the anatomy of witchcraft

238 Pages·2011·12.3 MB·English

THE ANATOMY OF WITCHCRAFT

The
Anatomy of
Witchcraft
PETER HAINING
Taplinger Publishing Company
NEW YORK
First published in the United States in 1972 by
TAPLINGER PUBLISHING CO., INC.
New York, New York
Copyright 0 1972 by Peter Haining
All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America
No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any
means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any infor-
mation storage and retrieval system now known or to be invented, without per-
mission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer who wishes to quote
brief passages in connection with a review written for inclusion in a magazine,
newspaper or broadcast.
For
ERNEST H.
-in friendship

CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION 11
1. WITCHCRAFT IN BRITAIN 17
Appendix I: The Initiation of a Witch 51
Appendix II: Ritual Magic 57
2. THE GROWTH OF BLACK MAGIC 61
3. THE WITCHES OF AMERICA 96
4. EVIL ON THE COAST 113
Appendix: The Satanic Ritual 133
5. THE ANCIENT CRAFT IN EUROPE 138
6. WITCHCRAFT BEHIND THE IRON CURTAIN 164
7. VOODOO-BLACK WITCHCRAFT 181
Appendix: The Voodoo Blood Sacrifice 205
8. THE REST OF THE WORLD 208
Bibliography 219
Acknowledgements 221
ILLUSTRATIONS
Between pages 96-97
Gerald Gardner, "father figure" of modem witchcraft.
Witch High Priestess, Eleanor Bone.
Eleanor Bone and members of her coven.
High Priestess Monique Wilson and her husband .
Cecil Williamson, Witchcraft expert.
Williamson mixes the ingredients for the "poppet" .
Williamson "breathes" life into the "poppet" over the ritual circle.
Williamson symbolically "kills" the "poppet".
Alex Sanders, the self-proclaimed "King of the Witches".
Sanders and his coven.
An open-air ceremony.
Aleister Crowley "The Great Beast" in magical garments.
Black Magic Altar.
A Black Mass in progress.
Rollo Ahmed.
Two types of witchcraft curses.
A graveyard desecrated by Satanists.
America's leading witches.
Sybil Leek.
Anton Sandor La Vey.
The commercialisation of Witchcraft.
The legendary meeting place of witches in Europe.
A photograph from the trial of a German "witch master".
A group of French students celebrate the Black Mass.
A Black Magic Ritual.
A Witch Doctor in Nairobi.
A young Negress performing one of the secret rituals of Voodoo.
"People involved in the occult, and particularly witches,
have classically held such power over the imaginations of
men that at certain points anyone who even looked or
acted strangely was considered a witch. This pervasive ap-
prehension gave rise to a tradition that has confused to this
day the already difficult question of just what a witch is."
Dennis Wheatley.