Satanism / demonology Books

Book SynopsisIn this book, Dunham reveals how her anthropological research, her work in dance, and her fascination for the people and cults of Haiti worked their spell, catapulting her into experiences that she was often lucky to survive.

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Book SynopsisScholar and magician, Siegel uncovers the age-old practices of magic in sacred rites and rituals and unveils the contemporary world of Indian magic of street and stage entertainers. Siegel's journeys take him from ancient Sanskrit texts to the slums of New Dehli as he explores India's remarkable magical tradition.

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Book SynopsisIn late 17th-century Salem, Massachusetts, neighbours turned against neighbours and children against parents with accusations of witchcraft. This text examines what created an epidemic of accusations that resulted in the investigation of nearly 200 colonists and, for many, trial and incarceration.

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Book SynopsisAnalyzes a broad array of sources—from saints' lives to medical treatises, exorcists' manuals to miracle accounts—to find that observers came to rely on the discernment of bodies rather than seeking to distinguish between divine and demonic possession in purely spiritual terms.Trade ReviewDiscerning Spirits is clearly an important contribution to the study of medieval culture, demonic possession, sainthood, and women's history. Caciola has a strong command of Latin, French, German, and Italian as witnessed in the numerous translations dispersed throughout the text.... Ultimately, the work succeeds in laying out a framework for the discernment of bodies associated with divine and demonic possession, especially among women. * Comitatus *Caciola brings to light lesser-known but textually documented visionaries of the Middle Ages, along with the big names, in her study of the fine line between 'delusional' and 'devotional' behaviors. In discussing these medieval women's behavior and writings, she highlights the fact that gender was often the factor that determined whether one was considered demonically or divinely possessed.... Caciola provides a perceptive piece of historical scholarship on a topic of great interest to religious studies and women's studies collections. * Library Journal *The groundbreaking work on exorcism manuals and the impressive range of sources handled throughout the book are particularly noteworthy. Moreover, the striking visual evidence is clearly presented, lucidly analyzed, and tightly interwoven with the rest of the argument. Scholars, graduate students, and even advanced undergraduates interested in the history of women, the church, and the body will profit from reading Discerning Spirits. * Speculum *The point of departure for this remarkable and bracingly refreshing book on female spirit possession in medieval France, Italy, and the Lowlands is the observation that divine possession and demonic possession manifested themselves in almost identical ways in the human body.... The author has a remarkable gift for language and an obvious delight in the well-chosen word; her sentences crackle with energy and shine with a luminous clarity.... Discerning Spirits is a masterful achievement. * Renaissance Quarterly *This book is a thoughtful and rich exploration of an important aspect of medieval religious culture. Discerning readers interested in spirituality, gender, or conceptions of the body in the Middle Ages will be well rewarded. * American Historical Review *Table of ContentsIntroductionPART I. "A PROTRACTED DISPUTATION"1. Possessed Behaviors 2. CiphersPART II: SPIRITUAL PHYSIOLOGIES3. Fallen Women and Fallen Angels 4. Breath, Heart, BowelsPART III. DISCERNMENT AND DISCIPLINE5. Exorcizing Demonic Disorder 6. Testing Spirits in the Effeminate AgeIndex

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Book SynopsisAnalyzes a broad array of sources—from saints' lives to medical treatises, exorcists' manuals to miracle accounts—to find that observers came to rely on the discernment of bodies rather than seeking to distinguish between divine and demonic possession in purely spiritual terms.Trade ReviewDiscerning Spirits is clearly an important contribution to the study of medieval culture, demonic possession, sainthood, and women's history. Caciola has a strong command of Latin, French, German, and Italian as witnessed in the numerous translations dispersed throughout the text.... Ultimately, the work succeeds in laying out a framework for the discernment of bodies associated with divine and demonic possession, especially among women. * Comitatus *Caciola brings to light lesser-known but textually documented visionaries of the Middle Ages, along with the big names, in her study of the fine line between 'delusional' and 'devotional' behaviors. In discussing these medieval women's behavior and writings, she highlights the fact that gender was often the factor that determined whether one was considered demonically or divinely possessed.... Caciola provides a perceptive piece of historical scholarship on a topic of great interest to religious studies and women's studies collections. * Library Journal *The groundbreaking work on exorcism manuals and the impressive range of sources handled throughout the book are particularly noteworthy. Moreover, the striking visual evidence is clearly presented, lucidly analyzed, and tightly interwoven with the rest of the argument. Scholars, graduate students, and even advanced undergraduates interested in the history of women, the church, and the body will profit from reading Discerning Spirits. * Speculum *The point of departure for this remarkable and bracingly refreshing book on female spirit possession in medieval France, Italy, and the Lowlands is the observation that divine possession and demonic possession manifested themselves in almost identical ways in the human body.... The author has a remarkable gift for language and an obvious delight in the well-chosen word; her sentences crackle with energy and shine with a luminous clarity.... Discerning Spirits is a masterful achievement. * Renaissance Quarterly *This book is a thoughtful and rich exploration of an important aspect of medieval religious culture. Discerning readers interested in spirituality, gender, or conceptions of the body in the Middle Ages will be well rewarded. * American Historical Review *Table of ContentsIntroductionPART I. "A PROTRACTED DISPUTATION"1. Possessed Behaviors 2. CiphersPART II: SPIRITUAL PHYSIOLOGIES3. Fallen Women and Fallen Angels 4. Breath, Heart, BowelsPART III. DISCERNMENT AND DISCIPLINE5. Exorcizing Demonic Disorder 6. Testing Spirits in the Effeminate AgeIndex

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Book SynopsisThis study suggests that the balance in Africa, between the prevalence of witchcraft and the forces of modernity, stems both from obsession with power and from the increasing feeling of powerlessness among the people. It also gives a parallel with aspects of politics in Western democracies.

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Book SynopsisTable of ContentsIntroduction: Giving the Devil His Due Regina M. Hansen and Jeffrey Andrew Weinstock | 1 The Sign of the Cross: Georges Méliès and Early Satanic Cinema Russ Hunter | 15 Murnau’s Faust and the Weimar Moment Barry C. Knowlton and Eloise R. Knowlton | 27 Disney’s Devils J. P. Telotte | 42 What’s the Deal with the Devil? The Comedic Devil in Four Films Katherine A. Fowkes | 58 His Father’s Eyes: Rosemary''s Baby David Sterritt | 71 From the Eternal Sea He Rises, Creating Armies on Either Shore: The Antichristology of the Omen Franchise R. Barton Palmer | 86 The Weird Devil: Lovecraftian Horror in John Carpenter’s Prince of Darkness Carl H. Sederholm | 103 Narration and Damnation in Angel Heart Murray Leeder | 120 The Devil’s in the Details: Devilish Desire and Roman Polanski’s The Ninth Gate Jeffrey Andrew Weinstock | 136 Agency or Allowance: The Satanic Complications of Female Autonomy in The Witches of Eastwick and The Witch Simon Bacon | 149 “Roaming the Earth”: Satan in The Last Temptation of Christ and The Passion of the Christ Catherine O’Brien | 161 Lucifer, Gabriel, and the Angelic Will in The Prophecy and Constantine Regina M. Hansen | 178 Advocating for Satan: The Parousia-Inspired Horror Genre David Hauka | 191 List of Contributors | 207 Index | 211

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Book SynopsisIn this work, Barbara Rosen has gathered and edited a collection of documents - pamphlets, reports, trial accounts and other material - that describes the experiences, interpretation and punishment of witchcraft in England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries.

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Book SynopsisOne of the most intriguing, and disturbing, aspects of history is that most people in early modern Europe believed in the reality and dangers of witchcraft. Most historians have described the witchcraft phenomenon as one of tremendous violence. In France, dozens of books, pamphets and tracts, depicting witchcraft as the most horrible of crimes, were published and widely distributed. Yet, in his new book, The Crime of Crimes: Demonology and Politics in France, 1560-1620, Jonathan Pearl shows that France carried out relatively few executions for witchcraft. Through careful research he shows that a zealous Catholic faction identified the Protestant rebels as traitors and heretics in league with the devil and clamoured for the political and legal establishment to exterminate these enemies of humanity. But the courts were dominated by moderate Catholics whose political views were in sharp contrast to those of the zealots and, as a result, the demonologists failed to ignite a major witch-craze in France. Very few studies have taken such a careful and penetrating look at demonology in France. The Crime of Crimes: Demonology and Politics in France, 1560-1620 sheds new light on an important period in the history of witchcraft and will be welcomed by scholars and laypersons alike.Trade Review``Pearl brings to bear on the subject basic sources as well as a meticulous examination of existing relevant literature. His presentation is lucid, and his disagreement with other critics is not only expressed with restraint but also rests on irrefutable evidence. This study is a very important contribution to the history of demonology in France.'' -- Leonard Adams -- Canadian Book Review Annual, 200501``The author of The Crime of Crimes provides his readers with a substantial and well-organized historical analysis by which is cast a refreshingly original point of view on the works of the demonologists and, more generally, on France's judicial elites in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.... What emerges from this convincing and well-researched study is the image of a divided political, cultural, and judicial elite.... The Crime of Crimes will be of great interest to all scholars specializing in demonology, witchcraft, and judicial history. Jonathan L. Pearl's limpid style and skillful argumentation also make it accessible to all those who are interested in early modern history and culture.'' -- Hervé Campangne, University of Maryland -- Sixteenth Century Journal, XXXI/I, 2000, 200501Table of ContentsTable of Contents for The Crime of Crimes: Demonology and Politics in France, 1560â1620 by Jonathan L. Pearl Chronology Introduction One: Early Modern Demonologists and Modern Historians Two: Witchcraft, Politics and Law Three: Politics and Demonic Possession Four: The Jesuits, Maldonat and the Development of French Demonology Five: Politics, Morality and Demonology Six: Three Adversaries of Political Demonology Seven: Pierre de Lancre Conclusion Notes Bibliography Index

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Book Synopsis

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Book Synopsis

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