Publisher's Synopsis
First published in 1962, this study of witchcraft questions whether witchcraft was a form of pagan survival or a depraved Christian (or anti-Christian) heresy. Elliot Rose surveyed witch-scares, fairy folklore, "ritual" deaths, the "Canon Episcopi", and goliards for evidence for witchcraft, and to make some suggestions about the reality behind the popular beliefs on witchcraft societies and Sabbats. One of the first studies to debunk the theory that witchcraft had been an organized pre-Christian religion, the work is still listed on the bibliographies for many anthropology, religion and history courses.;This reprint has a new ten-page foreword by Richard Kieckhefer that gives a historiographical examination of the importance of this text, and situates it within the discipline today.
