Most Helpful Customer Reviews
54 of 56 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Exhaustive Study of Witchcraft from a strange character, October 29, 2001
This review is from: History of Witchcraft (Hardcover)
This is a lengthy and exhaustive history of witchcraft and the occult written by the eccentric occult historian Montague Summers in 1927. Summers was well known for his many books on witchcraft, vampires, werewolves, and the history of the occult in general. He was generally considered The Expert on the history of witchcraft in the early 20th century and was filled with little-known anecdotal tales of witches, warlocks and dark devilish conspiracies as is evidenced by the many long dry examples in this book. This work is, however, a thorough reference on a arcane subject and is valuable for its many historical accounts of witch trials and other tales of witches, devils, and their arts. Summers is often criticized for his lack of skepticism, as noted below, as well as the heaps of praise he showers on the works of the Inquisition and its supposed war on witchcraft during the height of witch hysteria. His translations of notorious books like the Malleus Maleficarum and the Compendium Maleficarum, both witch hunting manuals used for centuries to detect, judge, and execute suspected witches, are his best-knwn works. Summers appears to revel in the age-old war against witches and often seemed a man born into the wrong time. He seems to wax nostalgic on the "Burning Times" and its blatant mysoginistic undertones, and this was in our "modern" age. In fact, he seems almost like a magistrate plucked from a 17th century witch burning and transplanted into the 20th century to write about his esteemed accomplishments! Yet, all this comes from a man who went to great lengths to transcribe and republish Reginald Scots' "Discoverie of Witchcraft", a 16th century treatise DISCOUNTING the existence of witches and demons and which was banned by the Holy Office and ordered burned by King James I of England! Very interesting stuff indeed.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
21 of 23 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A classic study of witchcraft, November 1, 1998
By A Customer
One of the first, and still the best, scholarly studies of witchcraft, which deals in general terms with its history and practices (the companion volume The Geography of Witchcraft describes specific cases of witchcraft from around the world). Summers's baroque language is ideally suited to his subject, which is treated seriously, but with considerable wit. His inclination to believe too much rather than too little has not always found favour, but he wrote from the viewpoint of a Catholic priest who, though he relished describing the ways of the witch, also roundly condemned them.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Fascinating History of Witchcraft and Demonology., July 29, 2005
This review is from: History of Witchcraft (Hardcover)
_The History of Witchcraft and Demonology_ by Roman Catholic priest Montague Summers provides a fascinating account of the influence of Satan on the development of witchcraft and heresy. Montague Summers, a convert to Catholicism, was an eccentric character - a priest who operated independently in England and wrote much on the occult and folklore from the perspective of a medieval traditionalist Roman Catholic. Summers argues against the so-called rationalists and skeptics who refuse to recognize the existence of the supernatural or the role of evil and of Satan in the world. Against these and other modernists, Summers provides the traditional Roman Catholic view regarding the demonic nature of heresy and the role of Satan in its proliferation. According to Summers, the witch is at once "heretic and anarchist". He seeks to show how all heresy, beginning with the dualistic Gnostic heresy including Manicheeism, is rooted in satanism and attempts to supplant the godly order of society and makes war against Christ and his Catholic Church. Among other heresies mentioned by Summers are those of the Waldensians, the Adamites, and the Cainites - Gnostics who spurned Christ and opted instead for the worship of Satan making an effort to identify with the sources of evil in Holy Scripture such as Cain and Judas Iscariot. Summers also mentions the Templars who became corrupted and engaged in vile acts including the worship of a human head known as the Baphomet. The witch, a devotee of Satan, may be understood as a revival of these most ancient and heinous heresies. Summers argues for the reality of witchcraft, claiming that there really existed a conspiracy against medieval society represented in witchcraft and that that conspiracy involved the worship of Satan, against the rationalists who attempt to explain it away through other means. Summers also argues against the theories of Margaret Murray, an anthropologist and Egyptologist who in her (in)famous book _The Witch-Cult in Western Europe_ argued that witchcraft represented a surviving pre-Christian pagan religion of Dianic worship which underlay medieval Christian society. Summers attempts to outline various features of the witch including the role of various demons and familiars, the witch's mark (believed to be an imprint left from the claw of Satan, and explaining the role of the "witch pricker"), the presence of a tiny nipple on the witch's body through which the familiar often in the form of a cat was nourished, and the role of the witch's sabbat. Summers also shows how the witch as Satanist sought to ape the Church of Christ, desecrate the host and religious objects, and engage in the black mass. Among others, Summers makes reference to such notorious criminals as Gilles de Rais (who engaged in the murder of children - another frequent accusation made against the witch) and the author J. K. Huysmans (whose novels feature Satanism and the black mass). Summers also turns his attention to the witch in Holy Writ. Here, he mentions the witch of Endor as well as bringing up such infamous injunctions against witchcraft as that in the Old Testament Exodus 22:18 "Wizards thou shalt not suffer to live." In addition, Summers attempts to fully explain the phenomenon of diabolical possession. First, he notes the reality of diabolical possession and then he presents a discussion of the exorcism. Throughout he makes reference to Scripture, noting the exorcisms done by Christ himself and the apostles as well as from the history of the church and the lives of the saints. While the reality of the diabolical possession among those exorcised by Christ is de fide, some have argued that other exorcisms are more suspect (and others outside of the Catholic faith including Anglicans and other Protestants have rejected the practice entirely). Summers shows the errors in these rationalist and modernist explanations, and although it is possible that many were not in fact possessed, it is certainly the case that a great many were. In addition, Summers presents the entire Roman Ritual for exorcism. Summers also shows the use of exorcism among the Puritans, who often amateurishly attempted to copy the attempts of various Jesuits. Summers also explains spiritism (or spiritualism) in which a medium attempts to make contact with the dead or other discarnate spirits through various means. Summers shows the dangers of this and other occult beliefs presenting official documents from various church councils and popes. The church (and Summers) believe that much in spiritism can be explained as simply fraudulent practice; however, the fact remains that there is something diabolical at root behind spiritism and that often the spirits encountered in fact represent demons. Finally, Summers ends with a discussion of the witch in dramatic literature. Here, he presents details from various plays involving witchcraft including such famous examples as that of the Faust legend (presented in Goethe's _Faust_ and Marlowe's _Dr. Faustus_, for example) and in Shakespeare (especially the witches in _Macbeth_), etc. This book represents one of the best available on the history of witchcraft. Summers is obviously very learned and presents many obscure references, often in their original form (archaic English, French, Latin, or Greek), as well as stories from the lives of the saints, the history of the church, and Holy Scripture. Summers is unequivocally unapologetic for his rejection of modernism and thoroughly embraces the medieval viewpoint. He remains a fascinating and eccentric character whose books provide details on the occult of an encyclopedic scope.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
|
|
Most Recent Customer Reviews
|
