understand broader processes of tradition, innovation, storytelling, and individual and communal creativity.

    Twenty-five years in preparation, this unique, comprehensive sourcebook focuses on mythology anthropology, religion, and sexuality to uncover precisely what other encyclopedias leave out or misrepresent. The Woman's Encyclopedia presents the fascinating stories behind word origins, legends, superstitions, and customs. A browser's delight and an indispensable resource, it offers 1,350 entries on magic, witchcraft, fairies, elves, giants, goddesses, gods, and psychological anomalies such as demonic possession; the mystical meanings of sun, moon, earth, sea, time, and space; ideas of the soul, reincarnation, creation and doomsday; ancient and modern attitudes toward sex, prostitution, romance, rape, warfare, death and sin, and more.Tracing these concepts to their prepatriarchal origins, Barbara G. Walker explores a "thousand hidden pockets of history and custom in addition to the valuable material recovered by archaeologists, orientalists, and other scholars."Not only a compendium of fascinating lore and scholarship, The Woman's Encyclopedia is a revolutionary book that offers a rare opportunity for both women and men to see our cultural heritage in a fresh light, and draw upon the past for a more humane future.

    Magliocco examines the roots that this religious movement has in a Western spiritual tradition of mysticism disavowed by the Enlightenment. She explores, too, how modern Pagans and Witches are imaginatively reclaiming discarded practices and beliefs to create religions more in keeping with their personal experience of the world as sacred and filled with meaning. Neo-Pagan religions focus on experience, rather than belief, and many contemporary practitioners have had mystical experiences. They seek a context that normalizes them and creates in them new spiritual dimensions that involve change in ordinary consciousness.Magliocco analyzes magical practices and rituals of Neo-Paganism as art forms that reanimate the cosmos and stimulate the imagination of its practitioners. She discusses rituals that are put together using materials from a variety of cultural and historical sources, and examines the cultural politics surrounding the movement--how the Neo-Pagan movement creates identity by contrasting itself against the dominant culture and how it can be understood in the context of early twenty-first-century identity politics.Witching Culture is the first ethnography of this religious movement to focus specifically on the role of anthropology and folklore in its formation, on experiences that are central to its practice, and on what it reveals about identity and belief in twenty-first-century North America.