Praise for the previous editions:"Clearly the best reference work on the subject now available."

Set forth on the Witch's path—this friendly introductory guide presents the key beliefs and practices of Witchcraft and offers step-by-step instruction on how to become a Witch. Best-selling authors Amber K and Azrael Arynn K have nearly fifty years of Craft experience between them. They've taught hundreds of students the basics of Witchcraft, and now they're offering readers the same clear, structured guidance here. This Witchcraft book teaches you everything you need to know about Craft essentials: Ritual tools Daily practices Ethics Spellcasting Deepening your connection to nature Divination and dreams Sabbats and Esbats The Wheel of the Year Gods and Goddesses Pentagrams and other Craft symbols Training, initiation, and degrees Learn about Witchcraft as a way of life, how to locate a coven or work as a solitary, and—most importantly—how to grow magickally and spiritually.

This chronological reference compendium traces accusations, punishments, and the investigation of occultism from sorcery inquiries in 323 BCE Athens to the modern day. The text provides detailed information on actual hearings, torture, and death sentences for cases both famous and unknown. Primary sources--media, correspondence, adjudication--reveal the appalling injustices of government, church, and mobs toward the accused. Extensive appendices include a glossary, chronology of examples, and a list of legal proceedings, their locations, and outcomes.

Grimassi has written extensively about Wicca, and Llewellyn specializes in books sympathetic to occult ways, so the combination is pretty predictable. He describes not only the usual magic practices, but also the religious and spiritual aspects of what believers say is inherited ancient European wisdom and scoffers say is made-up, new-age nonsense. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

The Wiccan Mystic takes the foundational ideas of Wicca and explores them in depth. Learn about what constitutes a mystery religion and how Wicca fits the pattern. Discover the living mystical core of Wiccan practice and strengthen it in your own exploration of this exciting magickal path. Establish strong thinking skills to help you empower your spiritual life and open up new vistas for exploration. Tap into your individual direct relationship with the Divine and feel new joy come into your life.#xD; The Wiccan Mystic presents proven ways to help practitioners develop a sophisticated, mature, yet surprisingly simple spiritual depth. Learn to grow your relationship with your chosen gods and goddesses to new levels of intimacy. Discover how magick can be an integral part of an ecologically sound, profoundly ethical, and spiritually based life.

Never say die! Can the living communicate with the dead? Many believe that spirits are constantly about us and that it is possible, through a variety of means, to speak to them and to have them speak to us. The Spirit Book: The Encyclopedia of Clairvoyance, Channeling, and Spirit Communication looks at these methods of communication, their history, and the personalities involved throughout the past three hundred years of this eternal quest. The fascinating history of Spiritualism is coaxed into the material realm as the object of this perceptive and sweeping overview by that legendary author of the occult and supernatural, Raymond Buckland. Drawing on decades of research, writing, and transcendence, he describes sundry methods of channeling, events associated with Spiritualism, including séances and exorcism, organizations focused on clairvoyance, and a colorful host of mortals—famous and infamous—who delved into Spiritualism. Nostradamus, Helena Blavatsky, and Edgar Cayce receive their due, as well as Joan of Arc, William Blake, Susan B. Anthony, Winston Churchill, Arthur Conan Doyle, Mahatma Gandhi, Harry Houdini, and Mae West (look up and see her sometime). The Spirit Book explores Qabbalah, Sibyls, Fairies, Poltergeists; phenomena such as intuition and karma; objects useful in the attempt to cross the divide, including tarot cards, flower reading, and runes; and related practices such as Shamanism, transfiguration, meditation, and mesmerism. This comprehensive reference also reports on investigations of contemporary manifestations, including electronic voice phenomena and spirit appearances on TV screens, plus channeling, fraud, psychic research, and possession. Containing more than 500 entries and 100 illustrations, this fun, fact-filled tome is richly illustrated. Its helpful bibliography and extensive index add to its usefulness.

This two-volume set examines women's contributions to religious and moral development in America, covering individual women, their faith-related organizations, and women's roles and experiences in the broader social and cultural contexts of their times. This second edition of Encyclopedia of American Women and Religion provides updated and expanded information from historians and other scholars of religion, covering new issues in religion to better describe and document women's roles within religious groups. For instance, the term "evangelical feminism" is one newly defined aspect of women's involvement in religious activism. Changes are constantly occurring within the many religious faiths and denominations in America, particularly as women strive to gain positions within religious hierarchies that previously were exclusive to men and rise within their denominations to become theologians, church leaders, and bishops. The entries examine the roles that American women have played in mainstream religious denominations, small religious sects, and non-traditional practices such as witchcraft, as well as in groups that question religious beliefs, including agnostics and atheists. A section containing primary documents gives readers a firsthand look at matters of concern to religious women and their organizations. Many of these documents are the writings of women who merit entries within the encyclopedia. Readers will gain an awareness of women's contributions to religious culture in America, from the colonial era to the present day, and better understand the many challenges that women have faced to achieve success in their religion-related endeavors.

A fundamental and well-illustrated reference collection for anyone interested in the role of women in North American religious life.

Wilson's Public Library Core Collection: Nonfiction (13th Edition, 2008) recommends reference and nonfiction books for the general adult audience. It is a guide to over 9,000 books (over 6,500 titles are new to this edition), plus review sources and other professional aids for librarians and media specialists. Acquisitions librarians, reference librarians and cataloguers can all use this reliable guide to building and maintaining a well-rounded collection of the most highly recommended reference and nonfiction books for adults. All titles are selected by librarians, editors, advisors, and nominators-all of them experts in public library services. The collection is a valuable tool for collection development and maintenance, reader's advisory, weeding your collection, and curriculum support. Richly enhanced records provide a wealth of useful information. All entries include complete bibliographic data as well as price, subject headings, annotations, grade level, Dewey classification, cover art, and quotations from reviews. Many entries also list awards, best-book lists, and starred reviews. Save Time: Efficiently organised and includes ""Starred"" titles Save Money: Allocate your resources to the best materials available Stay Relevant: Discover the best in important, contemporary categories Complete Coverage: Includes recommendations on periodicals and electronic resources, too Four-Year Subscription This Core Collection was originally sold as a four-year subscription. The core edition, published in 2008, delivers a library-bound volume with an extensive, selective list of recommended books. From 2009 to 2011 Wilson published extensive paperback supplements to the 2008 edition. A new cycle of materials will begin in 2012. However, the 2008 to 2011 materials are currently available. Buyers of them will receive all these materials immediately. All four years are only $420. Uniquely Valuable There is nothing quite like Wilson Core Collections. The accumulated expertise of our selectors, and the unquestioned reputation of these collections, is invaluable. Wilson Core Collections are universally recognised as impartial and expert aids to collection development that assist and reinforce the judgement of librarians everywhere. Selection to a Wilson Core Collection is strong support to any challenged purchase. Contemporary Relevance This Core Collection includes broad updates in the areas of crafts; terrorism, and international security; environment and global warming; diseases and medicine; and religion, plus other contemporary topics that keep the library's collection as current as today's headlines. Other Key Features Classified Catalogue - A list arranged by Dewey Decimal Classification, with complete cataloguing information for each book. Author, Title, Subject and Analytical Index - An in-depth key to the information in Classified Catalogue-including author and title analytics for works contained in anthologies and collections. Richly enhanced records provide complete bibliographic data, price, subject headings, descriptive annotations, grade level, Dewey classification, evaluative quotations from a review, when available. Listing works published in the United States, or published in Canada or the United Kingdom and distributed in the United States, Public Library Core Collection: Nonfiction features extensive revisions in the areas of health, science and technology, personal finance, sports, cooking and gardening, and handicrafts. Biography, poetry and literary criticism continue to receive comprehensive treatment. Reference works in all subject fields are included.