The Witch

Book cover of The Witch: A History of Fear, from Ancient Times to the Present

Book description

Why have societies all across the world feared witchcraft? This book delves deeply into its context, beliefs, and origins in Europe's history

"Traces the idea of witches far beyond the Salem witch trials to beliefs and attitudes about witches around the world throughout history."-Los Angeles Times

The witch came to…

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Why read it?

1 author picked The Witch as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Julian Goodare

Author

As well as the village witch, we have what might be called the ‘folkloric witch’, and other folkloric traditions.

When interrogators asked witchcraft suspects about the Devil, the answers sometimes surprised them. They uncovered beliefs about nature spirits, practices of magical healing and divination, and visionary experience of otherworlds.

Some of this material fed into ideas about the witches’ sabbat, but these beliefs, practices, and visions were not necessarily about ‘witchcraft’ at all. Ronald Hutton’s ambitious book surveys these beliefs, practices, and visions.

He ranges far back into the ancient history of Europe – and adjacent regions, exploring traditions of…

From Julian's list on the history of European witchcraft and witch-hunting.