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Why have so many recent scholars of colonial witchcraft written sympathetically about the accusers while ignoring their victims?For most historians…
living through the fascist and communist tyrannies that culminated in World War II and the Cold War, the Salem witch trials signified the threat to truth and individual integrity posed by mass ideological movements. Work on the trials produced in this era, including Arthur Miller’s The Crucible and Marion L. Starkey’s The Devil in Massachusetts: A Modern Enquiry into the Salem Witch Trials, left little doubt that most intellectuals’ sympathies lay with the twenty innocent victims who stood up to Puritan intolerance by choosing to go to their deaths rather than confess to crimes they had never committed.In Switching Sides, Tony Fels traces a remarkable shift in scholarly interpretations of the Salem witch hunt from the post–World War II era up through the present. Fels explains that for a new generation of historians influenced by the radicalism of the New Left in the 1960s and early 1970s, the Salem panic acquired a startlingly different meaning. Determined to champion the common people of colonial New England, dismissive toward liberal values, and no longer instinctively wary of utopian belief systems, the leading works on the subject to emerge from 1969 through the early 2000s highlighted economic changes, social tensions, racial conflicts, and political developments that served to unsettle the accusers in the witchcraft proceedings. These interpretations, still dominant in the academic world, encourage readers to sympathize with the perpetrators of the witch hunt, while at the same time showing indifference or even hostility toward the accused.Switching Sides is meticulously documented, but its comparatively short text aims broadly at an educated American public, for whom the Salem witch hunt has long occupied an iconic place in the nation’s conscience. Readers will come away from the book with a sound knowledge of what is currently known about the Salem witch hunt—and pondering the relationship between works of history and the ideological influences on the historians who write them.A remarkable tale of witchcraft, folk culture, and persuasion in early modern Europe.Based on research in the Inquisitorial archives of…
Northern Italy, The Night Battles recounts the story of a peasant fertility cult centered on the benandanti, literally, "good walkers." These men and women described fighting extraordinary ritual battles against witches and wizards in order to protect their harvests. While their bodies slept, the souls of the benandanti were able to fly into the night sky to engage in epic spiritual combat for the good of the village. Carlo Ginzburg looks at how the Inquisition's officers interpreted these tales to support their world view that the peasants were in fact practicing sorcery. The result of this cultural clash, which lasted for more than a century, was the slow metamorphosis of the benandanti into the Inquisition's mortal enemies—witches.Relying upon this exceptionally well-documented case study, Ginzburg argues that a similar transformation of attitudes—perceiving folk beliefs as diabolical witchcraft—took place all over Europe and spread to the New World. In his new preface, Ginzburg reflects on the interplay of chance and discovery, as well as on the relationship between anomalous cases and historical generalizations.Medicine and Miracles in the High Desert: My Life among the Navajo People
By Erica M. Elliott. 2019
• Details the author&’s time living with the Navajo people as a teacher, sheepherder, and doctor and her profound experiences…
with the people, animals, and spirits • Shows how she learned the Navajo language to bridge the cultural divide • Reveals the miracles she witnessed, including her own miracle when the elders prayed for healing of a tumor on her neck • Shares her fearsome encounters with a mountain lion and a shape-shifting &“skin walker&” and how she fulfilled a prophecy by returning as a doctor In 1971, Erica Elliott arrived on the Navajo reservation as a newly minted schoolteacher, knowing nothing about her students or their culture. After a discouraging first week, she almost leaves in despair, unable to communicate with the children or understand cultural cues. But once she starts learning the language, the people begin to trust her, welcoming her into their homes and their hearts. As she is drawn into the mystical world of Navajo life, she has a series of profound experiences with the people, animals, and spirits of Canyon de Chelly that change her life forever.In this compelling memoir, the author details her time living with the Navajo, the Diné people, and her experiences with their enchanting land, healing ceremonies, and rich traditions. She shares how her love for her students transformed her life as well as the lives of the children. She reveals the miracles she witnessed during this time, including her own miracle when the elders prayed for healing of a tumor on her neck. She survives fearsome encounters with a mountain lion and a shape-shifting &“skinwalker.&” She learns how to herd sheep, make fry bread, and weave traditional rugs, experiencing for herself the life of a traditional Navajo woman.Fulfilling a Navajo grandmother&’s prophecy, the author returns years later to serve the Navajo people as a medical doctor in an underfunded clinic, delivering numerous babies and treating sick people day and night. She also reveals how, when a medicine man offers to thank her with a ceremony, more miracles unfold. Sharing her life-changing deep dive into Navajo culture, Erica Elliott&’s inspiring story reveals the transformation possible from immersion in a spiritually rich culture as well as the power of reaching out to others with joy, respect, and an open heart.The Crocheting Witch: New Age Arts and Crafts
By Rj Montgomery. 2021
A Craft and Crochet Book for New Age Readers, Wiccans, and Neopagans to Assist with Spells and Spell-Work Many…
students of New Age beliefs, from Wicca to Neopaganism, create items to assist with their work by managing energy and controlling spells. These homemade, hand-crafted materials have personal significance, beauty, and practical, useful effects. A quick reference for people specifically looking to incorporate crochet into their craft, The Crocheting Witch is a guide to using different types of stitch pattern, materials, herbal and essential-oil infusions, beads, and charms to create a variety of crocheted crafts: Wand casesTarot boxCandle cozyCrystal-storage amuletAnd many more!The Crocheting Witch teaches readers—from fans of New Age practices, to Wiccans, to Neopagans—to create items themselves to control energies and channel them for personal use.The Witch's Feast: A Kitchen Grimoire
By Melissa Madara. 2021
A decadent collection of magical dishes and feasts created by the herbalist, witch, chef and co-owner of Catland Books, Melissa…
Madara.The feast is a meeting place between family and friends, between humans and gods. This decadent collection of enchanting dishes is an indispensable companion to kitchen witchcraft, revealing the storied history and seductive art of magical cooking. With witch, herbalist and chef Melissa Jayne Madara as your guide, explore five facets of the occult through food: traditional recipes, the wheel of the zodiac, devotional meals to the planets, seasonal feasts to celebrate solstices and equinoxes, and practical spellwork. Recreate a pagan feast of lamb roasted with milk and honey, with cheesecake baked in fig leaves for dessert. Celebrate a Gemini birthday with herbed fondue, followed by lemongrass pavlova. Align with the poetic pleasures of Venus with edible flower dumplings, or commune with Saturn over blackberry pulled pork sandwiches. Enjoy the vibrancy of the spring equinox with herb and allium quiche with a potato crust, radish salad with cherry blossom vinaigrette and jasmine tea shortbread. Share an evening of storytelling over mugwort and catnip divination tea, or embody an otherworldly spirit with ritual bread masks. Packed with ancient knowledge, practical advice and witchcraft expertise, this book will help you develop your craft through culinary creativity. Gather, share, and rediscover the most fundamental of human rituals: the divine indulgence of the senses and the soul.From the twice CWA Dagger shortlisted author of The Twelve Strange Days of Christmas come thirteen twelve stories to transport…
you to the macabre world of inexplicable phenomena. As the dark winter nights get longer, prepare to lose yourself in the world of the strange. With a tale for each day of Christmas and a rather unlucky 13th, Christmas is not the only spirit in these pages. &‘Tis the season for sacrificial feasts, cultish communities and a train with a rather final destination. So wrap up warm and let yourself get lost in the world of the strange, the scary and the supernatural…Bohemian Magick: Witchcraft and Secret Spells to Electrify Your Life
By Veronica Varlow. 2021
“The remarkable Veronica Varlow seizes life with both hands and bends it to her will. Learn from her.” —Neil GaimanIn…
Bohemian Magick, Veronica Varlow, the last daughter in a line of Bohemian witches, weaves together witchcraft knowledge and ancient secret spells with an exotic rock-and-roll magick style that has earned her a devoted following worldwide. This beguiling grimoire-style guide is filled with potent, never-before-revealed spells, hand-written rituals, magick ephemera, hand-drawn sigils, potions, charms, and rhyming incantations that will call your power back to you and electrify your life!With more than 150 illustrations—drawings, photography, and vintage art—and text written in her own hand, this sumptuous companion is brimming with spells for everlasting confidence, radiant self-love, healing, manifesting your dreams, and love with a desired partner. Veronica calls upon the ancient and hidden Czech-Romani magic passed down to from her grandmother Helen’s lineage and infuses it with her own signature sorcery to help you awaken and amplify your truest self. Each spell that you cast, each potion that you brew, and each chant you speak into the universe will rouse the most powerful part of your being!In Part I, The School of Spectaculus, Veronica reveals, step by step, her personally crafted steps to spellcasting with power. She shares her secrets regarding writing and preparing for spells, calling on ancestors to give your spells oomph, and writing your own badass spells. She also provides information on when to cast spells and other basics that you need to know to perform the mind-blowing rituals she introduces in Part II.In Part II, Initiations, she introduces you to the hidden magick of Bohemia. She leads you on five initiations, each focused on specific themes including self-love, sizzling confidence, healing, juicy mojo, and love.Each initiation begins with an experiential journey of discovery, a story in which you are the protagonist, whether following a trail of candles through a dark wood to a river filled with tiny message-filled paper boats or venturing into a tarot parlor on a hot, sultry night to meet a Witch who has come back from the Afterlife to help you find true love. And, of course, each initiation includes spells with a rock and roll vibe, such as:Hello, I Love You: Use mirror magick to boost your confidence and magnetism.Return to Sender: Create a magick candle and burn it upside down to protect you and send bad vibes back to where they came from.Search and Destroy: Literally pulverize the false stories you tell yourself by writing them on china plates and smash those poisonous words to bits with a hammer!Bohemian Rhapsody: A secret knot-tying spell to do with a partner to increase passion and intimacyFor each badass bewitching enchantment, Veronica explains its importance, the purpose of practice, and the necessary tools and preparation you’ll need to cast it correctly. With Bohemian Magick, you’ll discover your adventurous side and your own unique magick. Get ready to rise up, call your power back to you, realize your purpose, and make your life story truly legendary!This book explores how the ancient path of shamanism can help us to understand the nature of mental illness, recasting…
psychological breakdown as a potentially transformational experience. What we label as pathological could actually be an initiation into a better relationship with ourselves and the world.Written for those who are experiencing or who have experienced mental illness, or whose loved ones are going through such episodes, or who are mental wellbeing practitioners, this is a guide to the potentially transformational experience of that which we label mental illness. It explores the ancient concept of the "shamanic sickness", whereby the prospective shaman underwent many years of mental distress as part of their initiation, and looks at what this can teach us about mental health. It argues that, in some cases, what we seek to medicate could actually be a calling to a path of service and healing. The book also explores our cultural biases around mental illness. What we define as pathological, many cultures see as a sign of being inspired and in touch with greater powers. It looks at our uneasy relationship with altered states of consciousness and how these might hold the key to healing many symptoms of mental illness. Finally it looks at how we, as species, have come out of balance in our relationship to nature and the devastating affect this is having on our mental health. By learning from ancient indigenous cultures who have remained in balance with the natural world, this book looks at solutions to heal this modern imbalance and find a way forward for the Earth and ourselves.Practical Witch's Almanac 2022: 25th Anniversary Edition
By Friday Gladheart. 2021
Celebrate your path every day with this special 25th-anniversary edition of The Practical Witch&’s Almanac. New resources, spells, recipes, and…
practices are paired with a selection of the best content from the last quarter century of Friday Gladheart's iconic almanac, all presented in a fresh and modern light. Track important dates in the wheel of the year on weekly calendar pages that include plenty of room to write in your own dates, appointments, and habits. Set your objectives to achieve your goals using the Moon Phase planner pages. Moon Phase Planner pages help you set your objectives to achieve your goals effectively while using natural Lunar cycles. Monthly Study Guides and magickal correspondences make your almanac an indispensable resource for years to come, with a selection of tarot cards, crystals and stones, herbs and botanicals, deities, colors, runes, and more. You&’ll find recipes, rituals, DIY projects, crafts, and insightful articles, all beautifully illustrated by the author to bring a bit of magic to your days. As always, the almanac provides precise calculations for astronomical and astrological events for any location on Earth.This is the planner that you won&’t abandon half-way through the year! It is so easy to use and welcoming that you&’ll stay organized all year. Cream-colored paper reduces smudges and welcomes your notes on the plentiful worksheets and planner pages. Your purchase grants you access to online resources that help you further your studies in each area at beginner, intermediate, or advanced levels.The Way of Abundance and Joy: The Shamanic Teachings of don Alberto Taxo
By Shirley Blancke. 2014
• Shows how to relate to and receive help from the elements, reconnect with nature to access abundance and joy,…
connect with plants, animals, water, air, and fire • Explores don Alberto&’s upbringing in a family of yachaks, his initiation, and his personal work to fulfill the Andean prophecy of the Eagle and the Condor • Includes reflections and essays from several of don Alberto&’s students and others who have worked with him, including Itzhak Beery and John Perkins Recognized as a master yachak, don Alberto Taxo is a celebrated spiritual elder, shaman, and healer of the pre-Inca Atik (Kichwa) people from the Andes Mountains of Ecuador. He has been sharing ancient Andean shamanic wisdom and practices in the United States for more than 20 years--his personal quest to fulfill the Andean prophecy that the Eagle and the Condor will fly together in the same sky in harmony. Written with don Alberto&’s permission and as further fulfillment of the Eagle-Condor prophecy, this book shares don Alberto&’s teachings and his simple approaches for building a reciprocal relationship with nature, centered on Sumak Kausay, the way of joy and abundance. As a yachak, a shaman of the elements, don Alberto shows how to relate to and receive help from nature. When we are connected with nature on an emotional and spiritual level it creates joy that is deeply healing and can be accessed during life&’s difficulties. The book discusses traditional Ecuadorian shamanic beliefs and practices, including Andean Inca cosmology; how to connect with plants, animals, air, fire, and water in sacred springs, the ocean, or your shower; and Inca concepts like Pacha, the space-time era in which we live that is now transitioning to a new one of connection and love after 500 years. The book explores don Alberto&’s upbringing in a family of yachaks, his initiation, and his assumption of the role of shaman for his community. It also includes reflections and essays from don Alberto&’s students and others who have worked with him, including shamanic teachers Itzhak Beery and John Perkins, showing how he influenced their lives and awakened them to the path of Sumak Kausay, Abundant Life.Shamanic Creativity: Free the Imagination with Rituals, Energy Work, and Spirit Journeying
By Evelyn C. Rysdyk. 2012
• Explains how creativity--or creative energy--is a life-giving force that frees the imagination, supports innovation, and awakens unique ways of…
thinking and feeling that can transform your life • Explores how to use spirit journeying and ceremony alongside experiential shamanic exercises to release creativity-blocking patterns, reprogram the subconscious, engage the &“right brain,&” boost imagination, and overcome anxiety and other destructive emotions • Provides suggestions for when your creative energy is at a low tide In this step-by-step practical guide to enhancing creative energy, Evelyn Rysdyk explains how, from the shamanic perspective, creativity--or creative energy--is a life-giving force that frees the imagination, supports innovation, and awakens unique ways of thinking and feeling that can transform your life. She explores how to use the shamanic technologies of spirit journeying and ceremony alongside experiential shamanic exercises to release creativity-blocking patterns, reprogram the subconscious, engage the &“right brain,&” boost imagination, overcome anxiety and destructive emotions, and become much more creative in daily life. Examining creative energy as a natural phenomenon similar to the tides, the author provides suggestions for when your creative energy is at a low tide as well as offering shamanic techniques for dealing with insecurities related to your creative pursuits and overcoming dysfunctional subconscious perceptions. Presenting a wealth of experiential exercises, rituals, and shamanic principles, this guide gives you the keys to unlock your own creative birthright.The Green Witch's Garden: Your Complete Guide to Creating and Cultivating a Magical Garden Space
By Arin Murphy-Hiscock. 2021
Create your own enchanting witch&’s garden and draw energy from the earth with this guide to cultivating your very own…
magical ingredients.A green witch embraces the power of nature, draws energy from the earth and the universe, and relies on stones, plants, flowers, and herbs for healing. In The Green Witch&’s Garden, you will learn how to create your own magical space to enhance your witchcraft practice. With information on how to plan and design your sacred garden and tips and tricks to growing and harvesting magical ingredients, this book will allow you to take control of your practice and more deeply connect with the earth. Let experienced witch and author of The Green Witch Arin Hiscock-Murphy guide you on your path to creating your personal piece of nature.Acts of Power: Daily Teachings for Inspired Living
By Lynn V. Andrews. 2017
Acts of Power, compiled from Lynn Andrews&’s extensive publication history, is a brilliant daily companion offering 365 days of wisdom…
and inspiration. These short daily teachings will assist you in being present with your desires, nurture your spiritual growth, and encourage you to remain grounded every day of the year.Lynn Andrews&’s new book Acts of Power is an intensely personal document that has assumed a special individual significance for contemporary readers, providing them with 365 daily inspirations that offer pivotal insights for living a joyful life. Andrews has distilled twenty-one books into this daily companion edition to support and inspire you in a small, easy-to-follow, yet very important and powerful tool for living well. Transcending the borders of age and background, Acts of Power&’s spectrum of experience, thought, and wisdom invites direct identification and a sense of recognition, a sharing of concerns and solutions.The Witchcraft Boxed Set: Featuring The Green Witch and The House Witch
By Arin Murphy-Hiscock. 2017
The Moon Power Boxed Set: Featuring: Moon Spells and Moon Magic (Moon Magic)
By Diane Ahlquist. 2002
Flower Essences from the Witch's Garden: Plant Spirits in Magickal Herbalism
By Nicholas Pearson. 2022
• Provides detailed instructions for making single-flower essences and magickal and therapeutic essence blends • Shares new magickal uses for…
flower essences, from creating sacred space to dressing candles to preparing incense, as well as how to use essences in meditation, potions, spells, spagyrics, and ritual • Includes a detailed directory of 100 flower and plant essences, complete with astrological, elemental, and magickal correspondences In this practical guide to using flower essences in witchcraft, alchemy, and healing, Nicholas Pearson provides detailed instructions for making and using flower essences based on traditional Western magick practices. He shares new magickal uses for essences, from creating sacred space to dressing candles to preparing incense, as well as how to use them in meditation, potions, spells, spagyrics, and ritual. He shares exercises for attuning to plant spirits, finding your plant spirit allies, and connecting more deeply to the energies of the green world as well as exploring how essences can be used in traditional sacraments of witchcraft like the Great Rite. In the hands-on formulary, the author details recipes for essence combinations for the eight sabbats and formulas based on familiar blends like traditional flying ointments of European witchcraft. He also includes blends for love, abundance, healing, and protection as well as a magickally inspired rescue remedy. He shares his method for creating flower essence spagyrics--alchemical preparations made from the body, mind, and soul of the plant that offer the highest vibrational potency for therapeutic and spiritual uses. The author also provides a detailed directory of 100 flower and plant essences, complete with astrological, elemental, and magickal correspondences, and the therapeutic indications for each essence. Weaving together magickal herbalism, traditional plant lore, and flower essence therapy, this guide allows you to see flower essences not just as vibrational remedies, but also as powerful tools for transformation, magick, and spiritual practice.Learn the craft of a kitchen witch to attract and renew love with 55 easy and romantic recipes and 33…
magical practices.From loving yourself, your family, and friends to romancing a significant other—love comes in many different forms. But what attracts love? What sustains it? And what can you do when you need to find love within yourself? A Kitchen Witch&’s Guide to Recipes for Love & Romance includes all the recipes and magic you need to find—and maintain—love, using ingredients that have spiritual properties and associations with love, sex, and romance. Combining the principles of Pagan beliefs and practices with easy recipes and personal anecdotes, this beautifully illustrated book will inspire you to cook up a little magic with positive intentions, simple spellcraft, and visualization techniques. Featuring recipes for dishes like: -Avocado Chocolate Mousse -Pomegranate Mimosas with Muddled Raspberries -Stuffed Zucchini Pinwheels -Strawberry, Spinach & Feta Salad -Pork Loin Roast with Cherries & Red Wine From celebrating love in all forms to rekindling romances with old flames, these fifty-five recipes use simple ingredients and make being in love easier—and tastier—than ever.Tarot & Tequila: A Tarot Guide with Cocktails (Sugar Skull Tarot Series)
By David A Ross. 2021
Embrace the magic of tarot and perfectly match the cards with mixed drinks in this beautifully illustrated bar book.&“Don&’t take…
advice from tequila, that&’s the tarot&’s job.&” Tarot & Tequila is a positive and spiritually uplifting guide that includes both basic and humorous tequila-inspired meanings of all 78 tarot cards that both beginners and experienced tarot card readers will relate to. Featuring 40 cocktail recipes—one for each Major Arcana card plus bonus Minor Arcana drinks, too—based on the attributes of the cards themselves, as well as a mystical pairing that explains why professional tarot card reader David Ross chose to pair each card to their respective drink, this magical mixology book can be used as both a guide and a recipe book. Try drinks like: -The High Priestess, an elixir of tequila, lemon juice, thyme, and seltzer -The Chariot, a tequila version of a Moscow Mule, with lemon, beet, and apple juices -The Four of Wands, a positive concoction of rum, homemade fennel liqueur, and more Perfect for fans of drinking, bartending, and tarot alike, this beautifully illustrated book makes both a perfect gift and a must-have addition to any home bar.The Witches: Salem, 1692
By Stacy Schiff. 2015
It began in 1692, over an exceptionally raw Massachusetts winter, when a minister's daughter started to scream and convulse. It…
ended less than a year later, but not before nineteen men and women had been hanged and an elderly man crushed to death. The panic spread quickly, involving the most educated men and prominent politicians in the colony. Neighbours accused neighbours, parents accused children, husbands accused wives, children accused their parents, and siblings each other. Vividly capturing the dark, unsettled atmosphere of seventeenth-century America, Stacy Schiff's magisterial history draws us into this anxious time. She shows us how a band of adolescent girls brought the nascent colony to its knees, and how quickly the epidemic of accusations, trials, and executions span out of control. Above all, Schiff's astonishing research reveals details and complexity that few other historians have seen. Every detail of colonial life just decades after the first landing - family, farming, praying, housekeeping, dangers of life at wilderness's edge, estrangement from England, the pressures of a life dominated by Biblical thought - is rendered with a clarity that makes almost inconceivable events comprehensible. As psychologically thrilling as it is historically seminal, as magnificently written as it is deeply researched, THE WITCHES breathes new life into one of history's most enduring mysteries.Read by Eliza Foss(p) 2015 Hachette AudioBecoming a Garment of Isis: A Nine-Stage Initiatory Path of Egyptian Spirituality
By Naomi Ozaniec. 2022
• Details the nine stages of the ancient Egyptian initiatory path, describing each stage&’s powers as well as the culminating…
ceremony called &“The Crown of Isis&” • Provides profound guided meditations for each of the nine stages and illustrates the manifestation of this path&’s principles through stories of awakening • Shares the author&’s personal journey as a Garment of Isis and her own powerful interactions with Isis, which culminated in her serving as Oracle of Isis at the Parliament of World Religions in Chicago in 1993 The Sacred Science of ancient Egypt was an initiatory spiritual system, a technology of consciousness designed to birth a mystical communion with the divinities, an embodied union of being between the eternal and the mortal. After initiation was completed, the re-identified being, now divinely possessed, was known as a &“Garment of Isis,&” signifying that the goddess Isis dwelt within them. As Naomi Ozaniec reveals, it is still possible to enter into these ancient Mysteries, to encounter the living mysticism of Khemetic Sacred Science and become a vessel for the divine. Offering a practical guide to the key principles within the Egyptian temple tradition, she explores the process of creating and developing a personal relationship with the neteru, the divinities and living forces of creation of ancient Egypt. She details the nine stages of this initiatory path, which are divided into three phases--Heartmind, Spiritmind, and Soulmind. This step-by-step, interactive process culminates in a ceremony called &“The Crown of Isis.&” For each of the nine stages, the author provides profound guided meditations and illustrates the manifestation of the initiate&’s powers through stories of awakening brought on by this spiritual path. She also shares her personal journey as a Garment of Isis and her own powerful interactions with Isis, which culminated in the author holding the office of Oracle of Isis at the Parliament of World Religions in Chicago in 1993. Offering an accessible yet substantive guide to initiation into the Egyptian mysteries, this book details how to gradually awaken and attune your mind to the symbolic, open access to higher realms of consciousness, and enter into a mystical marriage between personal and divine consciousness.