The Crooked Path: An Introduction to Traditional Witchcraft

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a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak Hutton, Ronald (2017). The Witch: A History of Fear, from Ancient Times to the Present. Yale University Press.

The relationship of books to English folk magic, including the sorcery later categorized as ‘witchcraft’ is a close one historically, as magical information and formulae considered worthy of publication was held in high regard by practitioners and in many cases possessed the quality of a talisman. The most essential book resource for the traditional witchcraft initiate is arguably the Holy Bible, in either the William Tyndale translation or that of King James. This would closely be followed by the continental grimoires and cunning-folk texts in museums and private collections. Regarding the late 20th century phenomenon known as Traditional Witchcraft, the following titles are recommended, being specifically concerned with that subject.Figures like Maria Campina, revered as the "Queen of Witches", exemplify the prominence of Roma witches in contemporary Romania. Campina's claims of inheriting her powers from her ancestors and her expertise in fortune-telling have earned her respect within both the Roma community and wider society. Her influence serves as a testament to the enduring legacy of Roma witchcraft. [134] [135] Meanwhile, legends of Thessalian witches developed during the Classical Greek period. [13] According to many sources, Thessaly was notorious for being a haven for witches, [14] and "folklore about the region has persisted with tales of witches, drugs, poisons and magical spells ever since the Roman period." [15] The craze reached its height between 1560 and 1660. After 1580, the Jesuits replaced the Dominicans as the chief Catholic witch-hunters, and the Catholic Rudolf II (1576–1612) presided over a long persecution in Austria. The nuns of Loudun (1630), novelized by Aldous Huxley and made into a film by Ken Russell, provide an example of the craze during this time. The nuns had conspired to accuse Father Urbain Grandier of witchcraft by faking symptoms of possession and torment; they feigned convulsions, rolled and gibbered on the ground, and accused Grandier of indecencies. Grandier was convicted and burned; however, after the plot succeeded, the symptoms of the nuns only grew worse, and they became more and more sexual in nature. This attests to the degree of mania and insanity present in such witch trials. [ citation needed] Illustration of witches, perhaps being tortured before James VI, from his Daemonologie (1597)

a b Willis, Deborah (2018). Malevolent Nurture: Witch-Hunting and Maternal Power in Early Modern England. Cornell University Press. pp.27–28. Orion Foxwood has written a very personal book in “ The Flame in the Cauldron”. It details a lot of his own experiences in learning about the Craft and gives useful and practical examples drawn not only from his own Appalachian heritage, but also from teachings he received from Old Craft mentors from England. It is a curious mix of lore and practicality, but all the more interesting for that. The first is ‘ Witchcraft and Religion’ by Christina Larner. Ms Larner is a personal favourite; her books cover the very roots of belief, faith, culture and the historical criminalisation of witchcraft. She studies gender roles and social diversity in relativistic and ethnocentric terms, raising questions on primitivism, revisionism and cultural appropriation – a very topical volume. Collins, Derek (2001). "Theoris of Lemnos and the Criminalization of Magic in Fourth-Century Athens". The Classical Quarterly. 51 (2): 477–493. doi: 10.1093/cq/51.2.477. The use of hallucinogens in European witchcraft is a topic explored by modern researchers and historical records. Anthropologists such as Edward B. Taylor and pharmacologists like Louis Lewin have argued for the presence of plants like belladonna and mandrake in witchcraft practices, containing hallucinogenic alkaloids. Johannes Hartlieb (1410-1468) wrote a compendium on herbs in ca. 1440, and in 1456 the puch aller verpoten kunst, ungelaubens und der zaubrey (book on all forbidden arts, superstition and sorcery) on the artes magicae, containing the oldest known description of witches' flying ointment. Medieval accounts from writers including Joseph Glanvill and Johannes Nider describe the use of hallucinogenic concoctions, often referred to as ointments or brews, applied to sensitive areas of the body or objects like brooms for inducing altered states of consciousness. These substances were believed to grant witches special abilities to commune with spirits, transform into animals, and participate in supernatural gatherings, forming a complex aspect of the European witchcraft tradition. [153] [154] Arguments in favor [ edit ]Main article: Magic in the Greco-Roman world Caius Furius Cressinus Accused of Sorcery, Jean-Pierre Saint-Ours, 1792 The Tsardom of Russia also experienced its own iteration of witchcraft trials during the 17th century. Witches were often accused of practicing sorcery and engaging in supernatural activities, leading to their excommunication and execution. The blending of ecclesiastical and secular jurisdictions in Russia's approach to witchcraft trials highlighted the intertwined nature of religious and political power during that time. As the 17th century progressed, the fear of witches shifted from mere superstition to a tool for political manipulation, with accusations used to target individuals who posed threats to the ruling elite.

Ronald Hutton outlined five key characteristics ascribed to witches and witchcraft by most cultures that believe in the concept. Traditionally, witchcraft was believed to be the use of magic to cause harm or misfortune to others; it was used by the witch against their own community; it was seen as immoral and often thought to involve communion with evil beings; powers of witchcraft were believed to have been acquired through inheritance or initiation; and witchcraft could be thwarted by defensive magic, persuasion, intimidation or physical punishment of the alleged witch. [4] :3-4 Illustration by Martin van Maële, of a Witches' Sabbath, in the 1911 edition of La Sorcière by Jules Michelet Mihaela Drăgan, an influential Roma actress and writer, challenges stereotypes and empowers Roma women through her concept of "Roma Futurism". This visionary movement envisions a future where Roma witches embrace modernity while preserving their cultural heritage. Social media platforms have enabled Roma witches to amplify their reach, reshaping their image and expanding their influence. [134] [135] Other countries [ edit ] Hutton says that healers and cunning folk "were sometimes denounced as witches, but seem to have made up a minority of the accused in any area studied". [4] :24-25 Likewise, Davies says "relatively few cunning-folk were prosecuted under secular statutes for witchcraft" and were dealt with more leniently than alleged witches. The Constitutio Criminalis Carolina (1532) of the Holy Roman Empire, and the Danish Witchcraft Act of 1617, stated that workers of folk magic should be dealt with differently from witches. [27] It was suggested by Richard Horsley that cunning folk ( devins-guerisseurs, 'diviner-healers') made up a significant proportion of those tried for witchcraft in France and Switzerland, but more recent surveys conclude that they made up less than 2% of the accused. [28] However, Éva Pócs says that half the accused witches in Hungary seem to have been healers, [29] and Kathleen Stokker says the "vast majority" of Norway's accused witches were folk healers. [30] Accusations of witchcraft [ edit ] This section does not cite any sources. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. ( August 2023) ( Learn how and when to remove this template message) Gregory of Nyssa (c. 335 – c. 395) had said that demons had children with women called cambions, which added to the children they had between them, contributed to increase the number of demons. However, the first popular account of such a union and offspring does not occur in Western literature until around 1136, when Geoffrey of Monmouth wrote the story of Merlin in his pseudohistorical account of British history, Historia Regum Britanniae (History of the Kings of Britain), in which he reported that Merlin's father was an incubus. [71]

Oxford English Dictionary, the Compact Edition. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press. 1971. p.2955. The idea that witches gained their powers through a pact with the Devil provided a satisfactory explanation, and allowed authorities to develop a mythology through which they could project accusations of crimes formerly associated with various heretical sects (cannibalism, ritual infanticide, and the worship of demonic familiars) onto the newly emerging threat of diabolical witchcraft. This pact and the ceremony that accompanied it became widely known as the witches' sabbath. The idea of a pact became important—one could be possessed by the Devil and not responsible for one's actions; but to be a witch, one had to sign a pact with the Devil, often to worship him, which was heresy and meant damnation. The idea of an explicit and ceremonial pact with the Devil was crucial to the development of the witchcraft concept, because it provided an explanation that differentiated the figure of the witch from that of the learned necromancer or sorcerer. [70] Merlin is said to have been born from the relationship of an incubus with a mortal (illumination from a 13th-century French manuscript)