Witchcraft Magic And Culture 1736 1951

Download or read book Witchcraft, Magic and Culture, 1736-1951 written by Owen Davies and published by Manchester University Press. This book was released on 1999-09-11 with total page 358 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Most studies of witchcraft and magic have been concerned with the era of the witch trials, a period that officially came to an end in Britain with the passing of the Witchcraft Act of 1736. But the majority of people continued to fear witches and put their faith in magic. Owen Davies here traces the history of witchcraft and magic from 1736 to 1951, when the passing of the Fraudulent Mediums Act finally erased the concept of witchcraft from the statute books. This original study examines the extent to which witchcraft, magic and fortune-telling continued to influence the thoughts and actions of the people of England and Wales in a period when the forces of "progress" are often thought to have vanquished such beliefs.

Download or read book Witchcraft, magic and culture 1736–1951 written by Owen Davies and published by Manchester University Press. This book was released on 2024-06-04 with total page 352 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The only serious study of witchcraft and magic from 1736 to 1951. Brings together matters ranging from upper class spiritualism to rural witchcraft in an exciting and intellectually stimulating way. Essential reading for all social historians and all h. . . .

Download or read book Witchcraft, Magic and Culture, 1736-1951 written by Owen Davies and published by . This book was released on 1999 with total page 360 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The only serious study of witchcraft and magic from 1736 to 1951Brings together matters ranging from upper class spiritualism to rural witchcraft in an exciting and intellecually stimulating wayEssential reading for all social historians and all h. . . .

Download or read book Historical Dictionary of Witchcraft written by Michael David Bailey and published by Scarecrow Press. This book was released on 2003 with total page 254 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.

Download or read book Crimen Exceptum written by Gregory J Durston and published by Waterside Press. This book was released on 2019-06-05 with total page 243 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: As the author notes, ‘The early-modern European witch-hunts were neither orchestrated massacres nor spontaneous pogroms. Alleged witches were not rounded up at night and summarily killed extra-judicially or lynched as the victims of mob justice. They were executed after trial and conviction with full legal process’. In this concise but highly-informed account of the persecution of witches Gregory Durston demonstrates what a largely ordered process was the singling-out or hunting-down of perceived offenders. How a mix of superstition, fear, belief and ready explanations for ailments, misfortune or disasters caused law, politics and religion to indulge in criminalisation and the appearance of justice. Bearing echoes of modern-day ‘othering’ and marginalisation of outsiders he shows how witchcraft became akin to treason (with its special rules), how evidentially speaking storms, sickness or coincidence might be attributed to conjuring, magic, curses and spells. All this reinforced by examples and detailed references to the law and practice through which a desired outcome was achieved. In another resonance with modern times, the author shows how decisions were often diverted into the hands of witch-hunters, witch-finders (including self-appointed Witchfinder General, Matthew Hopkins), witch-prickers and other experts as well as the quaintly titled ‘cunning-folk’ consulted by prosecutors and ‘victims’. Crimen Exceptum (crimes apart). A straightforward and authoritative guide. Shows the rise and fall of prosecutions. Backed by a wealth of learning and research. Extract ‘A range of specialist tests developed to establish that a suspect truly was a witch. These included “swimming”, “pricking” … identifying a witch’s teat, requiring her to recite the Lord’s Prayer or other well-known passage of scripture … and any positive results obtained from the various techniques, such as scratching a suspect or boiling a victim’s urine … to break a spell or to identify who had cast it.’ Review 'An excellent overall history of English witch trials replete with fascinating examples drawn from pamphlets and trial records. The book is written in fluid prose, understandable to the legal layperson. I cannot recommend Crimen Exceptum highly enough to anyone interested in the factual background to witchcraft prosecutions in England.'-- Catherine Meyrick, author of historical fiction.

Download or read book Witchcraft and Demonology in South-West England, 1640-1789 written by J. Barry and published by Springer. This book was released on 2011-12-13 with total page 384 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Using south-western England as a focus for considering the continued place of witchcraft and demonology in provincial culture in the period between the English and French revolutions, Barry shows how witch-beliefs were intricately woven into the fabric of daily life, even at a time when they arguably ceased to be of interest to the educated.

Download or read book The A to Z of Witchcraft written by Michael D. Bailey and published by Scarecrow Press. This book was released on 2009-09-28 with total page 252 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A great deal has been written about the history of witchcraft, but much of what has been written is unreliable, exaggerated, or inaccurate. This problem is especially acute in regard to modern witchcraft, or Wicca, and its supposed connections to historical witchcraft in medieval and early modern Europe. The A to Z of Witchcraft provides a reliable reference source for both academics and general readers interested in the actual historical development of witchcraft in the western world. The focus of the dictionary is on Western Europe during the late-medieval and early modern periods, when the specific idea of diabolical witchcraft developed and when the so-called 'great witch-hunts' occurred. Entries are also provided that deal with magic and witchcraft in the earlier Christian period and classical antiquity, as well as with the lingering belief in witchcraft in the modern world, and with the development of the modern, neo-pagan religion of witchcraft, also known as Wicca. For comparative purposes, some entries have been provided that deal with aspects and systems of magic found in other parts of the world that seem to bear some relation to the idea of witchcraft as it developed in Christian Europe. The regions dealt with are mainly Africa, along with such New-World practices as Voodoo and Santeria. Entries in the dictionary cover important people in the history of witchcraft, from the medieval inquisitors and early modern magistrates who developed the stereotype of the historical witch to the modern individuals who have developed the religion of Wicca. Also included are legal terms and concepts important to the prosecution of the supposed crime of witchcraft, and religious and theological concepts pertaining to the demonic elements that came to be associated with witchcraft, as well as more popular beliefs and aspects of common folklore and mythology that became attached to the developing idea of witchcraft. Geographic entries are also included, discussing the scope of witch-hunting in various regions of Europe and the world, and describing specific examples of major witch-hunts such as those that occurred in Salem, Massachusetts.