The History of Witchcraft

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Now, the read can be troubling because the woman identified as a witch–as “other”–has been persecuted throughout history, or it can be a dazzling delight because MAGIC. And it is because the witch is a powerful character as complex and shifting as familiar that we will thankfully never run out of material or cause for diverse stories about these bewitching characters.

Though not my favorite work by Valiente (give me her memoir The Rebirth of Witchcraft everyday of the week!) this is still a tremendous book. It’s a how to book from the woman who wrote many of Modern Witchcraft’s earliest rituals. And Valiente can be counted on to provide clear and practical instructions. The first truly great “101 Book” to come from Great Britain. American audiences probably know these two books better as the combined A Witches’ Bible, but they all hold up completely on their own. These two works by the Farrars (with an assist from Doreen Valiente) were the first complete peak inside contemporary Wiccan-Witchcraft coven practice ever published. And unlike the Lady Sheba’s Book of Shadows, the Farrars offered context and insight into just how to pull off ritual! Out of all the books on this list, these volumes remain among my most read Witch books. In England, 90% of the accused were women. But in other countries, more than half of the accused were men. If we’re talking about England, we’re mostly talking about a gendered image of what the witch is. In other places, we’re talking about an image of the witch that owes a lot more to racial and ethnic tensions, or religious denominational tensions, or even to land ownership disputes, and their gender becomes much less of an issue.

Table of Contents

In modern secular culture, there are rigid distinctions between satanic, demonic, ghostly, haunting and evil. But actually it sounds like these groups were much more porous. Let’s suppose that an eager JP has put together a significant number of depositions – complaints in writing from your fellow villagers – and has also interrogated you, and got a confession from you. The next stage is that all this evidence is put to a jury, who decide whether to take it to trial or not. In England, 90% of the accused were women. But in other countries, more than half of the accused were men”

Absolutely. That’s right. It’s actually really touching. It’s also potentially a suicide note, but the novel is open-ended. If Janet in the 20th century manages to read the letter, she can prevent the suicide, but you don’t ever know whether that’s going to happen. So it feels like it’s on you, as the reader.One of the great things about Huson’s book is that it appeals to a broad audience. Don’t like Wicca? Well there’s a lot in here that’s very much un-Wiccan. Looking to start a Wiccan-style coven? Well, the entire last chapter of the book is dedicated to just that. I remain amazed and awed by the longevity of this book and how important it is to various Witch communities. This is our first “American Witchcraft” book, and while it’s not all that great today, it provides the first real printed insight into what Witchcraft looked like in the States during the 1960’s. The book is really New York-centric, but that’s pretty common place in all sorts of settings. Martello is an often overlooked pioneer, but he shouldn’t be.