Customer Reviews

Witches and Witchcraft, Encyclopedia Of, Second Edition

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
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1 star:		(2)

 

 

This has to be one of the most impressive books on Witches and Witchcraft I have ever Purchased. One because it is not exclusively about Wicca, but of Witchcraft. ( Let the world understand that not all Witches, are Wiccans. First of all the book is huge, and has entries on Demons, the Devil, "Which really did have a big part in the history of Witchcraft." What impressed me the most of this Huge Book was that it was not just only about European Witchcraft, but also has entries on Witchcraft from around the world.

The Book is one of those books that if you have a question on Witchcraft, just alphabetically look it up and it will be there, both the black and white aspects of witchcraft are included. There are entries on Grimoires, Black Magic, Voodoo, Santeria, Quimbanda, Stregarism, A few entries on popular Wiccan Authors, Curses, Spells, Brujeria, Curanderismo, Salem Witch trials, Sorcery, Evil Spirits, Shamanism,The Orishas, the Loa, Morgan La Fey, Merlin, Voodoo Queens, and the list goes on and on. Yep and it is al in one impresive volume, that should be in every Witches, or Brujos Library. This is a good book to have, but not really meant for the Wiccan Faint of Heart.

This book is an encyclopedia of anything relevant to modern and historic witchcraft. It covers key names, places, people, concepts, times and events that are tied to the craft or are mistakenly construed as tied to Wicca (i.e. Satanism). It doesn't try to gloss over dark periods in our history and comes across as extremely objective about the material. The book is outstanding in its clear and concise prose - it really gets to the heart of any entry. The entries themselves are easy to look up and find. It is truly a definitive source of reference information and I would recommend it to anyone that is evaluating this path or is interested in history.

This comprehensive encyclopedia contains hundreds of entries (from Abracadabra to the Zagarramurdi Witches) and over a hundred illustrations. Explaining its nature as a holistic religion that emphasizes the sanctity of life and the unity of all things, it provides a survey of witchcraft from its early pagan roots to the present, including the periods of persecution like the Inquisition and the Salem witch trials. Included are biographical profiles of leading modern witches, many with interviews. Some prominent personalities include Patrcia Crowther, Laurie Cabot and Margaret Adler and there is also an interesting piece on Carl Weschke, the magician and founder of Llewellyn Publications.

Our Museum has a library of over 3000 books on the occult and witchcraft, Guiley's Encyclopędia of Witches and Witchcraft is the book most often used to point researchers in the right direction. The encyclopędia is without question the most useful reference book in our collection and we thoroughly recommend it. In this second edition Guiley has expanded and updated many entries and added new photograhhs. What a pleasure it is to hold a properly produced, weighty, hardback tome such as this. Well done Rosemary !

This is a very good book, but not a great one. The sections on Neo-Pagan Witchcraft are outstanding, but the sections on historical Witchcraft are erratic. A host of new evidence about historical Witchcraft has become available since the late '70's. This new data has overturned many of the older theories. And, unfortunately, Guiley drew upon some outdated works, such as Russell Hope Robbins' _Encyclopedia of Witchcraft and Demonology_. Therefore while the modern parts of the book are wonderful, the historical information is occasionally woefully inaccurate. (The stuff on the death toll is particularly bad.)

Whether you are researching Witchcraft for scholarly or personal purposes, this is THE book to make your own. In it, you will find a who's who of historical and modern Witches, complete information on Sabbats, spells, amulets, persecution, modern Wicca, medieval Devil worship, and more. Everything imaginable that could be associated with Witches is here

Surprisingly, for its small size, there was lot of information packed into this book. There's nothing much to say about the book since it's an encyclopedia, but the quality is excellent. There are tons of color photographs, and they're all very enlightening. Also, the explanations are kept at a simple minimum, and are extremely easy to understand. It is a good book for all interested in all things occult.

this book is excellent,like the reviewer below me said you can skip through and find an entry you want. or you can read it all the way through. i really enjoyed all the wonderful topics they had in here,history. differents types of witchcraft. the people that helped the craft out. the witchhunters. it explains alot of basics of the craft. this is a good book for the beginner-advanced.

This book is beyond compare. It is wonderfully researched and detailed. It has many many obscure and little known listings and references. It is hard to imagine a better book on this subject.
Buy it! You will not be disappointed.

This is a wonderful book for the occult, as well as any other person. Not only does it look at witches and their craft but it also looks at their relations to other religions. This is a wonderful book and well worth spending the money on. If you have any interest in witchcraft or witches this is the book for you.