The Element Encyclopedia of Witchcraft: The Complete A-Z for the Entire Magical World - Softcover

Illes, Judika

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0007192932 ISBN 13: 9780007192939

Publisher: Thorsons Pub, 2005

Synopsis

This is the definitive celebration and exploration of all facets of witchcraft, serving as a complete reference book but also as a source of entertainment and general interest. Contents: * Judika Illes explores the history, folklore, spirituality, and mythology of witchcraft. Wicca will be discussed, but the focus will not to limited to Wicca. As with Element Encyclopedia of 5000 Spells, this book's focus will be cross-cultural and will span the centuries right up to the present day and popular culture. * Meet mythic witches, modern witches, sacred goddess witches, even demon witches, male and female witches, witches from all over the globe. * Includes a miscellany of facts including magic spells, rituals, potions, recipes, celebrations, traditions, and much more. * This is a reference book that appeals to both insiders and outsiders; that is of appeal to those who adhere to the tenets of some form of witchcraft, as well as those general interest readers interested in folklore, mythology and history.

About this title

About the Author

Judika Illes' introduction to magic and mysticism was at 6 years old. She became a professional tarot card reader in 1988, became certified in aromatherapy in 1999. Judika was a tutor at the Australasian College of Herbal Studies, and has taught multi-cultural studies, world mythology, tarot and magic to children and adults. She lives in New Jersey.

From Booklist

Illes, the author of three previous books on magical spells, has compiled a lively and chatty reference on witches. The work is arranged topically, and there is a helpful index. Individual articles within the topic chapters sometimes have see references as well. After a long introduction discussing several different and sometimes nearly mutually exclusive definitions of witches, chapters cover plants, animals, food and drink, magical beings, famous people in the magical world, the creative arts, witch persecution, and more. Chapters--or sections within the chapters--include A-Z entries that range from a few paragraphs to a few pages. An extensive bibliography and a list of Internet resources complete the work.

Illes focuses most strongly on Western European witchcraft practice and history, but she gives considerable attention to Asian, African, Mesoamerican, Caribbean, and South American practice as well. The creative arts chapter is up-to-date enough to discuss the Harry Potter phenomenon as well as many films, television programs, and other arts-related representations. Illes' take on the representation of witches in The Wizard of Oz is in solidarity with witch practice.

The book is long and could have used editing both to trim the text and to correct errors in spelling and grammar. Illes tends to overwrite when she feels passionately, and an editor would have helped with this as well. The horrors of witch persecutions--which continue in many places to this day--do not require overwriting, as William Burns shows very well in Witch Hunts in Europe and America (Greenwood, 2003), which is not in the bibliography.

Academic libraries with extensive witchcraft collections may wish to consider this volume if only for the bibliography. Public libraries seeking a popular reference work on witchcraft could do much worse than this one. At the price, public libraries may wish to purchase some circulating copies as well. Kathleen Stipek
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

About this edition

• Publisher: Thorsons Pub
• Publication date: 2005
• ISBN 10: 0007192932
• ISBN 13: 9780007192939
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 887