The Witch-Cult in Western Europe (1921) (1st edition)

S$135.00

The Witch-Cult in Western Europe (1921) (1st edition)

S$135.00

Title: The Witch-Cult in Western Europe
Author: Margaret Alice Murray
Publisher: Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1921. First edition.
Condition: Hardcover, green cloth. Some discoloration of boards, otherwise in very good condition. Firmly bound. 300 or so pages.

Once belonged to genealogist and author Lionel Cresswell from the early 20th century – bears his bookplate with coat of arms.

Once belonged to genealogist and author Lionel Cresswell from the early 20th century – bears his bookplate with coat of arms.

About (by JB Hare):

The Witch-Cult in Western Europe was the first book in which Margaret Murray developed her controversial literal interpretation of the Witch trial evidence. This work is of importance because it is a source-book of the Witch trials, with extensive quotes from the original documents, presented in the original Elizabethan English, French and German. The names of hundreds of accused witches are given in an appendix, a somber roll call of the ‘burning times.’ The main body of this work aims to show that the consistent narrative of the cult is evidence of a wide-spread, underground pagan religion existing in Europe up through the Renaissance. Murray, as if not having stirred things up enough, adds appendices with her controversial take on the Fairies, Joan of Arc and Gilles de Rais, as well as one truly dangerous recipe. This book is one of those crucial works which every scholar of Neopaganism must come to terms with, one way or another.

Contents:

PREFACE.

INTRODUCTION.

I. CONTINUITY OF THE RELIGION.

II. THE GOD.

1. As God.

2. As a Human Being.

3. Identification.

4. As an Animal.

III. ADMISSION CEREMONIES.

1. General.

2. The Introduction.

3. The Renunciation and Vows.

4. The Covenant.

5. The Baptism.

6. The Mark

IV. THE ASSEMBLIES.

1. The Sabbath, Method of going. The site. The date. The hour.

2. The Esbat. Business. The site. The time.

V. THE RITES.

1. General.

2. Homage.

3. The Dances.

4. The Music.

5. The Feast.

6. Candles.

7. The Sacrament.

8. Sacrifices: Of animals. Of children. Of the God.

9 Magic Words.

VI. THE RITES, continued.

1. General.

2. Rain-making.

3. Fertility.

VII. THE ORGANIZATION.

1. The Officer.

2. The Covens.

3. Duties.

4. Discipline.

VIII. THE FAMILIARS AND TRANSFORMATION.

1. The Divining Familiar.

2. The Domestic Familiar.

3. Methods of obtaining Familiars.

4. Transformations into Animals.

APPENDIX I.

Fairies and Witches.

APPENDIX II.

Trial of Silvain Nevillon. Taken from De Lancre’s L’Incrédulité et Méscréance.

APPENDIX III.

A. Covens and Names of Members.

B. Index of Witches’ Names, with Notes.

APPENDIX IV.

Notes on the Trials of Joan of Arc and Gilles de Rais.

APPENDIX V.

Some Notes on ‘Flying’ Ointments. By Prof. A. J. Clark.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

GENERAL INDEX