The Encyclopedia Of Demons And Demonology

Explores this dark aspect of folklore and religion and the role that demons play in the modern world. Includes numerous entries documenting beliefs about demons and demonology from ancient history to the present.

Brief entries and illustrations introduce topics including individually named demons from a variety of cultures, historical figures, films, and cases of possession.

Explores this dark aspect of folklore and religion and the role that demons play in the modern world. Includes numerous entries documenting beliefs about demons and demonology from ancient history to the present.

This exhaustive volume catalogs nearly three thousand demons in the mythologies and lore of virtually every ancient society and most religions. From Aamon, the demon of life and reproduction with the head of a serpent and the body of a wolf in Christian demonology, to Zu, the half-man, half-bird personification of the southern wind and thunder clouds in Sumero-Akkadian mythology, entries offer descriptions of each demon's origins, appearance and cultural significance. Also included are descriptions of the demonic and diabolical members making up the hierarchy of Hell and the numerous species of demons that, according to various folklores, mythologies, and religions, populate the earth and plague mankind. Very thoroughly indexed.

With research sourced by the world's greatest libraries, Robbins has compiled a rational, balanced history of 300 years of horror concentrated primarily in Western Europe. Spanning from the 15th century through the 18th century, the witch-hunt frenzy marks a period of suppressed rational thought; never before have so many been so wrong. To better understand this phenomenon, Robbins examines how the meaning of "witch" has evolved and exposes the true nature of witchcraft—a topic widely discussed in popular culture, though remarkably misunderstood. First published in 1959, Robbins' encyclopedia remains the most authoritative and comprehensive body of information about witchcraft and demonology ever compiled in a single volume. Lavishly acclaimed in academic and popular reviews, this full-scale compendium of fact, history, and legend covers about every phase of this fascinating subject from its origins in the medieval times to its last eruptions in the 18th century. Accompanying the text are 250 illustrations from rare books, contemporary prints, and old manuscripts, many of which have been published here for the first time.

The Dictionary of Demons starts with a simple premise: names have power. In medieval and Renaissance Europe, it was believed that speaking a demon's true name could summon it, compel it, and bind it. Occult scholar Michelle Belanger has compiled the most complete compendium of demonic names available anywhere, using both notorious and obscure sources from the Western grimoiric tradition. Presented alphabetically from Aariel to Zynextyur, more than 1,500 demons are introduced, explored, and cross-referenced by theme and elemental or planetary correspondence. This meticulously researched reference work features fascinating short articles on demonology and a wealth of woodcuts, etchings, and paintings depicting demons through the ages.

The Macks divert our gaze from our contemporary red-faced, cloven-hoofed misrepresentation of demons to remind us of the ancient roles demons were originally assigned to play. From the Tommyknockers of North American mountain mines to the South African Mbulu that waits in the river for lone travelers, A Field Guide to Demons classifies these creatures by their domains--water, mountain, forest--rather than in alphabetical or cultural order, dishing out antique and contemporary lore on these most misunderstood of spirits. A Field Guide to Demons melds folklore and mythology; maintains a surprisingly evenhanded view of demons; and reveals their role as the necessary challenger to established order, the antagonist--without which there could be no hero--and the darkness through which goodness shines brightest. --Brian Patterson

This classic of esoterica explores witchcraft, sorcery, necromancy, damnation, Satanism, and every variety of magic. Written by the field's foremost scholar, it features colorful, little-known anecdotes about witches, devils, and their arts. It also provides numerous historical accounts of witch trials and surveys the role of witches in literature.