The Oxford Illustrated History of Witchcraft and Magic

My review is not of the content, but of the physical book itself. Pages 3-18 are upside down and backwards! I’ve attached a photo. I was going to return it, but since all the pages are there I will just deal with it to avoid the inconvenience of sending it back. Also, the dust jacket is creased and wrinkled, but that doesn’t affect the reading so, again, I’ll ignore it. I’m very disappointed because this is an OUP text and I certainly expected it to be in better condition. Oh, well - ultimately, it’s the content that matters.

Initial impressions: Poor print quality-looks like it was a digital publication, not offset so the inks are more gray then black. Limited and small mostly B&W illustrations. Content not even considered since it was returned.

nice read

This will be a Birthday gift for my daughter. I have glanced at it however and it’s very informative regarding witchcraft and magic.

A lot of interesting information in this book!

These twin topics captivate multitudes. Even by classical times, editor Owen Davies begins, people wondered about magic's origins, and reacted to its practitioners who bewitched by the occult. Beyond frisson or fun, fear or faith, witchcraft and magic free social energy, excite art, and infuriate earthly powers that be or which have been. Beyond European representations, beliefs and practices filtered into and out from Indian and Eastern, along with African and Amerindian, influences. While magic's fundamental concepts trace back millennia, they continue to evolve, as science and religion change.In learned but accessible chapters, eight scholars explain this process. "Magic in the Ancient World" opens this chronologically arranged essay collection. Four thousand years ago, cuneiform tablets testify to daily emergencies eased by incantations and counter-measures. Dog bites were countered by creating a clay dog. The evil eye hovered over Mesopotamian catastrophes. A professional magician had to be called upon to repel a bird-like demon, attracted by a crying baby waking a household. Egyptians, Hebrews, Greeks and Romans generated their own mysticism and myths about these mercurial beings. Peter Maxwell-Stuart collates cases; he shows how monks in fourth-century Palestine installed a floor mosaic, patterned with biblical inscriptions to protect both monks and visitors. The incorporation of such verses to ward off ill attests to their ubiquity in common belief.What these peoples begged to repel were demons. Sophie Page distinguishes normative Church rituals from those persisting which were unauthorized, and these were associated with the Devil. Yet exchanges of learning between Jewish scholars around the Mediterranean and their Arabic peers "transformed the status of late medieval magic from an illicit activity into a branch of knowledge."Alchemy, astrology, and divination augmented the inquiries of Byzantine magicians, and the Latin West stretched these webs of influence. Political, natural, iconic, and angelic forms of magic attracted those who encouraged demons by necromancy, and those who rushed to exorcise such dark forces.This trend led to charges of heresy and sorcery. Threatened by the Cathars and the Waldensians, Catholic institutions constructed the Inquisition, with advocates "responsible only to the Pope." The royal courts sought to squelch relatives of the favored ruler, and accusations of the ambitious social climber who was said to have turned to a diviner or soothsayer were common among courtiers. Ambitious females were often targeted, as they were deemed tainted more by popular than learned forms of magic. Both types stirred up a "science of demons" to address and attack malign spirits.By the fifteenth century, James Sharpe demonstrates, "the Devil was seen as the embodiment of evil." Satan had waited for the Church to promote him from Job's adversary to the tempter not only of the Son of God but the sons and daughters of mankind. Most Europeans agreed, despite the Reformation and the Catholic counter-movement, that the Devil was real. Thus so were his witches. Puritans bickered with priests over the efficacy of exorcism, and the veracity of the sabbat gathering. Witches attended, many Christians concurred. But whether this was by flight (via broomstick in later rumor) or by solely the spirit, as wifely bodies lay sleeping next to their husbands, remained contested.In the Enlightenment, progressive preachers pushed the priests and ministers asserting the clear and present danger of demonic possession and intervention into the shadows, as irrational superstition. But judicial efforts against witches lived on among die-hards. Rita Volmer enters to guide readers through the once widespread witch trials. These aimed at women, about 75-80% of juridical victims.Volmer admits this lack of parity cannot be accounted for with any "obvious and simple answer." It was not a "witch craze." Nor was this procedure driven by panic or, if the term is taken seriously, a "witch-hunt" unless this applied to a larger group prosecuted as suspects. Her charts assist readers in envisioning statistics of trials, although data are lacking about totals, numbers, and "final verdicts."Trials might trap more than one defendant. Allegations of witchcraft did not guarantee execution. Volmer's extensive research merits attention, to counter claims of nine to twenty million fatalities in what 1970s feminists deemed "the burning times." Volmer estimates between 40,000-60,000 died in Europe and its colonies. A significant portion of executions occurred in the Holy Roman Empire.Wild rumors have predictably multiplied about this purported diabolical enemy. "The Witch and Magician in European Art" commences as Charles Zika examines woodcuts from Hans Baldung, who created the enduring image of three naked women cavorting around a "seething pot." That cauldron contained salves and potions. These, associated with women's wily wicked work, spawned imitations and elaborations. Broadsheets warned of frenetic. fiery, and erotic goings-on at "the witch's sabbath." Sensationally, illustrations delineated conspirators occupied deeply in the pursuit of subversive acts not limited to dancing, feasting, or riding goats. The sexual, the female, and the forbidden beckoned.With a few color, mostly monochrome depictions of amulets, engravings, and figures engaged in tamer doings than a Walpurgisnacht, The Oxford Illustrated History of Encyclopedia of Witchcraft & Magic enables readers to visualize as well as to comprehend the hold of these storied forces on the imagination. Its compiler, Owen Davies, presents two aspects of these phenomena nearing our era.Popular magic demonstrates application as cures, as transference of bad spirits to an artifact, or as "passing through" a stone with a hole or a narrow stony gap, at least if a prehistoric monument was nearby. Circles kept their symbolic importance, for circumambulation and encircling busied adepts in ancient Egypt as well as seventeenth-century Scotland. Regional diversity contributed to the local efficacy of particular charms and spells. Davies devotes attention too to the Catholic and Protestant distinctions which filtered through folk cultures. One denomination might denounce another's superstitions, only to have its own faithful surreptitiously resort to cunning-folk to get a second opinion when a physician's diagnosis left a patient dissatisfied. These practices lasted long enough to be documented by folklorists. In turn, the survival of popular magic sparks repression up to today.These rituals and remedies were consigned by missionaries, colonial officials, and pioneering anthropologists as sordid or salacious evidence of an earlier stage of religion, indulged in by supposedly heathen or backward races. Max Weber over a century ago argued that this "age of magic" gave way to first the Reformation and then secularized modern societies bent on progress. Yet, as Davies sets forth, Hermeticism and an occult Enlightenment accompanied early modernism.Astrology, the Kabbalah, and mesmerism resonated. Freemasonry and mystical Christianity enjoyed prominence in the beginning of the nineteenth century. The Rosicrucians, the Golden Dawn, and Aleister Crowley (son of a wealthy lay preacher in the austere Plymouth Brethren) timed their rise to the late-Victorian turn to spiritualism. Gerald Gardner took up a portion of Crowley's occult fame. But he shifted the attention to create, as Davies cautions, rather than discover, Wicca. Gardner's assemblage of what was extant in history, tradition, and orders followed a venerable method among those who were supposed to have revived occult lore, surviving through a secret lineage of initiates.By the middle of the twentieth century, first Crowley, next Gardner, then Doreen Valente with her coven and Alex Sanders as "King of the Witches" courted British media. As Davies remarks tersely, Fleet Street did not strain for accuracy: "Wicca came to be identified with a lack of clothing." Tabloids capitalized on this new witch craze. The international reach of witchcraft generated suspect but also serious coverage. Robert J. Wallis surveys anthropological theories and investigations.As Tanya Luhrmann's late-1980s dissertation epitomized, an outsider academic entering a magical circle could upset the trust placed in scholars by practitioners. Letting the right one in to a group widely misunderstood requires truth and tact. Controversy over these topics has shifted from habitual prohibition of sympathy towards witches to an acceptance of how they themselves control scrutiny.Jenny Blain's approach benefits from the ethnographic framework applied to the seidr, said to be a type of shamanism drawn upon by contemporary Norse heathen reconstructionists. She, Wallis, and informed colleagues contribute challenging studies to "disrupt the insider/outsider, rational/irrational, superstition/science divides." Insiders began to complete graduate schools and obtain professorships. Both successes are very recent, considering the long record of extreme prejudice towards adherents.A very visible indication of tolerance may emerge from the rapt reception of many towards the Harry Potter books and films. This expands to Oz, Buffy, fairy tales, thrillers, movies and series of varied genres. Willem de Blécourt examines a proliferating array, with due credit to a certain Mrs. Darrin Stevens and her 1960s coterie. Ugly, sexy, or domesticated, once unleashed, witches dramatized as such grab the gaze of the enchanted or horrified audience. Conjured, witches threaten. Summoned, they electrify conflicts, rescue victims, or seek to engender plot complications. Integrating antiquated stereotypes, sent up satirically or exploited lazily, tensions of gender, power, and ambiguity here live on. Audiences may not notice these tropes, but they exemplify the spell magic casts upon millions.For those so captivated, suggested reading follows. While certain leading scholars will find themselves relegated to its documentation rather than featured in chapters, this serves as a respectable resource. It is hoped this solid anthology of level-headed observation of topics will supplant spurious New Age-tinged assertions as well as lurid "exposés." This attractive book presents the story of how men and women, and increasingly children and teens react to popular representations of magic. They rush to or flee from a source of energy and mystery which keeps swaying and/or scaring the curious.

Owen Davies who has written several books on witchcraft and cunning folk has gone ahead and given an overview of magic and witchcraft going all the way back to Sumerian times up to the present, documenting how witches are perceived in the the movies. OOwne Davies has written two of the essays himself and the rest are drawn from contributing authors.Going back to Sumeria, which was one of the first societies in general. It is in this society that that European or Western Magic has it's roots. There were alway evil spirits to look out for. THe Mesopotamians shared their space with these spirits and believed in placating them in order to be left alone. Good spirits also had to be placated. There was always the fear that someone would use magic against you. Magicians could be temple priests or wise men outside of the temple. The same held for Egypt.The Greeks learned lots of there magic from the Egyptians, Phoenicians and Sumerians.They absorbed their ideas of astrology and took on a lot of their myths and made it their own. Greek magic used defixiones or lead sheets that were rolled up with an inscription and cast into the Earth or into water. It most be noted that during these Ancient times it was not considered bad to work magic. Witches and magicians were not considered bad. Magic workers were judged by the work they produced. There was n attitude against magic.In Europe societies were magical as well. THe Norse deemed magic to be feminine and it was considered improper for men too engage in such practice. As Christianity rolled into Europe from the Middle East, not everyone came onto it automatically and dropped their old pagan religion. What happened was an amalgamation of Christianity and ancient pagan customs being absorbed by the new religion. Churches were built on top of old Pagan shrines.The attitude towards magic was not negative although the church did try to stamp it pagan practices. What got someone into trouble was if they we're accused of using negative magic against someone. THis would result in a flogging or some minor punishment.European contact with the Middle East via the crusade, 1492 brought Ancient Greek learning back. Too Europe along with many Islamic ideas on magic. This was also when witches were being demonized. Where as before magic was looked down upon now active witch hunts though the inquisition were rising up. People were put through such horrible torture that they often did not survive the investigation. If a witch survived the trial then it was proof that she was a witch.The Catholic CHurch and the PRotestants would accuse each other of witch craft. Foreign ideas were threatening. Important to note is that the same things Romans said against Christians the Christians would now say against witches.THe anti magic attitude would die down and magic would be more accepted . By the 1950's most of the anti magic laws we're gone. Some of the greats in magic would arise from the 1900's too the present. Crowley, Gardner, MEsmer to name a few. Former masn would join magic order not with the intent to manipulate the environment but to come closer to God and achieve perfection.THe book finishes first with surveys on witches in the cinema and anthropology studies of witchcraft and magic.

Not exactly what I expected, but a very interesting read. The book is packed with lots of information by a variety of different authors, some interesting illustrations and photos. I really think that anyone who is interested in Witchcraft and Magic will really enjoy this book, which is of great quality and really well done. I won this book on GoodReads and like I do with most my wins I will be paying it forward by giving it to either a friend or library to enjoy. A big thanks to Owen Davies!

A well presented academically sound introductory overview of a vastly branched subject matter.Lavishly illustrated,the word Oxford and the name Owen Davies on the front cover evokes immediate confidence in accepting the contents of this work will be reliable.A glance inside reveals contributions from such scholars as Sophie Page,James Sharpe and of course,Davies himself which further strengthens this works solidity.Given that,those already well versed in papers examining the history of witchcraft and magic may find little new information here.However,for the general readership or academics having a first foray into the subject,this really ranks as one of the best introductions to this field that has surfaced in modern times.Within those parameters,this is highly recommended and an important addition to your bookshelves.

Bought as a gift. Have had a quick shifty through it and from I can see it is packed with interesting info and all the kind of pictures you would expect to see in a book of this subject. Fancy getting myself a copy...😁

Beautiful

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Owen Davis is THE reference for a modern, intelligent approach to European-based witchcraft.