Includes bibliographical references (pages 363-366) and index.

The belief in magic & witchcraft having been widely held by man, the book examines the origins & cultural expressions of this behavior in antiquity & primitive societies. In the West, the belief subsided for a millenium after the spread of Christianity but returned in the 14th century, the era of rebirth of science, rise of universities & Renaissance. The author examines a broad cross-section of witch trials as well as published defenses & social impact of this affliction. The rationale is demonstrated to rest upon a sound foundation of a fusion of scientific & religious belief webs of the time, or belief-traps. The published scholarly defenses of the mania are objectively analyzed, as well as efforts by rare skeptical voices. In time the belief was dismissed-the judges & juries of Salem, Mass. rehabilitated & remunerated the survivors. However, the belief in the devil remained. The work then examines the psychological sources of the belief & its ravages in primitive cultures. It then postulates the "Blame Complex" as an innate human reflex on a par with the ego or hunger. All hurts & threats are attributed to some evil demon, the devil's minions, to maleficent persons, classes or races. The rest is brutality & tyranny. In a age of faith the evil derived from the devil; in our times it springs from the rich, foreigners, infidels, the greedy & the deviant (racists). A third of the book deals with these contemporary bursts of persecution, demonstrating their psychological identity with the terror, trials & slaughter of the past.

SACFinal081324