Stories of magic, superstition, and witchcraft were strictly forbidden in the little town of Salem Village. But a group of young girls ignored those rules, spellbound by the tales told by a woman named Tituba. When questioned about their activities, the terrified girls set off a whirlwind of controversy as they accused townsperson after townsperson of being witches. Author Shirley Jackson examines in careful detail this horrifying true story of accusations, trials, and executions that shook a community to its foundations.

This book describes life as a Village Wisewoman in the wilds of West Cornwall. The first part of the book documents the tortuous and sometimes harrowing journey to achieve this unusual occupation. It is a tale that ultimately moves through surviving and into thriving. Cassandras past experiences directly inform her present practice and are intrinsic to being a wisewoman -- she acquires wisdom from actively experiencing and observing the vagaries of life. As part of her work she travels around the country giving talks about her profession, and without exception is asked each time what brought her to become a village wisewoman. Many people want to hear about that journey and this is one of the reasons for deciding to write the book. Following on from this, Cassandra tells of the practice of her craft, which includes many stories and observations regarding the day-to-day experiences of a traditional wisewoman including her personal approach to magic. At present the market is flooded with how-to-do books on witchcraft and associated themes. Almost without exception they inform in an authoritative way often including a cookbook of spells. There is far more to the Craft of the Wise than simply following someone elses recipes for performing magic. It entails old-fashioned qualities such as hard work, discipline, dedication and commitment. This book differs in that it describes the why as well as the how and in that sense challenges the reader to question and explore their own experiences of the worlds magical.

Nancy Atherton's seventeenth in the New York Times bestselling series sees the sleepy village of Finch set aflutter by a bewitching mystery from its past. Watch out for Nancy Atherton's latest, Aunt Dimity and the King's Ransom, coming in July 2018 from Viking! Last year, the otherworldly sleuth's devoted fans secured a place on the New York Times bestseller list for Nancy Atherton's Aunt Dimity and the Family Tree. Now Lori and Aunt Dimity are back on the list—and this time, they're on a witch-hunt. At first glance, the unassuming Mrs. Amelia Thistle is a disappointment to the villagers of Finch, but Lori Shepherd isn't fooled by the new arrival's bland persona. Amelia is a world-famous artist, traveling incognito, and, after unearthing a fragment of a family diary hinting that Mistress Meg, the Mad Witch of Finch, might be one of her ancestors, she's come to Finch in search of the truth.

Yoruba legend and culture were the source of much of Amos Tutuola's writing and the stories collected here are no exception. They feature characters from folklore, archetypal figures from Yoruba society, supernatural or magical happenings, acute human observation and often a moral point. Their very titles - from 'The Duckling Brothers and their Disobedient Sister' to 'Don't Pay Bad for Bad' - are evocative of a unique blend of tradition and imagination, which belongs to the same universal culture as Aesop and the Brothers Grimm.

Natural Magic and Folkways from Those Who Call the Blue Ridge Mountains Home The southern Appalachians are rich in folk magic and witchery. This book explores the region's customs and traditions for magical healing, luck, prosperity, scrying, and more. Author H. Byron Ballard—known as the village witch of Asheville—teaches you about the old ways and why they work, from dowsing to communicating with spirits. Learn the deeper meaning of haint blue doors, magic hands for finding, and medicinal herbs and plants. Discover tips for creating tinctures and salves, attuning to the phases of the moon, interpreting omens, and other folkways passed down through the generations. Part cultural journey and part magical guide, this book uncovers the authentic traditions of one of North America's most spiritually vibrant regions

This book revises what we thought we knew about one of the most famous witch hunts in European history. Between 1608 and 1614, thousands of witchcraft accusations were leveled against men, women, and children in the northern Spanish kingdom of Navarre. The Inquisition intervened quickly but incompetently, and the denunciations continued to accelerate. As the phenomenon spread, children began to play a crucial role. Not only were they reportedly victims of the witches’ harmful magic, but hundreds of them also insisted that witches were taking them to the Devil’s gatherings against their will. Presenting important archival discoveries, Lu Ann Homza restores the perspectives of illiterate, Basque-speaking individuals to the history of this shocking event and demonstrates what could happen when the Spanish Inquisition tried to take charge of a liminal space. Because the Spanish Inquisition was the body putting those accused of witchcraft on trial, modern scholars have depended upon Inquisition sources for their research. Homza’s groundbreaking book combines new readings of the Inquisitional evidence with fresh archival finds from non-Inquisitional sources, including local secular and religious courts, and from notarial and census records. Expanding our understanding of this witch hunt as well as the history of children, community norms, and legal expertise in early modern Europe, Village Infernos and Witches’ Advocates is required reading for students and scholars of the Spanish Inquisition and the history of witchcraft in early modern Europe.

About the Salem Witch Hunt which took place in Massachusetts in 1692.

An invitation to return to a simpler time of earth-based spirituality and ritual living, through writings from a small forest-farm in the Appalachian Highlands. This book looks at the agricultural year as a starting space for a deepening of earth-centered spirituality. It gives a set of backstories to ease the reader into a time between the pre-industrial era and the modern one, into a place where the fast-moving stress of American life can be affected by a better connection not only to the natural world but to the elegant expression of the year as expressed through seasonal festivals and celebrations. The chapters are broken into four seasons, with the quarter days a highlight within each, and feature simple skills that accompany each marker in the year. Author H. Byron Ballard offers advice on spiritual and physical immersion into the seasons that applies to readers from all areas: rural, urban, and suburban. This is also a deeply practical book, including insights into the following: Farming & gardening: composting, manure, soil preparation, pests, seed-saving Food: cooking, preserving, foraging, the summer kitchen, mushrooms and mycelium Fiber arts: knitting, crocheting, spinning, weaving, decorative cut-work, and embroidery Sewing: treadle machines, electric machines, hand sewing Household crafts: candle-making, soap-making, broom-making, sharpening tools Health: medicines, tending the dying, death and death rituals A glossary is included for any unfamiliar terms.

Young readers “will be carried along by the sheer excitement of the story” of 17th-century slavery and witchcraft by the million-copy selling author (The New York Times). In 1688, Tituba and her husband, John, are sold to a Boston minister and sent to the strange world of Salem, Massachusetts. Rumors about witches are spreading like wildfire throughout the state, filling the heads of Salem’s superstitious, God-fearing residents. When the reverend’s suggestible young daughter, Betsey, starts having fits, the townsfolk declare it to be the devil’s work. Suspicion falls on Tituba, who can read fortunes and spin flax into thread so fine it seems like magic. When suspicion turns to hatred, Tituba finds herself in grave danger. Will she be judged guilty of witchcraft and hanged? Loosely based on accounts of the period and trial transcripts, Ann Petry’s compelling historical novel draws readers into the hysteria of America’s deadly witch hunts.

The women in an Arctic village must survive a sinister threat after all the men are wiped out by a catastrophic storm in this "gripping novel inspired by a real-life witch hunt. . . . Beautiful and chilling" (Madeline Miller, bestselling author of Circe). When the women take over, is it sorcery or power? Finnmark, Norway, 1617. Twenty-year-old Maren Magnusdatter stands on the craggy coast, watching the skies break into a sudden and reckless storm. All forty of the village’s men were at sea, including Maren’s father and brother, and all forty are drowned in the otherworldly disaster. For the women left behind, survival means defying the strict rules of the island. They fish, hunt, and butcher reindeer—which they never did while the men were alive. But the foundation of this new feminine frontier begins to crack with the arrival of Absalom Cornet, a man sent from Scotland to root out alleged witchcraft. Cornet brings with him the threat of danger—and a pretty, young Norwegian wife named Ursa. As Maren and Ursa are drawn to one another in ways that surprise them both, the island begins to close in on them, with Absalom's iron rule threatening Vardø's very existence. "The Mercies has a pull as sure as the tide. It totally swept me away to Vardø, where grief struck islanders stand tall in the shadow of religious persecution and witch burnings. It's a beautifully intimate story of friendship, love and hope. A haunting ode to self-reliant and quietly defiant women." (Douglas Stuart, Booker Prize winning author of Shuggie Bain)