The Witch-cult in Western Europe: A Study in Anthropology
"The Witch-Cult in Western Europe: A Study in Anthropology" by Margaret Alice Murray is an anthropological study published in 1921. Murray presents a controversial theory: that European witch trials targeted practitioners of an ancient, secret pagan religion worshiping a horned god, not deluded or innocent victims. She argues this pre-Christian fertility cult survived underground for centuries, organized into disciplined covens, until Christianity launched its persecution during the Reformation. Drawing on witch trial records and James Frazer's work, Murray reinterprets confessions as evidence of genuine religious practices rather than fantasy or heresy.
Summary written by Project Gutenberg, by machine.
- Language
- English
- On Project Gutenberg since
- 22 January 2007
- Read in the last 30 days
- 2,494 times at Project Gutenberg
More by Margaret Alice Murray
See all: More by Margaret Alice Murray
More from the shelf “Witchcraft”
See all: More from the shelf “Witchcraft”
Memoirs of Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds
Salem Witchcraft, Volumes I and II
Discovery of Witches
The Superstitions of Witchcraft
Letters on Demonology and Witchcraft
A History of Witchcraft in England from 1558 to 1718
The Discovery of Witches
The Mysteries of All Nations
The Witchcraft Delusion in Colonial Connecticut (1647-1697)
Salem Witchcraft and Cotton Mather: A Reply
A Treatise of Witchcraft
Witchcraft and Devil Lore in the Channel Islands
Mary Schweidler, the amber witch
