The mid-twentieth century saw the birth of popular occultism in Europe and the New World, including an interest in witchcraft. Chief among these was Wicca, a recension of ceremonial magic and nature worship advanced by Gerald Gardner and Alex Sanders, now widely regarded as a religion. However, lesser-known streams of the witch-current thrived the shadows, having older historical roots, and linked to a body of practice – witch-bottles, knotted cord spells, curses, exorcisms, sexual magic, and charms ranging from the conjuration of angels to protection for livestock and hearth. This is Traditional Witchcraft, whose origin in part lies with the sorcery of the cunning-folk of Britain and Colonial America. Eschewing the popular occult limelight, its perpetuation as a mystery-cult continues as a largely closed group of initiates. Now revised and expanded, the second edition of CHILDREN OF CAIN is the definitive history of Traditional Witchcraft and its key operatives in Britain and the United States, and is based on over forty years of research and private collaboration with practitioners of this mysterious form of folk magic.
על המחבר
Michael Howard was the editor of THE CAULDRON witchcraft magazine from 1976 to his death in 2015. He has written numerous articles for other occult and neo-pagan magazines and since the 1970s has had over thirty-five books published on the runes, witchcraft, angelic magic, folklore, herbal remedies, and occult parapolitics.
The mid-twentieth century saw the birth of popular occultism in Europe and the New World, including an interest in witchcraft. Chief among these was Wicca, a recension of ceremonial magic and nature worship advanced by Gerald Gardner and Alex Sanders, now widely regarded as a religion. However, lesser-known streams of the witch-current thrived the shadows, having older historical roots, and linked to a body of practice – witch-bottles, knotted cord spells, curses, exorcisms, sexual magic, and charms ranging from the conjuration of angels to protection for livestock and hearth. This is Traditional Witchcraft, whose origin in part lies with the sorcery of the cunning-folk of Britain and Colonial America. Eschewing the popular occult limelight, its perpetuation as a mystery-cult continues as a largely closed group of initiates. Now revised and expanded, the second edition of CHILDREN OF CAIN is the definitive history of Traditional Witchcraft and its key operatives in Britain and the United States, and is based on over forty years of research and private collaboration with practitioners of this mysterious form of folk magic.
על המחבר
Michael Howard was the editor of THE CAULDRON witchcraft magazine from 1976 to his death in 2015. He has written numerous articles for other occult and neo-pagan magazines and since the 1970s has had over thirty-five books published on the runes, witchcraft, angelic magic, folklore, herbal remedies, and occult parapolitics.