Witches, Whores, and Sorcerers

Witches, Whores, and Sorcerers
Author: Satnam Mendoza Forrest
Publisher: University of Texas Press
Total Pages: 246
Release: 2011-12-01
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0292726872

Early Iranians believed evil had to have a source outside of God, which led to the concept of an entity as powerful and utterly evil as God is potent and good. These two forces, good and evil, which have always vied for superiority, needed helpers in this struggle. According to the Zoroastrians, every entity had to take sides, from the cosmic level to the microcosmic self. One of the results of this battle was that certain humans were thought to side with evil. Who were these allies of that great Evil Spirit? Women were inordinately singled out. Male healers were forbidden to deal with female health disorders because of the fear of the polluting power of feminine blood. Female healers, midwives, and shamans were among those who were accused of collaborating with the Evil Spirit, because they healed women. Men who worked to prepare the dead were also suspected of secret evil. Evil even showed up as animals such as frogs, snakes, and bugs of all sorts, which scuttled to the command of their wicked masters. This first comprehensive study of the concept of evil in early Iran uncovers details of the Iranian struggle against witchcraft, sorcery, and other "evils," beginning with their earliest texts.

Witches, Whores, and Sorcerers

Witches, Whores, and Sorcerers
Author: S. K. Mendoza Forrest
Publisher: University of Texas Press
Total Pages: 246
Release: 2011-12-01
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0292742495

Early Iranians believed evil had to have a source outside of God, which led to the concept of an entity as powerful and utterly evil as God is potent and good. These two forces, good and evil, which have always vied for superiority, needed helpers in this struggle. According to the Zoroastrians, every entity had to take sides, from the cosmic level to the microcosmic self. One of the results of this battle was that certain humans were thought to side with evil. Who were these allies of that great Evil Spirit? Women were inordinately singled out. Male healers were forbidden to deal with female health disorders because of the fear of the polluting power of feminine blood. Female healers, midwives, and shamans were among those who were accused of collaborating with the Evil Spirit, because they healed women. Men who worked to prepare the dead were also suspected of secret evil. Evil even showed up as animals such as frogs, snakes, and bugs of all sorts, which scuttled to the command of their wicked masters. This first comprehensive study of the concept of evil in early Iran uncovers details of the Iranian struggle against witchcraft, sorcery, and other "evils," beginning with their earliest texts.

History Of Witchcraft

History Of Witchcraft
Author: Jeffrey B Russell
Publisher: National Geographic Books
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2007-02-20
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0500286345

"It separates centuries of supernatural nonsense from documented fact spellbinding."—Los Angeles Times For nearly thirty years, Jeffrey B. Russell's authoritative book has been the one illustrated history to which anyone interested in this subject could turn with confidence. Now, in collaboration with Brooks Alexander, who has himself conducted innovative research in the field, this classic book has been fully revised, with an updated introduction and bibliography, new information throughout, and an extended account of witchcraft from ancient times to the present day. Drawing comparisons between modern sorcery and that of the ancient world, the book shows how the European witch craze in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries developed out of a combination of ancient sorcery and medieval Christian heresy, paganism, folklore, scholastic theology, and inquisitorial trials. Whether the diabolical witchcraft for which men and women went to the stake ever existed is open to question. What matters more is that it was believed to exist by intellectuals and peasants alike.

A History of Witches and Sorcerers

A History of Witches and Sorcerers
Author: Arkon Daraul
Publisher:
Total Pages: 284
Release: 2017-04-17
Genre:
ISBN: 9781544667386

This fascinating book covers the lives and activities of famous and lesser known witches and sorcerers since 500 B.C. Beginning with the alchemist Pythagoras, it covers the history of sorcery and witchcraft in ancient society, then moves on to the medieval period, the Spanish Inquisition, the witches of England, France, and America, and closes with a discussion of modern magicians. In between, one meets Cornelius Agrippa, the temperamental 16th century Belgian magician; the Count of Cagliostro, whose powers seemingly enabled him to monopolize winning lottery tickets in 18th century London; and of course, Johann Faust, the man who roused Mephistopheles himself. These and many others, such as Gilles de Raiz, Francis Barrett, and Eliphas Levi are covered in this intriguing work. "Reflects with vivid emotional accuracy what the European common man felt about witchcraft. Here are the phosphorescent phantasmagoria of medieval times - the sadism, the horro, the preoccupation with evil, the genuine interest in astrology, alchemy, and the elixir of youth; and the seething mixture of attraction, repulsion, superstition, fear, and rationalization with which the subject is regarded today..." -The London Times Literary Supplement

Witches and Sorcerers

Witches and Sorcerers
Author: Sirdar Ikbal Ali Shah
Publisher:
Total Pages: 48
Release: 2005-12-01
Genre: Body, Mind & Spirit
ISBN: 9781425367985

This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the original. 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.

The Witch's Secret

The Witch's Secret
Author: Samantha Grosser
Publisher:
Total Pages:
Release: 2019
Genre:
ISBN: 9781393793854

"A seductive, and wickedly alluring gritty tale ... an irresistible read." - Gwendalyn's Books Some Secrets Are Better Left Untold ... Six-fingered Mary Sparrow believes she was cursed at birth, and the bawdy house at the Cardinal's Cap is the only home she's ever known. Like most of the girls, she dreams of escape, but when an old man mysteriously drives her friend to madness, Mary begins to fear for her life. Toby Chyrche also hopes for a better future, away from the confines of the tailor's shop where it seems his fate is set in stone. So when a chance meeting with an old man at the brothel offers him a different path, he is only too eager to accept. Then the discovery of an old book of magic throws a new and shocking light onto the past - his mother had a brother, and that brother was a witch. As the old man's shadow over Bankside lengthens, Mary is drawn into the growing web of darkness. Unable to escape its reach, she turns to Toby for help. But Toby has daemons of his own to face. Will possession of the book be enough to protect them? And what price will they have to pay? A dark tale of witchcraft, magic, and intrigue. Previously published as The Sorcerer's Whore. Praise for The Witch's Secret "Such an enticing read, you won't be able to leave it be."- Jennifer C. Wilson "A wickedly delightful, gripping and immersive tale that totally absorbed me into its hauntingly dark characters." - Gwendalyn's Books "A spell-binding, chilling and evocative adventure, an enticing journey through time and fantasy that will have you begging for more."- Chicks, Rogues and Scandals "I thoroughly enjoyed this novel and would whole-heartedly recommend it."- Juliette Sebock

The Witch

The Witch
Author: Ronald Hutton
Publisher: Yale University Press
Total Pages: 385
Release: 2017-01-01
Genre: History
ISBN: 0300229046

This book sets the notorious European witch trials in the widest and deepest possible perspective and traces the major historiographical developments of witchcraft

Ancient Medicine

Ancient Medicine
Author: Laura M. Zucconi
Publisher: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing
Total Pages: 424
Release: 2019-08-13
Genre: Medical
ISBN: 1467457515

This book by Laura Zucconi is an accessible introductory text to the practice and theory of medicine in the ancient world. In contrast to other works that focus heavily on Greece and Rome, Zucconi’s Ancient Medicine covers a broader geographical and chronological range. The world of medicine in antiquity consisted of a lot more than Hippocrates and Galen. Zucconi applies historical and anthropological methods to examine the medical cultures of not only Mesopotamia, Egypt, Greece, and Rome but also the Levant, the Anatolian Peninsula, and the Iranian Plateau. Devoting special attention to the fundamental relationship between medicine and theology, Zucconi’s one-volume introduction brings the physicians, patients, procedures, medicines, and ideas of the past to light.

The Witches Almanac

The Witches Almanac
Author: Charles Christian
Publisher: Visible Ink Press
Total Pages: 598
Release: 2023-02-28
Genre: Body, Mind & Spirit
ISBN: 1578598141

Real Witches. Real Lives. Real Magic. Real History. Take a magical tour through the lives and times of 359 of the most important sorcerers and witches throughout history. For millennia there’s been a fascination and a fear of people possibly wielding magical powers and a stigma surrounding practitioners of ancient rituals and practices. Yet, in the last 70 years, witchcraft, as well as Wicca, have gone from taboo beliefs pursued by a handful of eccentrics and misfits to major global, spiritual movements. Meet the troublemakers and rebels who pushed for change in The Witches Almanac: Sorcerers, Witches, and Magic from Ancient Rome to the Digital Age. You’ll be introduced to the history, persecutions, conjurings, and magic of some of history’s most consequential witches, sorcerers, wizards, and mavericks, including … Circe, Medea, Hermes Trismegistus, the Chaldean Magi, and other Ancient Roman and Classical Greek witches Merlin, Morgana le Fey, Nimue, the 10 Queens of Avalon, and sorcery and witchcraft in the Arthurian legends San Cipriano, the obscure 4th century bishop whose influence today still plays an important role in folk magic and Hoodoo practices Baba Yaga, Joan of Arc, Gilles de Rais, Alice Kyteller, Lord Soulis, Michael Scott, the Golem of Prague, and medieval witchcraft King Henry VI, Anne Boleyn, King Henry VIII, Catherine de Medici, John Dee, Queen Elizabeth, and witchcraft in the British royal court Isobel Gowdie, illusive Scottish witch whose voluntary confessions provided the template for traditional witchcraft beliefs Isaac Newton, Friar Roger Bacon, Nicholas Flamel, Paracelsus, Cornelius Agrippa, Robert Boyle, and other alchemists The Burning Times of the late 16th to early 18th centuries The Berwick witch trial The Salem witch trial Aleister Crowley, W. B. Yeats, MacGregor Mathers, Eliphas Levi, the Golden Dawn, Thelema and ritual magic, and the rise of esoteric movements of the 19th and early 20th centuries Jack Parsons, described as the “Jet-Propelled Antichrist” whose life of sex, rockets, and magic ended prematurely in a mysterious explosion Gerald Gardner, Old Dorothy Clutterbuck, Alex Sanders, Robert Cochrane, Raymond Buckland, Lady Sheba, Marjorie Cameron, and others in the modern Wicca and witchcraft movement And much more!! You’ll get a deeper understanding of the obscure history of witches with this enchanting and bewitching tome! The Witches Almanac brings you their rich histories and extraordinary biographies, plus it includes a helpful bibliography, an extensive index, and numerous photos, adding to its usefulness.