P. G Maxwell-Stuart
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Scotland, as with the rest of Europe, was troubled from time to time by outbreaks of witchcraft which the authorities sought to contain and then to suppress, and the outbreak of 1658-1662 is generally agreed to represent the high water mark of Scottish persecution. These were peculiar years for Scotland. For 9 years Scotland was effectively an English province with largely English officials in charge, but in 1660 this suddenly changed. The tension...
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"In this account religious scientists such as Isaac Newton and Robert Boyle rub shoulders with honest obsessives and conscious frauds in a fast-paced narrative which demonstrates just how mistaken is the generally accepted view of alchemy, and how much more fascinating and engaging is its genuine history."--Inside jacket.
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This book illuminates the way in which people in the early modern era framed their ideas about the Creator and the created universe in terms of magic. This perspective informed and molded theology, philosophy, the law, medicine, and the sciences, as well as offered practical help with the problems of everyday life. The study of witchcraft (as a particular manifestation of this mental world), helps to illustrate many of the key concepts which governed...
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"In an age of scientific certainties, the idea that scientific absolutes can be breached at will by individuals asserting themselves against such laws is rather attractive. Throughout the ages the wizard, magician, sorcerer, has claimed to do just this. From Simon Magus to Merlin, Faust to Cornelius Agrippa, the Comte de Saint Germain to Aleister Crowley, the magician has been both feted and feared. An awesome figure in real life and in literature,...
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The poltergeist of 'noisy ghost' phenomenon is commonly thought to be the result of a dead person's angry spirit expressing that anger by violence in the physical world, or the projected energies of an emotionally volatile human being, often a teenager. In fact, poltergeists are more interesting than either of those suggested explanations, because they are actually something of a mystery. Are they spirits of some kind, natural or anomalous forms of...
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"Martin Del Rio's Investigations into Magic deals not only with magic in all its forms, from the manipulation of angelic and demonic powers to straightforward conjuring and illusion, but also with witchcraft, alchemy, astrology, divination, prophecy, and possession by evil spirits. In addition, Martin Del Rio offers judges and confessors practical advice on the most effective ways of dealing with people who are accused of practising magic, and enlivens...