{"product_id":"2940013066458","title":"A TRUE HISTORY OF WITCHCRAFT","description":"SNEAK PEAK:\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"The fact is that the instincts of ignorant people invariably find expression in some form of witchcraft. It matters little what the metaphysician or the moralist may inculcate; the animal sticks to his subconscious ideas...\" \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAleister Crowley The Confessions \u003cbr\u003e\"As attunement to psychic (occult) reality has grown in America, one often misunderstood and secretive branch of it has begun to flourish also -- magical religion...\" \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eJ. Gordon Melton \u003cbr\u003eInstitute for the Study of \u003cbr\u003eAmerican Religion, Green Egg, 1975\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Curse them! Curse them! Curse them! With my Hawk's head I peck at the eyes of Jesus as he hangs upon the cross \u003cbr\u003eI flap my wings in the face of Mohammed \u0026amp; blind him \u003cbr\u003eWith my claws I tear out the flesh of the Indian and the Buddhist, Mongol and Din...\" \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eLiber Al Vel Legis 3:50 - 53 \u003cbr\u003e\"If you are on the Path, and see the Buddha walking towards you, kill him.\" \u003cbr\u003eZen saying, paraphrased slightly \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Previously I never thought of doubting that there were many witches in the world; now, however, when I examine the public record, I find myself believing that there are hardly any...\" \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFather Friedrich von Spee, S.J. , Cautio Criminalis, 1631 \u003cbr\u003eHaving spent the day musing over the origins of the modern witchcraft, I had a vivid dream. It seemed to be a cold January afternoon, and Aleister Crowley was having Gerald Gardner over to tea. It was 1945, and talk of an early end to the war was in the air. An atmosphere of optimism prevailed in the \"free world\" , but the wheezing old magus was having none of it. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Nobody is interested in magick any more!\" Crowley ejaculated. \"My friends on the Continent are dead or in exile, or grown old; the movement in America is in shambles. I've seen my best candidates turn against me....Achad, Regardie -- even that gentleman out in California, what's - his - name, AMORC, the one that made all the money..\" \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"O, bosh, Crowley,\" Gardner waved his hand impatiently, \"all things considered, you've done pretty well for yourself. Why, you've been called the `wickedest man in the world' and by more than a few. And you've not, if you'll pardon the impertinence, done too badly with the ladies.\" \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eCrowley coughed, tugged on his pipe reflectively. \"You know\" he finally ventured, \"it's like I've been trying to tell this fellow Grant. A restrictive Order is not enough. If I had it all to do over again, I would've built a religion for the unwashed masses instead of just a secret society. Why, the opportunities! The women!\" \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eGardner smiled. \"Precisely. And that is what I have come to propose to you. Take your BOOK OF THE LAW, your GNOSTIC MASS. Add a little razzle-dazzle for the country folk. Why I know these occultists who call themselves `witches'. They dance around fires naked, get drunk, have a good time. Rosicrucians, I think. Proper English country squires and dames, mostly; I think they read a lot of Frazier and Margaret Murray. If I could persuade you to draw on your long experience and talents, in no time at all we could invent a popular cult that would have beautiful ladies clamoring to let us strip them naked, tie them up and spank their behinds! If, Mr. Crowley, you'll excuse my explicitness.\" \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFor all his infirmity, Aleister Crowley almost sprang to his feet, a little of the old energy flashing through his loins. \"By George, Gardner, you've got something there, I should think! I could license you to initiate people into the O.T.O. today, and you could form the nucleus of such a group!\" He paced in agitation. \"Yes, yes,\" he mused, half to Gardner, half to himself. \"The Book. The Mass. I could write some rituals. An `ancient book' of magick. A `book of shadows'. Priestesses, naked girls. Yes. By Jove, yes!\" \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eGreat story, but merely a dream , created out of bits and pieces of rumor, history and imagination. Don't be surprised, though, if a year or five years from now you read it as \"gospel\" (which is an ironic synonym for `truth') in some new learned text on the fabled history of Wicca. Such is the way all mythologies come into being. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ePlease don't misunderstand me here; I use the word `mythology' in this context in its aboriginal meaning, and with considerable respect. History is more metaphor than factual accounting at best, and there are myths by which we live and others by which we die. Myths are the dreams and visions which parallel objective history. This entire work is, in fact, an attempt to approximate history. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTo arrive at some perspective on what the modern mythos called, variously, \"Wicca\", the \"Old Religion\", \"Witchcraft\" and \"Neopaganism\" is, we must firstly make a firm distinction; \"witchcraft\" in the popular informally defined sense may have little to do with the modern religion that goes by the same name.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTO BE CONTINUED... Buy now and enjoy the contents in full!","brand":"S.H.W.","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47164955197680,"sku":"2940013066458","price":2.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/2940013066458_p0.jpg?v=1763576484","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940013066458","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}