Product Description

Professor Leonard Ashley offers an overview of the rites and rituals of cultures from ancient times to today. Just by casually flipping through its pages, you can learn how to turn yourself into a hare, walk on water, commune with the dead, or kill someone from a distance.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1795087 in Books
• Published on: 1995-09-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 272 pages

Amazon.com Review
A hodgepodge of information on various schools of magic and witchcraft including demons, devils, fairies, talismans and conveniently vague descriptions of spells. The book covers topics from the beginnings of history to the 20th century. At times humorous, going so far as to reveal the size of the devil's member but certainly not afraid to discuss some of the more horrific aspects of witchcraft such as human sacrifice or the Salem witch trials.

Customer Reviews

INFORMATIONAL
I have read many books on the subject of witchcraft and I am 15 years old and I know that the author wrote this book as a informational book about witchcraft from around the world and the past. He wrote the book as a history of witchcraft and although he wrote of some curses and some rather gruesome things, he also added that he would rather not have the reader practice anything he wrote. I understand how the Wiccans around the world feel about this book but they to should not take the book as a ''how to'' book.

Hunting season is Open on Fluff Bunnies
I can't help but chuckle at all the Fuff bunnies who are completel offended by this book. NEWS FLASH: WICCA IS LESS THAN 60 YEARS OLD! For those of you advocating Buckland and Cunningham, please understand that these authors present modern WICCA, which is NOT the same as WITCHCRAFT! The "witchcraft" presented by Cunningham is a mix of superficial folklore, ceremonial magick, Amer-Indian spirituality and Thelema.

This book however gives a good, is sometimes harsh view of Witchcraft in history. Certainly the bias of the times needs cnsidering, however, most withes were not simple old nature worshippers kepping the tradition of the Goddess alive. Realizing this fact does not invalidate Nature worship today. Presenting Wicca as a factual history of Witchcraft is retarded. This book will help to blow any fresh faced impressionable "priestess of Avalon" out of the water and let them know about serious witchcraft.

Please get it through your head that the Witches of the past DID NOT use techniques such as visualization, casting a circle, calling the watchtowers (watchtowers btw are Huge "angelic" forces and are completely derived from Christian Mythos) Nor did they worship the "God" and the "Goddess". Trying to present modern Wicca as historical witchcraft is classic Murrayism.

Lets get past this stuff people. Lets open up Hunting season on Cute little bunnies. I got my crosshair on Sliver Ravingwolf.

Oh no, not again...
I had truly hoped that I'd seen the last of these types of books. Information on the true nature and history of Witchcraft is so readily available today that it is inexcusable for an author to show such ignorance of the facts. I understand that this is only an attempt to present the medieval superstitions about the Craft, but would the author make such unqualified statements about any other religion? This seems not unlike a book written about Judaism from a Nazi point of view. Perhaps historically interesing but ultimately insulting. I would recommend to the author that future editions at least include a disclaimer stating that he is not attempting to defame or misrepresent modern Witches.