Witchcraft out of the Shadows

Description

This complete history of witchcraft from Ancient Greece to the present day charts the rise and development of witchcraft and the modern witchcraft religion of Wicca. Today witchcraft is on everyone's lips, on television, in film and in literature, but few know, or are even able to guess at, its shadowy history. This in-depth investigation discovers how the ideas we have about witchcraft took shape thousands of years ago in the myths and religions of the ancient world. It also looks at why these ideas were expressed so violently during the era of the witch trials. Finally, it reveals how witchcraft has been transformed into one of the most radical and fastest growing religions of our age - a religion of equality and compassion that still has the power to unsettle even the bravest amongst us. With new analyses, fresh insights and groundbreaking material drawn from the author's doctoral research into the mysticism, magic and social meaning of Wicca, this is the first book to bring witchcraft fully out of the shadows.

Leo Ruickbie is the founder and director of WICA, the Witchcraft Information Centre & Archive (www.WitchcraftInfo.info), an educational and research-oriented website specializing in Witchcraft and Wicca. He has been actively engaged in research into Witchcraft and Wicca since 1994. His MA dissertation on 'The Re-Enchantment of the World' earned him a distinction from one of the UK's top-rated research departments at Lancaster University. He is currently working on a doctorate at King's College, London, in the sociology of modern Witchcraft with a special emphasis on the theory of re-enchantment.