Witchcraft in Tudor and Stuart England

Witchcraft in Tudor and Stuart England PDF Author: Alan MacFarlane
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1134644663
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 382

Get Book

Book Description
This is a classic regional and comparative study of early modern witchcraft. The history of witchcraft continues to attract attention with its emotive and contentious debates. The methodology and conclusions of this book have impacted not only on witchcraft studies but the entire approach to social and cultural history with its quantitative and anthropological approach. The book provides an important case study on Essex as well as drawing comparisons with other regions of early modern England. The second edition of this classic work adds a new historiographical introduction, placing the book in context today.

Witchcraft in Tudor and Stuart England

Witchcraft in Tudor and Stuart England PDF Author: Alan MacFarlane
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1134644663
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 382

Get Book

Book Description
This is a classic regional and comparative study of early modern witchcraft. The history of witchcraft continues to attract attention with its emotive and contentious debates. The methodology and conclusions of this book have impacted not only on witchcraft studies but the entire approach to social and cultural history with its quantitative and anthropological approach. The book provides an important case study on Essex as well as drawing comparisons with other regions of early modern England. The second edition of this classic work adds a new historiographical introduction, placing the book in context today.

Moral Power

Moral Power PDF Author: Koen Stroeken
Publisher: Berghahn Books
ISBN: 9781845457358
Category : Social ecology
Languages : en
Pages : 290

Get Book

Book Description
Neither power nor morality but both. Moral power is what Sukuma farmers in Tanzania in times of crisis attribute to an unknown figure they call their witch. A universal process is involved, as much bodily as social, which obstructs the patient's recovery. Healers turn the table on the witch through rituals showing that the community and the ancestral spirits side with the victim. In contrast to biomedicine, their magic and divination introduce moral values that assess the state of the system and that remove the obstacles to what is taken as key: self-healing. The implied 'sensory shifts' and therapeutic effectiveness have largely eluded the literature on witchcraft. This book shows how to comprehend culture other than through the prism of identity politics. It offers a framework to comprehend the rise of witch killings and human sacrifice, just as ritual initiation disappears.

Witchcraft

Witchcraft PDF Author: Susan Greenwood
Publisher: Lorenz Books
ISBN: 9780754826446
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Get Book

Book Description
Magic has played a part in most cultures throughout human history. Traditions and practices may differ but the essential elements remain the same. This history examines the roots and foundation of magic, and the way it has helped to shape our view of the universe and our place within it.

A Community of Witches

A Community of Witches PDF Author: Helen A. Berger
Publisher: Univ of South Carolina Press
ISBN: 1643362879
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 176

Get Book

Book Description
A Community of Witches explores the beliefs and practices of Neo-Paganism and Witchcraft—generally known to scholars and practitioners as Wicca. While the words "magic," "witchcraft," and "paganism" evoke images of the distant past and remote cultures, this book shows that Wicca has emerged as part of a new religious movement that reflects the era in which it developed. Imported to the United States in the later 1960s from the United Kingdom, the religion absorbed into its basic fabric the social concerns of the time: feminism, environmentalism, self-development, alternative spirituality, and mistrust of authority. Helen A. Berger's ten-year participant observation study of Neo-Pagans and Witches on the eastern seaboard of the United States and her collaboration on a national survey of Neo-Pagans form the basis for exploring the practices, structures, and transformation of this nascent religion. Responding to scholars who suggest that Neo-Paganism is merely a pseudo religion or a cultural movement because it lacks central authority and clear boundaries, Berger contends that Neo-Paganism has many of the characteristics that one would expect of a religion born in late modernity: the appropriation of rituals from other cultures, a view of the universe as a cosmic whole, an emphasis on creating and re-creating the self, an intertwining of the personal and the political, and a certain playfulness. Aided by the Internet, self-published journals, and festivals and other gatherings, today's Neo-Pagans communicate with one another about social issues as well as ritual practices and magical rites. This community of interest—along with the aging of the original participants and the growing number of children born to Neo-Pagan families—is resulting in Neo-Paganism developing some of the marks of a mature and established religion.

The Study of Witchcraft

The Study of Witchcraft PDF Author: Deborah Lipp
Publisher: Weiser Books
ISBN: 1609255046
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
Languages : en
Pages : 192

Get Book

Book Description
The Study of Witchcraft is a compendium for Wiccans who want to deepen their understanding of their traditions. Advanced Wiccan reaches beyond Wicca, delving into topics as diverse as history, psychology, divination, and lucid dreaming, The Study of Witchcraft introduces the reader to these topics, discussing each in depth and offering a one-of-a-kind course of study -- including recommended reading, offering readers --increasingly, solitary witches -- a self-study guide and a rich resource. The Study of Witchcraft includes information for all sorts of Wiccans; traditional, eclectic, radical, groups, and solitary. Wide-ranging topics also include Western occultism, myth and folklore, meditation, astrology, the Burning Times, history, herbalism, and much more. Deborah Lipp opens the book with a discussion of the past 40 years of Wiccan history and talks about the diverse people who call themselves Wiccans. Then, throughout the study guide portion, she offers information tailored to different types of Wiccans. Essentially, The Study of Witchcraft is a veritable master's degree in Wicca in book form! * Written for the needs of the modern wiccan, who learns primarily by self-study.

Buckland's Complete Book of Witchcraft

Buckland's Complete Book of Witchcraft PDF Author: Raymond Buckland
Publisher: Llewellyn Worldwide
ISBN: 0875420508
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
Languages : en
Pages : 336

Get Book

Book Description
"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

Indian Witchcraft

Indian Witchcraft PDF Author: Rajaram Narayan Saletore
Publisher: Abhinav Publications
ISBN: 8170171466
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
Languages : en
Pages : 229

Get Book

Book Description
Indian Witchcraft Is An Up-To-Date, Dynamic, And Scholarly Study, Dealing With The Problem From The Angles Of Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism And Islam. Based On Original Sources, The Chief Features Of Indian Witchcraft, Its Important Deities, Rituals, Witches And Wizards Are Discussed Authoritatively, With Full Documentation And Readable Style Bound To Appeal Universally.

The Sub

The Sub PDF Author: Thomas M. Disch
Publisher: U of Minnesota Press
ISBN: 9780816672202
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 336

Get Book

Book Description
A black comedy tour-de-force now in paperback.

Witchcraft: A Very Short Introduction

Witchcraft: A Very Short Introduction PDF Author: Malcolm Gaskill
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 019923695X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 163

Get Book

Book Description
Examines the history and origins of witchcraft, from pre-history to the present day, considering why it still features so heavily in our culture

Wicca

Wicca PDF Author: Ethan Doyle White
Publisher: Liverpool University Press
ISBN: 1782842551
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 287

Get Book

Book Description
The past century has born witness to a growing interest in the belief systems of ancient Europe, with an array of contemporary Pagan groups claiming to revive these old ways for the needs of the modern world. By far the largest and best known of these Paganisms has been Wicca, a new religious movement that can now count hundreds of thousands of adherents worldwide. Emerging from the occult milieu of mid twentieth-century Britain, Wicca was first presented as the survival of an ancient pre-Christian Witch-Cult, whose participants assembled in covens to venerate their Horned God and Mother Goddess, to celebrate seasonal festivities, and to cast spells by the light of the full moon. Spreading to North America, where it diversified under the impact of environmentalism, feminism, and the 1960s counter-culture, Wicca came to be presented as a Goddess-centred nature religion, in which form it was popularised by a number of best-selling authors and fictional television shows. Today, Wicca is a maturing religious movement replete with its own distinct world-view, unique culture, and internal divisions. This book represents the first published academic introduction to be exclusively devoted to this fascinating faith, exploring how this Witches' Craft developed, what its participants believe and practice, and what the Wiccan community actually looks like. In doing so it sweeps away widely-held misconceptions and offers a comprehensive overview of this religion in all of its varied forms. Drawing upon the work of historians, anthropologists, sociologists, and scholars of religious studies, as well as the writings of Wiccans themselves, it provides an original synthesis that will be invaluable for anyone seeking to learn about the blossoming religion of modern Pagan Witchcraft.