This first volume in a collection devoted to the subject of the "daimon/daemon" provides a comprehensive and detailed description of the intermediary spirits in the Western Tradition. Being a fundamental part of Magic, these spirits have important ramifications on the religions and philosophies from Late Antiquity through the present. Tracking the origins and developments of the concept of intermediary spirits under the terms "daimon/daemon," from Homer to Augustine and beyond, reveals a very rich fountain of knowledge with direct importance to the comprehension of the worldview shared by magical practitioners from every age and culture. DAEMONOLOGY: AN INTRODUCTION WITH A SELECTION OF TEXTS addresses the diverse uses of the concept of the intermediary spirit in the history and practice of Magic, and its correlates in other cultures."
Discover a different way to see classical civilization in this collection of ancient Greek and Roman texts on magic and the occult. Magic, miracles, daemonology, divination, astrology, and alchemy were the arcana mundi, the “secrets of the universe,” of the ancient Greeks and Romans. In this path-breaking collection of Greek and Roman writings on magic and the occult, Georg Luck provides a comprehensive sourcebook and introduction to magic as it was practiced by witches and sorcerers, magi and astrologers, in the Greek and Roman worlds. In this new edition, Luck has gathered and translated 130 ancient texts dating from the eighth century BCE through the fourth century CE. Thoroughly revised, this volume offers several new elements: a comprehensive general introduction, an epilogue discussing the persistence of ancient magic into the early Christian and Byzantine eras, and an appendix on the use of mind-altering substances in occult practices. Also added is an extensive glossary of Greek and Latin magical terms. In Arcana Mundi Georg Luck presents a fascinating?and at times startling?alternative vision of the ancient world. “For a long time it was fashionable to ignore the darker and, to us, perhaps, uncomfortable aspects of everyday life in Greece and Rome,” Luck has written. “But we can no longer idealize the Greeks with their “artistic genius” and the Romans with their “sober realism.” Magic and witchcraft, the fear of daemons and ghosts, the wish to manipulate invisible powers?all of this was very much a part of their lives.” “An excellent translation of ancient texts on the subject, but it’s a lot more than that. It’s a glimpse into the minds of the everyday people of the times and what made them turn, what made them stop, what made them look over their shoulders.” —Courier-Gazette,(Rockland, Maine) “No one currently at work in ancient magic or related fields can remotely compare with Luck for the breadth and profundity of his knowledge of the literary texts . . . or for the humility and lightness of touch with which he conveys his scholarship.” —Daniel Ogden, author of Magic, Witchcraft, and Ghosts in the Greek and Roman Worlds
Written by King James I and published in 1597, the original edition of Demonology is widely regarded as one of the most interesting and controversial religious writings in history, yet because it is written in the language of its day, it has been notoriously difficult to understand. Now occult scholar Donald Tyson has modernized and annotated the original text, making this historically important work accessible to contemporary readers. Also deciphered here, for the first time, is the anonymous tract News from Scotland, an account of the North Berwick witch trials over which King James presided. Tyson examines King James' obsession with witches and their alleged attempts on his life, and offers a knowledgeable and sympathetic look at the details of magick and witchcraft in the Jacobean period. Demonology features historical woodcut illustrations and includes the original old English texts in their entirety. This reference work is the key to an essential source text on seventeenth-century witchcraft and the Scottish witch trials
Magic, miracles, daemonology, divination, astrology, and alchemy were the arcana mundi, the "secrets of the universe," of the ancient Greeks and Romans. In this path-breaking collection of Greek and Roman writings on magic and the occult, Georg Luck provides a comprehensive sourcebook and introduction to magic as it was practiced by witches and sorcerers, magi and astrologers, in the Greek and Roman worlds. In this new edition, Luck has gathered and translated 130 ancient texts dating from the eighth century BCE through the fourth century CE. Thoroughly revised, this volume offers several new elements: a comprehensive general introduction, an epilogue discussing the persistence of ancient magic into the early Christian and Byzantine eras, and an appendix on the use of mind-altering substances in occult practices. Also added is an extensive glossary of Greek and Latin magical terms. In Arcana Mundi Georg Luck presents a fascinating—and at times startling—alternative vision of the ancient world. "For a long time it was fashionable to ignore the darker and, to us, perhaps, uncomfortable aspects of everyday life in Greece and Rome," Luck has written. "But we can no longer idealize the Greeks with their 'artistic genius' and the Romans with their 'sober realism.' Magic and witchcraft, the fear of daemons and ghosts, the wish to manipulate invisible powers—all of this was very much a part of their lives."
This volume provides a valuable introduction to the key concepts of witchcraft and demonology through a detailed study of one of the best known and most notorious episodes of Scottish history, the North Berwick witch hunt, in which King James was involved as alleged victim, interrogator, judge and demonologist. It provides hitherto unpublished and inaccessible material from the legal documentation of the trials in a way that makes the material fully comprehensible, as well as full texts of the pamphlet News from Scotland and James' Demonology, all in a readable, modernised, scholarly form. Full introductory sections and supporting notes provide information about the contexts needed to understand the texts: court politics, social history and culture, religious changes, law and the workings of the court, and the history of witchcraft prosecutions in Scotland before 1590. The book also brings to bear on this material current scholarship on the history of European witchcraft.
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.
In response to actual questions many people have asked him about angels and demons, well-known author and philosophy professor Peter Kreeft separates fact from fantasy and myth from reality as he answers 100 common questions about these spiritual beings. Based on a very popular college course he teaches on this subject, this book responds to the incredible amount of interest in angelic beings and attempts to clear up some of the misinformation abounding in the numerous books today on what we know about these mysterious spirits. Drawing on the Bible, traditional Church teaching and St. Thomas Aquinas, Kreeft gives straight, clear answers to the perennial and philosophical questions asked about angels and demons throughout time. In his typical lucid, profound and sometimes humorous style, Kreeft answers such questions as ""What are angels made of?"", ""How do angels communicate with God?"", ""How do angels communicate with us?"", ""Do demons, or devils, or evil spirits really exist?"" and many more. Includes angel art.
Daemonologie-in full Daemonologie, In Forme of a Dialogue, Divided into three Books: By the High and Mighty Prince, James &c.-was written and published in 1597 by King James VI of Scotland (later also James I of England) as a philosophical dissertation on contemporary necromancy and the historical relationships between the various methods of divination used from ancient black magic. This included a study on demonology and the methods demons used to bother troubled men while touching on topics such as werewolves and vampires. It was a political yet theological statement to educate a misinformed populace on the history, practices and implications of sorcery and the reasons for persecuting a witch in a Christian society under the rule of canonical law. This book is believed to be one of the main sources used by William Shakespeare in the production of Macbeth. Shakespeare attributed many quotes and rituals found within the book directly to the Weird Sisters, yet also attributed the Scottish themes and settings referenced from the trials in which King James was involved.
