Conjuring Culture

Conjuring Culture
Author: Theophus H. Smith
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 304
Release: 1995-11-09
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0198023197

This book provides a sophisticated new interdisciplinary interpretation of the formulation and evolution of African American religion and culture. Theophus Smith argues for the central importance of "conjure"--a magical means of transforming reality--in black spirituality and culture. Smith shows that the Bible, the sacred text of Western civilization, has in fact functioned as a magical formulary for African Americans. Going back to slave religion, and continuing in black folk practice and literature to the present day, the Bible has provided African Americans with ritual prescriptions for prophetically re-envisioning, and thereby transforming, their history and culture. In effect the Bible is a "conjure book" for prescribing cures and curses, and for invoking extraordinary and Divine powers to effect changes in the conditions of human existence--and to bring about justice and freedom. Biblical themes, symbols, and figures like Moses, the Exodus, the Promised Land, and the Suffering Servant, as deployed by African Americans, have crucially formed and reformed not only black culture, but American society as a whole. Smith examines not only the religious and political uses of conjure, but its influence on black aesthetics, in music, drama, folklore, and literature. The concept of conjure, he shows, is at the heart of an indigenous and still vital spirituality, with exciting implications for reformulating the next generation of black studies and black theology. Even more broadly, Smith proposes, "conjuring culture" can function as a new paradigm for understanding Western religious and cultural phenomena generally.

The Amityville Horror

The Amityville Horror
Author: Jay Anson
Publisher: Gallery Books
Total Pages: 256
Release: 2019-12-03
Genre: Body, Mind & Spirit
ISBN: 1982138262

“A fascinating and frightening book” (Los Angeles Times)—the bestselling true story about a house possessed by evil spirits, haunted by psychic phenomena almost too terrible to describe. In December 1975, the Lutz family moved into their new home on suburban Long Island. George and Kathleen Lutz knew that, one year earlier, Ronald DeFeo had murdered his parents, brothers, and sisters in the house, but the property—complete with boathouse and swimming pool—and the price had been too good to pass up. Twenty-eight days later, the entire Lutz family fled in terror. This is the spellbinding, shocking true story that gripped the nation about an American dream that turned into a nightmare beyond imagining—“this book will scare the hell out of you” (Kansas City Star).

Spirit Conjuring for Witches

Spirit Conjuring for Witches
Author: Frater Barrabbas
Publisher: Llewellyn Worldwide
Total Pages: 238
Release: 2017-02-08
Genre: Body, Mind & Spirit
ISBN: 0738751162

The greatest Witches of folklore practiced their craft by conjuring spirits and employing a familiar spirit. Now, centuries later, these arts—supposedly the domain of ceremonial magicians only—can be perfected by modern Witches. In this groundbreaking book, Witch and ritual magician Frater Barrabbas shares a system of Witchcraft-based magic developed for safely performing invocations and evocations, handling fallen spirits and Goetic demons, traveling in the spirit world, creating a spirit pact, and constructing your own rituals for spirit conjuring. To help you get to know the full breadth of the spirit world, Spirit Conjuring for Witches includes a unique list of spirits as well as techniques for working with sigils and recommendations for classical grimoires. Exploring history, folktales, and personal experiences, this book shows how to magically develop relationships with spirits and ultimately master both the spirit and material worlds. Praise: "A clear and distinct body of tools and rituals for working with a broad range of spirits. If you are a witch looking for a more formal approach to this field, this may be the book for you."—Ivo Dominguez Jr., author of Spirit Speaks and Practical Astrology for Witches and Pagans "Frater Barrabbas has made a valuable contribution to the practice of modern witchcraft...This is a very thorough and carefully developed invitation to revive the practice of magical evocation that historically played so central a role in witchcraft and magic."—Jim Baker, author of The Cunning Man's Handbook "Frater Barrabbas shows how modern Witches can also reclaim their ability to conjure spirits in the age-old tradition of evoking beings of the Otherworld to attain knowledge or obtain practical results in this world. With the current revival in the publication, study and use of the classical grimoires, witches who are drawn to the practice of the magickal evocation of spirits now have a detailed guide to the inner preparations and outer practices necessary to evoke spirits safely and correctly."—Jonathan Nightshade, Gardnerian HP, Traditional Crafter and Sorcerer "I wish that there had a book like Spirit Conjuring for Witches back when; it would have saved me any number of missteps along the way. With more than forty years of experience under his cincture, Frater Barabbas speaks with a voice of wisdom, clarity and authority: truly one of the Thirteen Human Treasures of Paganistan."—Steven Posch, Traditional Witch and Host of Radio Paganistan "As Witches we all work with Deity and various spirits; but can you honestly say you communicate with them? This book is a valuable resource for every serious Witch's library. The author has outlined how to truly connect with that spirit realm, which allows us to build a relationship with those we work with."—Lady Adariana, Gardnerian HPS

The Devil in Connecticut

The Devil in Connecticut
Author: Gerald Brittle
Publisher:
Total Pages: 302
Release: 2021-06-22
Genre:
ISBN: 9781631683190

The true story that is the basis for The Conjuring 3: The Devil Made Me Do It opening in theaters June 4, 2021. It began with the lust of demons and the corruption of a young boy named David Glatzel. It ended with a murder trial that made headlines across the country--the trial of Arne Cheyenne Johnson, accused of brutally knifing a friend to death. Johnson's defense startled the nation: not guilty, by reason of demonic possession. Here is the horrifying true story of what happened on terrible summer in the sleepy town of Brookfield, Connecticut. How the Glatzels, an average suburban family, came under a terrifying demonic attack that changed their lives. How their eleven-year-old son, David, suffered monstrous visitations by an entity he could only identify as "the Beast." How a close friend, Arne Cheyenne Johnson, became the tragic victim of forces beyond anyone's control...and how the Glatzels' ordeal has still not ended.

Conjuring

Conjuring
Author: Marjorie Lee Pryse
Publisher:
Total Pages: 288
Release: 1985-12-22
Genre: History
ISBN:

This collection of essays explains the emergence of black women novelists in contemporary American literature and the cultural and personal influences that made it possible for them to find their literary authority. Beginning with the 19th century origins of the tradition--the autobiographical writings and slave narratives--the volume discusses individual writers such as Pauline Hopkins, Jessie Redmon Fauset, Ann Petry and Octavia Butler; the aggregate significance of fiction by black women; and their influence on each other. Novels examined include Toni Cade Bambara's The Salt Eaters, Ann Petry's The Street, and Toni Morrison's Song of Solomon and The Bluest Eye. ISBN 0-253-31407-0 : $29.95; ISBN 0-253-20360-0 (pbk.) : $10.95.

The Conjure Woman (new edition)

The Conjure Woman (new edition)
Author: Charles W. Chesnutt
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 122
Release: 2024-10-22
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1804179396

An early slave narrative, a skilfully woven satire on the stereotypes of plantation life and the apparently beneficent white owner. Told as a series of gentle fables, in the style of Aesop. Featuring a new introduction for this new edition, The Conjure Woman is probably Chesnutt's most powerful work, a collection of stories set in post-war North Carolina. The main character is Uncle Julius, a former slave, who entertains a white couple from the North with fantastic tales of antebellum plantation life. Julius tells of supernatural phenomenon, hauntings, transfiguration, and conjuring, which were typical of Southern African-American folk tales at the time. Uncle Julius tells the stories in a way that speaks beyond his immediate audience, offering stories of slavery and inequality that are, to the enlightened reader, obviously wrong. The tales are fabulistic, like those of Uncle Remus or Aesop, with carefully crafted allegories on the psychological and social effects of slavery and racial injustice. Foundations of Black Science Fiction. New forewords and fresh introductions give long-overdue perspectives on significant, early Black proto-sci-fi and speculative fiction authors who wrote with natural justice and civil rights in their hearts, their voices reaching forward to the writers of today. The series foreword is by Dr Sandra Grayson.

Conjuring the State

Conjuring the State
Author: A. Kim Clark
Publisher: University of Pittsburgh Press
Total Pages: 196
Release: 2023-09-05
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 0822989972

The Ecuadorian Public Health Service was founded in 1908 in response to the arrival of bubonic plague to the country. A. Kim Clark uses this as a point of departure to explore questions of social history and public health by tracing how the service extended the reach of its broader programs across the national landscape and into domestic spaces. Delving into health conditions in the country—especially in the highlands—and efforts to combat disease, she shows how citizens’ encounters with public health officials helped make abstract ideas of state government tangible. By using public health as a window to understand social relations in a country deeply divided by region, class, and ethnicity, Conjuring the State examines the cultural, social, and political effects of the everyday practices of public health officials.

DC Horror Presents: The Conjuring: The Lover

DC Horror Presents: The Conjuring: The Lover
Author: Various
Publisher: National Geographic Books
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2022-03-08
Genre: Comics & Graphic Novels
ISBN: 1779515081

Meet Jessica. Jessica just returned to her freshman year of college after winter break, bringing with her the anxieties of last semester’s poor grades, the awkwardness of facing a boy she wishes she’d never slept with, and an undeniably unnerving feeling of being watched. She soon comes to realize that something evil made her its target, and it will not rest until it has her in its unholy grip. But why did this sinister presence set its sights on a seemingly normal college freshman? Read this nerve-racking tale, creepily crafted by Conjuring screenwriter David L. Johnson-McGoldrick and Rex Ogle with heart-stopping art from Garry Brown and chill-inducing covers by Bill Sienkiewicz, to find out! The terrifying tie-in to The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It is collected here in its entirety!

House of Darkness House of Light

House of Darkness House of Light
Author: Andrea Perron
Publisher: AuthorHouse
Total Pages: 403
Release: 2014-08-11
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 1491829885

Roger and Carolyn Perron purchased the home of their dreams and eventual nightmares in December of 1970. The Arnold Estate, located just beyond the village of Harrisville, Rhode Island seemed the idyllic setting in which to raise a family. The couple unwittingly moved their five young daughters into the ancient and mysterious farmhouse. Secrets were kept and then revealed within a space shared by mortal and immortal alike. Time suddenly became irrelevant; fractured by spirits making their presence known then dispersing into the ether. The house is a portal to the past and a passage to the future. This is a sacred story of spiritual enlightenment, told some thirty years hence. The family is now somewhat less reticent to divulge a closely-guarded experience. Their odyssey is chronicled by the eldest sibling and is an unabridged account of a supernatural excursion. Ed and Lorraine Warren investigated this haunting in a futile attempt to intervene on their behalf. They consider the Perron family saga to be one of the most compelling and significant of a famously ghost-storied career as paranormal researchers. During a seance gone horribly wrong, they unleashed an unholy hostess; the spirit called Bathsheba; a God-forsaken soul. Perceiving herself to be the mistress of the house, she did not appreciate the competition. Carolyn had long been under siege; overt threats issued in the form of firea mother's greatest fear. It transformed the woman in unimaginable ways. After nearly a decade the family left a once beloved home behind though it will never leave them, as each remains haunted by a memory. This tale is an inspiring testament to the resilience of the human spirit on a pathway of discovery: an eternal journey for the living and the dead.

The Big Book of Fairytales & Fantasy Classics

The Big Book of Fairytales & Fantasy Classics
Author: Lewis Carroll
Publisher: Good Press
Total Pages: 7277
Release: 2023-12-17
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN:

The Big Book of Fairytales & Fantasy Classics offers readers an unparalleled journey into the labyrinth of the imagination, assembling a remarkable array of tales from the quills of some of history's most influential and pioneering authors. This collection spans a myriad of literary styles, from the grotesque and Gothic to the whimsical and whimsical, showcasing the richness and diversity of fantasy literature. Among its pages, readers will find seminal works that have shaped the genre, bridging the gap between ancient folklore traditions and modern fantasy storytelling. The anthology captures the essence of fantasy as a space for exploring the human condition, morality, and the complexities of the magical and the mundane. The contributors to this volume are a veritable who's who of literary history, each bringing their unique voice and perspective to the genre. From the surreal escapades in Lewis Carroll's wonderlands to the moral allegories in Oscar Wilde's writings, and the dark, cautionary tales of the Brothers Grimm, these authors collectively embody the spirit and evolution of fantasy literature. Their works reflect significant cultural and historical movements, from Romanticism to Victorian morality tales, offering readers a window into the sociopolitical landscapes of their times. This anthology is a treasure trove for aficionados of fantasy and fairy tales, students of literature, and anyone seeking to immerse themselves in the boundless realms of the imagination. It presents an extraordinary opportunity to explore the depths of fantasy literature through a tapestry of tales that challenge, entertain, and inspire. The Big Book of Fairytales & Fantasy Classics is not just a collection of stories; it is an invitation to wanderlust and wonder, encouraging readers to ponder the limitless potentials of the fantastical world. A rich educational resource and a compelling read, it promises to awaken a sense of awe and an appreciation for the craft of storytelling.