How the persecution of witches reflected the darker side of the central social, political, and cultural developments of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. This is the first book to consider the general course and significance of the European witch craze of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries since H.R. Trevor-Roper’s classic and pioneering study appeared some fifteen years ago. Drawing upon the advances in historical and social-science scholarship of the past decade and a half, Joseph Klaits integrates the recent appreciations of witchcraft in regional studies, the history of popular culture, anthropology, sociology, and psychology to better illuminate the place of witch hunting in the context of social, political, economic and religious change. “In all, Klaits has done a good job. Avoiding the scandalous and sensational, he has maintained throughout, with sensitivity and economy, an awareness of the uniqueness of the theories and persecutions that have fascinated scholars now for two decades and are unlikely to lose their appeal in the foreseeable future.” —American Historical Review “This is a commendable synthesis whose time has come . . . fascinating.” —The Sixteenth Century Journal “Comprehensive and clearly written . . . An excellent book.” —Choice “Impeccable research and interpretation stand behind this scholarly but not stultifying account.” —Booklist “A good, solid, general treatment.” —Erik Midelfort, C. Julian Bishko Professor Emeritus of History and Religious Studies, University of Virginia “A well written, easy to read book, and the bibliography is a good source of secondary materials for further reading.” —Journal of American Folklore

"This book offers a fascinating account of the development of Western sexual magic through the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Urban focuses on an extraordinary set of historical figures, and his rich analysis illuminates the sexual—and supernatural—undercurrents that have shaped modernity."—Randall Styers, author of Making Magic: Religion, Magic, and Science in the Modern World

"If, as Chesterton claimed, the devil's greatest triumph was convincing the modern world that he does not exist, Jeffrey Burton Russell means to rob him of his victory. Lucifer: The Devil in the Middle Ages is both a scholarly assessment of the development of diabology in the Middle Ages and an impassioned plea to the 20th century to recognize and acknowledge the existence of real, objective evil. The third in a series of works tracing the history of the devil from his Judeo-Christian roots, it represents a formidable undertaking: the devil's history is integrally related to the problem of evil, which is in turn at the heart of Western religious thought. Each of the volumes on Satan comprises, in essence, a judicious and able tour of Christian theology from the villain's point of view... Book jacket.

1968. Guy Lucas, son a murdered British diplomat, is sent to an old-fashioned boarding school, where he is bullied and abused. A fellow student persuades him to perform a black mass and plead with Satan to intervene, with horrific consequences. For the next ten years, the shadow of Satan is cast across his life; he flees, across the sea and into obscurity, but tragedy follows him. Eventually, he must confront the Devil, and learn the truth about himself...

From the National Book Award-winning and National Book Critics Circle Award-winning author of The Gnostic Gospels comes a dramatic interpretation of Satan and his role on the Christian tradition. "Arresting...brilliant...this book illuminates the angels with which we must wrestle to come to the truth of our bedeviling spritual problems." —The Boston Globe With magisterial learning and the elan of a born storyteller, Pagels turns Satan’s story into an audacious exploration of Christianity’s shadow side, in which the gospel of love gives way to irrational hatreds that continue to haunt Christians and non-Christians alike.

The Devil has fascinated writers and theologians since the time of the New Testament, and inspired many dramatic and haunting works of art. Today he remains a potent image in popular culture. The Devil: A Very Short Introduction presents an introduction to the Christian Devil through the history of ideas and the lives of real people.

It's been a long time coming, and it's right around the corner... As author S.K. Bain detailed in The Most Dangerous Book in the World: 9/11 as Mass Ritual, the events of September 11th, 2001, constituted a global occult ceremony. But that was mere child's play compared to what he's uncovered since. If 9/11 was a MegaRitual, this is a GigaRitual, or TeraRitual even. Its scope and scale are truly difficult to grasp.***If you thought that 2012 was the end of Galactic Alignment, think again. However, this book doesn't propose some new date for the made-up Mayan Doomsday, far from it. We are on the cusp of a once-in-a-26,000-year event, one that, in astrological terms, knows no equal. Do not think for one moment that the masters of our world will let it pass unmarked.Black Jack reveals the true date of the End of the Great Age, the Mother of All Auspicious Occasions, a date that the Cryptocracy has been fixated on—and feverishly preparing for—over the past two centuries, and well before. It will almost assuredly bring a ritualistic celebration like none other ever witnessed, involving mass human sacrifice and the biggest fireworks show in history.***The world approaches the dawning of a new Grand Cycle, which the elite will inaugurate as the New Great Age of Satan. As we draw near, ask yourself this question: if you were among the ranks of these precious few ultra-powerful, would you spare any expense or effort to properly commemorate this unique occasion, or to fittingly dedicate it to your Dark Lord? Of course you wouldn't.And, as a member of the Cryptocracy, you would be so bold and fearless as to announce your intentions to the entire world, far in advance. You would provide all the useless eaters with the obligatory fair warning, mockingly giving notice in plain sight in the most powerful city in the world. You would encode The End of the Old World Order in the streets of Washington, D.C., which, as is revealed in these pages, is nothing less than a Gigantic Black Magickal Spellcasting Machine.Furthermore, you would embed the &‘date of demise' in the modern calendar, as plain as day for those with eyes to see. You would orchestrate a string of foreshadowing, preparatory lesser false-flag attacks / mass rituals in the decades leading up to the grand occasion, rituals involving, for instance, consecrated sacrificial vessels such as—as was the case on 9/11—commercial airliners filled with dozens of innocent victims.Your elite family is among those who have instigated world wars and induced global famines. You think nothing of the use of false-flag terrorism to achieve your goals and objectives—even nuclear false-flag terrorism.***One doesn't have to be a religious fundamentalist to sense it, or see it all around us—the Satanification of the World. Practically every public event is now a thinly-veiled, if at all, Satanic ritual. We are being driven hard towards something in the near future, something whose hideous form becomes clearer by the day. All the while, the grip of the global dark-occult technofascist dictatorship grows ever tighter.Preparations have been underway for a very long time, even from the Founding of America, and the hour grows late. With bated breath, the entire planet, knowingly or unknowingly, awaits the arrival of Black Jack.