The Encyclopedia of Witches, Witchcraft and Wicca, Third Edition
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THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF Witches, Witchcraft S S and Wicca THIRD EDITION Also by Rosemary Ellen Guiley The Encyclopedia of Angels, Second Edition The Encyclopedia of Ghosts and Spirits, Third Edition The Encyclopedia of Magic and Alchemy The Encyclopedia of Saints The Encyclopedia of Vampires, Werewolves, and Other Monsters THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF Witches, Witchcraft S S and Wicca THIRD EDITION Rosemary Ellen Guiley The Encyclopedia of Witches, Witchcraft and Wicca, Third Edition Copyright © 1989, 1999, 2008 by Visionary Living, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage or retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher. For information contact: Facts On File, Inc. An imprint of Infobase Publishing 132 West 31st Street New York NY 10001 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Guiley, Rosemary. The encyclopedia of witches, witchcraft and wicca / Rosemary Ellen Guiley. — 3rd ed. p. cm. Rev. ed. : The encyclopedia of witches and witchcraft . 1999. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN-13: 978-0-8160-7103-6 (hardcover : alk. paper) ISBN-10: 0-8160-7103-9 (hardcover : alk. paper) 1. Witchcraft—Encyclopedias. 2. Witches—Encyclopedias. I. Guiley, Rosemary. Encyclopedia of witches and witchcraft. II. Title. BF1566.G85 2008 133.4'303—dc22 2008008917 Facts On File books are available at special discounts when purchased in bulk quantities for businesses, associations, institutions, or sales promotions. Please call our Special Sales Department in New York at (212) 967-8800 or (800) 322-8755. You can find Facts On File on the World Wide Web at http://www.factsonfile.com Text design by Cathy Rincon Cover design by Salvatore Luongo Printed in the United States of America VB Hermitage 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 This book is printed on acid-free paper and contains 30 percent postconsumer recycled content. For Jo Clark S S S CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMents ix INTRoduction xi ENTRIEs A–Z 1 BIBLIOGRaphy 407 INDEX 415 S S ACKNOWLEDGMENTS For the third edition of this encyclopedia, I would like es- Foxwood, Christopher Penczak, Raven Digitalis, Gavin pecially to thank the following individuals for their help: Bone, Janet Farrar, Gavin and Yvonne Frost, Isaac Bone- Laurie Cabot, Selena Fox, Raymond Buckland, Z Buda- wits, Deborah Lipp and Carl Weschke. pest, Marion Weinstein, Oberon Zell-Ravenheart, Orion ix S S INTRODUCTION Centuries ago, the inquisitors and witch-hunters who ex- a way of eliminating rival religious sects, political ene- ecuted witches as servants of the Devil believed they were mies and social outcasts. From the 14th to 18th centuries, doing a service to God and humanity. They envisioned a thousands of people—perhaps hundreds of thousands— society free of witchcraft, which they viewed as heresy, a were tortured, jailed, maimed and executed on charges of scourge, an evil and a blight. They would be astonished to- witchcraft. Many of them were innocent, framed by per- day to find that Witchcraft—with a capitalW —has become sonal enemies or tortured into confessions. one of the fastest-growing religions in Western culture. They told lurid stories of signing pacts with the Devil How did this 180-degree turn take place? in blood, of being given demons in the form of animal The road from sorcery to spirituality is a colorful one, familiars that would do their malevolent bidding and of full of secrets, twists, rituals and compelling personali- attending horrid feasts called sabbats, where they would ties. In its short half century as a religion, Witchcraft has kiss the anus of the Devil and roast babies for a meal. a history rivaling that of any of the world’s great faiths None of these tales was ever substantiated by fact, but in drama, intrigue, pathos and triumph. Witchcraft has they served as sufficient evidence to condemn those who taken its place in the ecumenical religious theater. confessed to them. Traditionally, witchcraft—with a small w—is a form The accused also admitted to doing evil to their fami- of sorcery, concerned with spells and divination. The lies, friends, neighbors, rivals and enemies. How much magical witch, the sorcerer witch, was not practicing a of that was true is uncertain. Folk magic practices were religion of witchcraft, but was practicing a magical art, part of everyday life, and casting a spell against someone, passed down through families or taught by adepts. especially to redress a wrong, was commonplace. Since Witches have never enjoyed a good reputation. Almost most confessions were extracted under fear and torture, universally since ancient times, witchcraft has been as- it is likely that a great deal of untruth and exaggeration sociated with malevolence and evil. Witches are thought spilled out. to be up to no good, interested in wreaking havoc and In the American colonies, the Puritans were obsessed bringing misery to others. Individuals who used the mag- with evil and believed the Devil had followed them across ical arts to divine and to heal often took great pains to call the ocean from England to destroy them. No wonder this themselves something other than “witch.” paranoia erupted into witch hunts, including those in Sa- In Christianity, witchcraft became interpreted as serv- lem, Massachusetts, in 1692, when the tales of hysterical ing the Devil in his plan to subvert and destroy souls. A girls were enough to send people to their deaths. witch hysteria mounted in Europe, Britain and even the The stigma upon witchcraft left by the Inquisition and American colonies and was seized upon by the church as witch hunts lingers to this day, perpetuated by lurid films xi xii The Encyclopedia of Witches, Witchcraft and Wicca and novels of baby-eating hags and Satan worshipers For decades now, Witches have argued about whether gathered in candlelit circles intoning ominous chants. or not Witch ought to be replaced with a term that doesn’t Witchcraft as a religion was born in Britain after World come with so much negative baggage. Some have adopted War II and came out of the closet when the anti-witchcraft the terms Wicca and Wiccan to describe themselves and laws there were repealed in 1953. It is argued that Gerald their religion and also to distinguish who they are and B. Gardner, the man who more or less invented the reli- what they do from folk magic. gion, should have chosen another term besides witchcraft Today, most Witches stand firm by the terms Witch for the mix of pagan, ceremonial magic and occult mate- and Witchcraft, believing that the public can and should rial he assembled. Perhaps witchcraft sounded secretive, be reeducated about both. They have made headway, exotic and forbidden. It certainly struck the right chord for Witchcraft/Wiccan churches are recognized legally, with the public, who suddenly could not get enough of Witch holidays have gained some official recognition, witches. and, in the United States, Wiccan military veterans have Gardner may not have envisioned a worldwide reli- won the right to have the pentacle, their religious symbol, gious movement, but that is what unfolded, first with the placed on their tombstones. export of Witchcraft to the United States, Canada and Eu- The different kinds and definitions of witchcraft pre- rope, and then around the world. The “Gardner tradition,” sent a challenge in putting together an encyclopedia. as it became known, quickly mutated into offshoots. First, there is witchcraft the magical art, which deals with A spiritual tradition that reinvented pagan deities and sorcery, spell-casting for good or ill, healing and divina- rituals, combined with folk magic and ceremonial mag- tion. Then there is the Inquisition witchcraft, the alleged ic, proved to be what many people wanted. Alienated by Devil worship. And then there is Witchcraft the religion. the dry, crusty rituals and somber dogma of patriarchal All three overlap, and all three are covered in this volume. mainstream Christianity and Judaism, people were hun- Most of the topics deal with the history and evolution of gry for a spirituality that was fresh and creative. Witch- witchcraft in the West, though there are entries of cross- craft—as well as reborn Paganism, reconstructions of cultural interest. pre-Christian and non-Christian traditions—offered just I have used a lower-case w to describe folk and Inqui- that, along with independence, autonomy, a connection sition witches and witchcraft, and a capital W to refer to to Nature and direct contact with the Divine. No need for the modern religion. I have also used the terms Wicca and meddling priests, ministers and clergy to guard the gates Wiccan for the modern religion. Likewise, a lowercase p in to the Godhead—or the afterlife. Another appeal was pagan and paganism are used for pre- and non-Christian the top billing given to the feminine aspect of deity—the references, while a capital P refers to modern religious Goddess. And, sensuality was honored and celebrated, traditions. Witchcraft the modern religion is considered a not punished. form of Paganism, but there are many forms of Paganism Witchcraft the religion, along with its Pagan cousins, that are not Witchcraft. flourished in the blooming New Age counterculture of Topics include folklore, historical cases and events, the 1960s and 1970s and then took hold on the edges of biographies, descriptions of beliefs, rites and practices mainstream society. In the years since its birth, Witchcraft and related topics. For the third edition, I have added has solidified some in uniform codes, values and core be- entries in all categories and have updated entries to re- liefs. But at heart it remains fluid, constantly evolving in flect changes and developments.