Witches : A Philosophical, Theological, and Historical Look

 

 “Something wicked this way comes!”

In a millennium, Halloween has grown from its pagan roots to a boisterous holiday celebrated by many cultures worldwide. Often when we think of Halloween, we recall deliciously fearsome ghosts, ghouls, and witches. To celebrate Halloween this year, we have put together a special collection of stories and articles on witches – from delightful quizzes and fun facts to the more macabre history of persecutions and anthropological studies of rituals.

Enjoy, and Happy Halloween!

---

Just for Fun
Take our quiz to find out which fictional witch coven you belong to!

---

History of Halloween: History of Witches

History.com

 

Why Do Witches Ride Brooms?

The Atlantic

 

A Brief History of the Salem Witch Trials
Smithsonian Magazine

 

Bewitched: 5 Real Witches in History

Biography.com

---

Our special collection, free through November 30.

Witchcraft and Religion

Witchcraft, Grief, and the Ambivalence of Emotions

American Ethnologist

Teaching and Learning Guide for: Interpreting Magic and Divination in the Ancient Near East and Magic and Divination in Ancient Israel

Religion Compass

“Out of the Broom Closet”: The Social Ecology of American Wicca

Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion

Religion: Witchcraft Confessions and Accusations

American Anthropologist

Pagan Pilgrimage: New Religious Movements Research on Sacred Travel within Pagan and New Age Communities

Religion Compass

Witch Hunts and Persecution

Visions of Evil: Popular Culture, Puritanism and the Massachusetts Witchcraft Crisis of 1692

Journal of American Culture

Witches and Persecuting Societies

Journal of Historical Sociology

Traditions and Trajectories in the Historiography of European Witch Hunting

History Compass

Mass Inhumation and the Execution of Witches in the American Southwest

American Anthropologist

Witches and Gender Studies

Gender and Sexuality in Contemporary Paganism

Religion Compass

The New Witch of the West: Feminists Reclaim the Crone

Journal of Popular Culture

How Magic Works: New Zealand Feminist Witches’ Theories of Ritual Action

Anthropology of Consciousness

Man as Witch: Male Witches in Central Europe by Rolf Schulte Witchcraft and Masculinities in Early Modern Europe edited by Alison Rowlands

Gender & History

Witchcraft and Popular Culture

Mass Media and Religious Identity: A Case Study of Young Witches

Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion

The Occult Revival as Popular Culture: Some Random Observations on the Old and the Nouveau Witch

The Sociological Quarterly

The “Witchcraft” of Media Manipulation: Pamela and The Blair Witch Project

Journal of Popular Culture

Witchcraft and Spirit Possession in Grimm’s Fairy Tales

Journal of Popular Culture

Witch Doctors, Voodoo, and Ritual Medicine

Buying a better witch doctor: Witch-finding, neoliberalism, and the development imagination in the Taita Hills, Kenya

American Ethnologist

Turning Outside In: Infolded Selves in Cuban Creole Espiritismo

Ethos

AMERICA: Voodoos and Obeahs: Phases of West India Witchcraft. Joseph J. Williams. S. J. Ph.D. (Ethnol), Litt.D

American Anthropologist

Enchanting Panics and Obeah Anxieties: Concealing and Disclosing Eastern Caribbean Witchcraft

Anthropology and Humanism

Schopenhauer – interview with the author

We recently sat down with Robert Wicks author of Schopenhauer. In this interview, Bob tells us about his abiding interest in this enigmatic and outcast figure, and along the way covers such diverse topics as Hinduism, Zen, Afghanistan and anchovy-and-onion pizzas. Enjoy!

Hi Bob. So, why did you decide to write Schopenhauer?

Well, I can’t say that I ever had the idea to write a book on Schopenhauer.  I’ve been teaching a class here in Auckland called “Schopenhauer and Nietzsche” for awhile now, and the book materialized by itself over time.  It just happened, really.  When I was putting the manuscript together, though, I did have an idea about who the ideal audience might be.  So this is who I wrote the book “for,” one could say.  It was for those who are on the edge, who live in the so-called “real world”