Historical Dictionary of Witchcraft

Historical Dictionary of Witchcraft
Author: Jonathan Durrant
Publisher: Scarecrow Press
Total Pages: 293
Release: 2012-10-25
Genre: Body, Mind & Spirit
ISBN: 0810875128

Witchcraft has proven an important, if difficult, historical subject to investigate and interpret over the last four decades or so. Modern historical research into witchcraft began as an attempt to tease out the worldview of ordinary people in 16th- and 17th-century England, but it quickly expanded to encompass the history of witchcraft in most cultures and societies that have existed with scholarly studies now extending back to the time of earliest law code that punished sorcery, the Babylonian Code of Hammurabi (1792-1750 B.C.E.), and forward to the last witchcraft cases in England, those of Helen Duncan and Jane Yorke, tried in 1944. There has also been a significant amount of interest in the development of the modern religion of witchcraft, or Wicca, as various forms of neo-paganism continue to attract adherents. The second edition of Historical Dictionary of Witchcraft covers the history of the Witchcraft from 1750 B.C.E. though the modern day. This is done through a chronology, an introductory essay, and an extensive bibliography. The dictionary section has over 300 cross-referenced entries on witch hunts, witchcraft trials, and related practices around the world. This book is an excellent access point for students, researchers, and anyone wanting to know more about the history of witchcraft.

Historical Dictionary of Witchcraft

Historical Dictionary of Witchcraft
Author: Michael David Bailey
Publisher: Scarecrow Press
Total Pages: 254
Release: 2003
Genre: History
ISBN: 9780810848603

The only single-volume, scholarly reference work available on this subject, this dictionary provides reliable information on magic and witchcraft for the entire span of western history, from classical antiquity to modern Wicca. Particular attention is paid to the history of witchcraft in Europe in the 16th and 17th centuries, the era of the great witch-hunts.

Dictionary of Witchcraft

Dictionary of Witchcraft
Author: Collin de Plancy
Publisher: Open Road Media
Total Pages: 99
Release: 2019-12-17
Genre: Reference
ISBN: 1504060172

The original and authoritative A-to-Z reference guide to witchcraft, paganism, and magic, compiled by the famed nineteenth-century French occultist. Following its original publication in 1818, Collin de Plancy’s Dictionnaire Infernal became a landmark study of witchcraft, pagan religions, and the occult. The first reference work to seriously document manifestations, magic, and superstitions, this historical dictionary details beings, characters, books, deeds, and causes that pertain to the manifestations and magic of trafficking with Hell, as well as divinations, occult sciences, grimoires, marvels, errors, prejudices, traditions, folktales, the various superstitions, and all manner of marvelous, surprising, mysterious, and supernatural beliefs. A significant influence on the Romantic literary movement and notably consulted by author Victor Hugo, it remains an essential text for any student of the dark arts or demonology.

Historical Dictionary of New Religious Movements

Historical Dictionary of New Religious Movements
Author: George D. Chryssides
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Total Pages: 447
Release: 2012
Genre: Reference
ISBN: 0810861941

New religious movements--commonly known as cults--are defined as organizations that have arisen within the last 200 years. Most treatments of these movements have typically resorted to sensationalism rather than objectivity, and New religious movements tend to receive negative media publicity. Despite their unfavorable portrayal in popular culture, however, new religious movements are a global phenomenon and much remains to be studied about these movements. In this newly updated second edition of the Historical Dictionary of New Religious Movements, George D. Chryssides traces the rise and development of new religious movements throughout the world. An updated introduction summarizes the phenomenon of new religious movements and lays out the changes to the dictionary since the 2001 edition, while the main body of the dictionary consists of close to 600 cross-referenced entries on key figures, ideas, themes, and places related to various new religious movements. An index organizes the information in the dictionary, and a comprehensive bibliography leads the researcher to further sources. This book is an excellent access point for students, researchers, and anyone wanting to know more about new religious movements.

Historical Dictionary of Witchcraft

Historical Dictionary of Witchcraft
Author: Jonathan Bryan Durrant
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Total Pages: 293
Release: 2012
Genre: Body, Mind & Spirit
ISBN: 0810872455

Covers the history of witchcraft from 1750 B.C.E. though the modern day. Includes a chronology, an introductory essay, and an extensive bibliography featuring cross-referenced entries on witch hunts, witchcraft trials, and related practices around the world.

Buckland's Complete Book of Witchcraft

Buckland's Complete Book of Witchcraft
Author: Raymond Buckland
Publisher: Llewellyn Worldwide
Total Pages: 344
Release: 1986
Genre: Body, Mind & Spirit
ISBN: 0875420508

"This complete self-study course in modern Wicca is a treasured classic - an essential and trusted guide that belongs in every witch's library."---Back cover

The Cambridge History of Magic and Witchcraft in the West

The Cambridge History of Magic and Witchcraft in the West
Author: David J. Collins, S. J.
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 897
Release: 2015-03-02
Genre: History
ISBN: 1316239497

This book presents twenty chapters by experts in their fields, providing a thorough and interdisciplinary overview of the theory and practice of magic in the West. Its chronological scope extends from the Ancient Near East to twenty-first-century North America; its objects of analysis range from Persian curse tablets to US neo-paganism. For comparative purposes, the volume includes chapters on developments in the Jewish and Muslim worlds, evaluated not simply for what they contributed at various points to European notions of magic, but also as models of alternative development in ancient Mediterranean legacy. Similarly, the volume highlights the transformative and challenging encounters of Europeans with non-Europeans, regarding the practice of magic in both early modern colonization and more recent decolonization.

The Wicca Book of Days

The Wicca Book of Days
Author: Gerina Dunwich
Publisher: Citadel Press
Total Pages: 147
Release: 2018-11-27
Genre: Body, Mind & Spirit
ISBN: 0806539593

Celebrate significant milestones in pagan and ancient history each turn of the Wiccan Wheel of Days—from January 1st through December 31st. Researched and compiled by contemporary Wiccan expert and practicing witch Gerina Dunwich, this day-by-day calendar commemorates the pagan festivals and feasts, birthdays, and major events in Wiccan history, legend, and lore. Entries include the Roman festival of Carmentalia on January 11th, Whitsunday on June 4th, and the Chinese Festival of the Hungry Ghosts on August 18th. Highlighting Eastern, Western, and Native American holidays, feasts, and celebrations, The Wicca Book of Days is essential both as a Witch’s calendar and as a highly browsable history of pagan culture and folklore from ancient times to the present.

The Oxford History of Witchcraft and Magic

The Oxford History of Witchcraft and Magic
Author: Owen Davies
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 342
Release: 2023-02-23
Genre: Magic
ISBN: 0192884050

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.