Product Description

"The Witch-Cult in Western Europe [..] is the first of several publications wherein Margaret Murray expounded her controversial literal interpretation of the Witch trial evidence. Not for the squeamish or the linguistically challenged, the book presents extensive quotes from courtroom documents and other texts describing the alledged going-ons inside the Witch-Cult. Important Note: nothing described in this book should be taken as representative of contemporary Neopagan practice. The Witch-Cult in Western Europe has long passages in archaic English, French and German with the original spelling preserved. Readers who want to get an overview of Murrays' ideas without wading through this admittedly opaque work should start with her popularization, God of the Witches." (Quote from sacred-texts.com)

Table of Contents:

Publisher's Preface; Preface; Introduction; Continuity Of The Religion; The God; Admission Ceremonies; The Assemblies; The Rites; The Rites (continued); The Organization; Familiars And Transformations; Appendix I. Fairies And Witches; Appendix ii. Trial Of Silvain Nevillon And Gentien Le Clerc At Orleans; Appendix iii. Names Of Witches 165,443 Bytes; Appendix iv. Joan Of Arc And Gilles De Rais; Appendix V. Flying Ointments; Bibliography; Addendum

About the Publisher:

Forgotten Books is a publisher of historical writings, such as: Philosophy, Classics, Science, Religion and Mythology. www.forgottenbooks.org

Forgotten Books is about sharing knowledge, not about making money. Our books are priced at wholesale prices. We print in large sans-serif font, which is proven to make the text easier to read and put less strain on your eyes. Happy reading!

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #89010 in Books
• Published on: 2008-02-20
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 300 pages

About the Author
About the Author:

"Margaret Alice Murray (July 13, 1863 - November 13, 1963) was a prominent British anthropologist and Egyptologist. She was well known in academic circles for scholarly contributions to Egyptology and the study of folklore which led to the theory of a pan-European, pre-Christian pagan religion that revolved around the Horned God.

Her ideas are acknowledged to have significantly influenced the emergence of Wicca and reconstructionist neopagan religions. However, Margaret Murray's reputation as a witchcraft scholar was criticized by most historians because of her demonstrated tendency to subjectively interpret or otherwise manipulate evidence to conform to the theory.

Margaret Murray was born in Calcutta, India on July 13, 1863. She attended the University College of London and was a student of linguistics and anthropology. She was also a pioneer campaigner for women's rights. Margaret Murray accompanied the renowned Egyptologist Sir William Flinders Petrie, on several archaeological excavations in Egypt and Palestine during the late 1890s.

Murray was the first in a line of female Egyptologists employed at The Manchester Museum, The University of Manchester. In 1908, she undertook the unwrapping of "The Two Brothers", a Middle Kingdom non-royal burial excavated by Petrie in Egypt. It is regarded as the first interdisciplinary study of mummies and probably kick-started future scientific unwrappings, such as those of Keeper Professor Rosalie David completed in the 1970's.

Her work and association with Petrie helped secure employment at University College as a junior lecturer. Murray's best known and most controversial text, "The Witch-Cult in Western Europe," was published in 1921. She was consequently named Assistant Professor of Egyptology at the University College of London in 1924, a post she held until her retirement in 1935. In 1926, she became a fellow of Britain's Royal Anthropological Institute. Murray became President of the Folklore Society in 1953. Ten years later and having reached 100 years of age, Margaret Murray published her final work, an autobiography entitled "My First Hundred Years" (1963). She died later that same year of natural causes." (Quote from wikipedia.org)

Customer Reviews

How a brilliant mind can go wrong...........
Margaret Murray was a brilliant Egyptologist, there can be no doubt of it. She became one of the firstwomen in that field, working under Flinders Petrie. Sadly she became, I think, convinced that she could not be wrong about anything and this book shows it. I knew her towards the end of her life and even then, aged 100, she had a very strong will.
Read this book by all means - but be aware that even brilliant people are not always right.