Lights Camera Witchcraft

Follow the Witch Through Decades of American Entertainment Deviant mistress of the dark arts. Goddess worshipper dancing in the moonlight. Crystal-wielding bookworm with a black hat and broom. We recognize the witch because no industry has been quite so influential in shaping our vision of her as Hollywood. This comprehensive book delves into the fascinating history of witchcraft and witches in American film and television. From Joan the Woman and The Wizard of Oz to Carrie and Charmed, author and film scholar Heather Greene explores how these movies and TV shows helped influence the public image of the witch and profoundly affected how women negotiate their power in a patriarchal society. Greene presents more than two hundred examples spanning silent reels to present-day blockbusters. As you travel through each decade, you'll discover compelling insights into the intersection of entertainment, critical theory, gender studies, and spirituality.

The witch as a cultural archetype has existed in some form since the beginning of recorded history. Her nature has changed through technological developments and sociocultural shifts--a transformation most evident in her depictions on screen. This book traces the figure of the witch through American screen history with an analysis of the entertainment industry's shifting boundaries concerning expressions of femininity. Focusing on films and television series from The Wizard of Oz to The Craft, the author looks at how the witch reflects alterations of gender roles, religion, the modern practice of witchcraft, and female agency.

Witch Fulfillment: Adaptation Dramaturgy and Casting the Witch for Stage and Screen addresses the Witch as a theatrical type on twenty-first-century-North American stages and screens, seen through the lenses of casting, design, and adaptation, with attention paid to why these patterns persist, and what wishes they fulfil. Witch Fulfillment examines the Witch in performance, considering how actors embody iconic roles designated as witches (casting), and how dramaturgical choices (adaptation) heighten their witchy power. Through analysis of Witch characters ranging from Elphaba to Medea, classic plays such as The Crucible and Macbeth, feminist adaptations - including Sycorax, Obeah Opera, and Jen Silverman’s Witch - and popular culture offerings, like the Scarlet Witch and Jinkx Monsoon, this book examines the dramaturgical meanings of adapting and embodying witchy roles in the twenty-first century. This book contends that the Witch represents a crucial category of analysis for inclusive theatre and performance and will be of interest to theatre practitioners and designers, along with theatre, witchcraft, and occult studies scholars.

Spells, Rituals, and Workings for the Modern Witch Filled with magical workings, lush photography, and creative inspiration, Modern Witch is a dazzling display of art and craft. Esthetic meets esoteric as author Devin Hunter shows how to work magic for love, healing, protection, prosperity, and divination. Color photos and artistic renderings show essential aspects of the workings, helping you develop a successful magical practice that achieves the results you desire. With dozens of spells, rituals, and recipes from the personal grimoire of a working witch, this book empowers you to work with dynamic magical energies and fulfill your deepest spiritual, physical, and emotional needs. With this powerful magic, you don't need to wait for some unknown fate; you can take charge and create your own. Discover an authentic collection of spells, recipes, charms, and correspondences that have been used and refined by the author for nearly twenty years. Combined with the author's original photographs and art, these teachings illuminate the five most popular types of magical entreaties: love, healing, protection, prosperity, and divination. Within these pages you will find spells and workings such as: A Love Magic Charm Bag • A Finger Scrying Spell • The Bottle of 1,000 Eyes • A Spell for a Correct Diagnosis • The Witch's Foot Spell • A Serpent Candle Spell • The Jupiter Budget Working • A Golem Fetish • The Prayer of Fortuna • A Self-Love Spell • The Honey Jar Spell • A Himmelsbrief for Success

“Every word of Blackthorn’s Botanical Wellness is carefully thought out and deeply impactful, as Blackthorn offers in-depth information about all of the ways plants and other allies can help us care for ourselves, especially if we are among the traumatized and cast aside. There’s no spiritual bypassing here—just an ever-sweet and profoundly informative book that will throw a considerable, necessary punch into your wellness routine.” —Cassandra Snow, author of Lessons from the Empress: A Tarot Workbook for Self-Care and Creative Growth “The best life starts within, looking outward,” writes Amy Blackthorn in this simultaneously practical and personal guide to wellness and healing. Blackthorn, a master herbalist, aromatherapist, and prolific author, explores methods of wellness management using both mystical and mundane tools and techniques. Amy’s book features essential oils, plants, meditation, tarot, astrology, and personal sigils tailored to your own specific needs and circumstances. She also describes her own journey to well-being and shares the lessons she’s learned, including how to develop healthy mind-body habits and to stop relying on fear and shame-based rituals for self-care that ultimately produce results that are the very opposite of what is desired. Instead, Blackthorn’s Botanical Wellness supplies holistic solutions that enable you to lead your best life. According to Blackthorn, self-care isn’t “me, first”; it’s “me, too.” In clear, accessible, friendly language, Blackthorn’s Botanical Wellness teaches the skills to put these important lessons into practice. Find tools for managing health, chronic illness, and self-care Create a lunar self-care calendar Embrace the emotional well-being of aromatherapy Work with plant spirit allies Empower yourself with spells and rituals

Llewellyn's 2023 Witches' Companion explores the leading edge of Witchcraft and Pagan lifestyles with more than two dozen articles featuring new insights and hands-on magical practices. Ari and Jason Mankey reveal how to renew your magical self through cleaning up and letting go. Najah Lightfoot explores some of the most important movies to include in your witchy film library. Michelle Skye walks you through creating your own full moon altar that changes throughout the year. Stephanie Rose Bird discusses the importance of acknowledging magic from the African diaspora. You will also discover how to create your own Book of Shadows (Deborah Blake), use the laws of magic to increase prosperity (Diana Rajchel), make mundane moments magical (Phoenix LeFae), and increase your confidence as a witch (Melanie Marquis).

Your Hands-on, Back-to-Basics Guide to Building a Magical Practice As if you're having face-to-face lessons on her porch, H. Byron Ballard introduces you to the ways of magic, answering vital questions about what it is, why it matters, and how to do it. She teaches the mechanics and foundational skills of practice, offering no-nonsense techniques that practitioners of any skill level or tradition can use. Drawing from her many years as a practicing witch, Ballard demonstrates how to engage daily with the energy around you. She encourages you to experience magic with fresh eyes—whether you're a beginner or need to regain a beginner's mind. This book provides grounding exercises, shielding methods, healing magic, insight on witchcraft tools, and more. Ballard offers everything you need to live a full, enchanted life in our deliciously magical world.

From the notorious Lizzie Borden to the innumerable, haunted rooms of Sarah Winchester's mysterious mansion this offbeat, insightful, first-ever book of its kind explores the history behind America’s female ghosts, the stereotypes, myths, and paranormal tales that swirl around them, what their stories reveal about us—and why they haunt us . . . Sorrowful widows, vengeful jezebels, innocent maidens, wronged lovers, former slaves, even the occasional axe-murderess—America’s female ghosts differ widely in background, class, and circumstance. Yet one thing unites them: their ability to instill fascination and fear, long after their deaths. Here are the full stories behind some of the best-known among them, as well as the lesser-known—though no less powerful . . . Tales whispered in darkness often divulge more about the teller than the subject. America’s most famous female ghosts, from ‘Mrs. Spencer’ who haunted Joan Rivers’ New York apartment to Bridget Bishop, the first person executed during the Salem witchcraft trials, mirror each era’s fears and prejudices. Yet through urban legends and campfire stories, even ghosts like the nameless hard-working women lost in the infamous Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire —achieve a measure of power and agency in death, in ways unavailable to them as living women. Riveting for skeptics and believers alike, with humor, curiosity, and expertise, A Haunted History of Invisible Women offers a unique lens on the significant role these ghostly legends play both within the spook-seeking corners of our minds and in the consciousness of a nation. Afterword by Bram Stoker Award-winning author Linda D. Addison “An absolute must-buy for the spooky people of the world . . . utterly brilliant.” —Mallory O'Meara, bestselling author of The Lady from the Black Lagoon and Girly Drinks “If this book doesn’t leave with you a sense of wonder and a healthy dose of goosebumps, check your pulse—you may already be among the spirits.” --Marc Hartzman, author of Chasing Ghosts: A Tour of Our Fascination with Spirits and the Supernatural