The Oxford Illustrated History of Witchcraft and Magic

The history of this subject is nothing if not complex, with an interweaving between witchcraft and magic, both theoretical and practical, manipulative and defensive. The chapters cover the whole history of the area, beginning with early civilisations before moving on to mediaeval magic, demonologists and witch trials. Then there is a chapter on representations in art, followed by two on popular and modern magic, a chapter on the interface with anthropology, and finally witches on the screen, including in Harry Potter. The essays are highly informative and enable readers to enter into the mentalities of different historical eras, for instance in defining heretics and heresy. There is a strong dualistic patterns surrounding thinking about demonology and witches, and it is striking to see in a table the very high number of executions, relatively speaking, in Scotland and Switzerland where Calvinism was very strong. Defensive magic comes through in the use of amulets to ward off nefarious influences; and one sees an interesting evolution of thought about magic starting with the early anthropologists such as Fraser and Tylor towards a more participatory and sympathetic methodology. A highly informative volume.