Witchcraft

Description
Witchcraft: A Secret History unravels the myth from the mystery, the facts from the legends. Meet all the witches of your imagination and discover the meanings of their rituals and rites, their lore, and their craft. Discover the significance of their sabbats and covens, their chalices and wands, their robes and their religion. Unlock the secrets of the legendary witches of mythology and folk tales and find out how these early stories influenced the persecutions and witch-hunts of the Middle Ages. Learn about the people who inspired the pagan revival and how their work in literature and magic rekindled the fires of the sabbats across Europe and the New World today.

My Review
Witchcraft is a very well book. It is easy to follow and I actually learned a few things I did not know about the belief in witches and the witch trials. I would call this the Bible of Witchcraft. It really was fascinating to read.

This ARC was provided to me for free in exchange for my honest opinion. I must say I definitely give this a 5 ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

Whether you know the history of witchcraft or want to learn its history - definitely get this book! I highly recommend “Witchcraft.”

This book covers the history of witchcraft from the ancient world to the modern day world. It looks at the origins of witchcraft, to the Christian view, the persecutions, and modern day Wicca. It's a concise book that anyone interested in the subject would find easy to read. I particularly liked the section on the modern world because there were some names mentioned that I never heard of before. There were lots of engravings and pictures used throughout the book as well.

Overall a good book with a "readers digest" approach to a very complicated subject.

A solid history on European-centric forms of witchcraft and how they've survived in the modern day. Great for history lovers.

An interesting and well researched history of witchcraft. It's informative and I liked the style of writing.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

Witchcraft: A Secret History is a brilliant read, giving detailed accounts into the origins of witchcraft, and detailing three distinctive times.
Ancient witchcraft, medieval witchcraft and modern witchcraft. It was fascinating to read through all the different times and get to understand the explanations.
Witchcraft has become very popular through media, but to get to know the true history and where this was actually born from, was really interesting. Read book in one sitting and absolutely enjoyed it, found the information here wonderful.

What is the secret of Witchcraft?

Book Review: Witchcraft: A Secret History by Michael Streeter
Genre: Non-Fiction, History, Spirituality
Publisher: Quatro Publish Group/ White Lion Publishing
Release Date: 3rd March, 2020

As a history of Witchcraft this book covers a lot. From the middle ages, ancient Egypt, Rome and Greece, the Celtic and Germanic origins, the effect of Christianity on Witches, the infamous Salem witch trials, all the way up to modern Wicca of the 1950's, links to feminism and its continuation today. Like I said...a lot!

However, as someone who has already read vast amounts about the history of witchcraft, who studied Literature at University, and has been intrigued by all things Witchcraft, since reading The Crucible for drama class, this book adds nothing new to the Witchcraft story. Therefore, I didn't understand the title of 'Secret History', as there is nothing in this book that has been hidden, or kept secret. I consider it to be more of a concise and detailed history of Witchcraft.

Saying that, I did enjoy it. Throughout the book there are images of paintings from across the time periods covered. Some of the images will be familiar, others I had not seen before and they helped illustrate the book well. As I read an e-arc the images were not clear, but I feel like the pictorial representations will add a lot to the completed book. Furthermore, the author has referenced a range of texts written on the topic of witches and witchcraft throughout its history. I now have a list of more books to read!

I would consider it suitable, not only for modern witches, but for anyone who has an interest in Witchcraft and history. As well as being concise it is very well organised; split in to clear chapters and within those, headings and subheadings. It appeals greatly to my brains need to organise, and allows you to dip into specific sections quite easily.

At this point it is important to note something the author mentions in the introduction. When defining modern Witchcraft he refers to it as Wicca. I know a lot of people, myself included, who see Wicca and Witchcraft (whether modern or not) as two separate things; they are different practices. Following on from that, the blurb is slightly misleading: "Discover the significance of [witches] sabbats and covens, their chalices and wands, their robes and their religion." These ideas are shoe-horned in randomly between the other chapters and don't really suit the purpose of the book. It just felt like an odd after-thought to add a few pages about the sabbats and magickal tools.

Towards the end of the book, the author looks at the future of Witchcraft. (I didn't realise that it was only in the 1950's that the last anti-witchcraft legislation was repealed in America.) He thoughtfully considers the role feminism has played in a modern Witchcraft resurgence. However, there is still a lot of prejudice and stigma surrounding Wicca and Witchcraft.

So what does the future of Witchcraft look like? Personally, I can appreciate the role the internet (particularly instagram) has played in my own Witchy practice. The internet has aided in the growth of Wicca and Witchcraft, as it allows free flowing discussion without fear of judgement. The community I have found online is a very positive one. However, even though I feel able to post about Wicca and Witchcraft on instagram, YouTube and this blog, it is still not something I freely discuss in 'real' life. I am still fearful of judgement, even from family and friends.

That is the 'secret' of Witchcraft.

Most of us still keep our Craft a secret. How do we come out of the broom closet and nurture the amazing community in the real world? How do we make it more accepted in society, rather than just an 'online' culture? That's the big secret...

Thank you to Netgalley and White Lion Publishing for allowing me to read and review this e-erc.

As a thank you to Netgalley and the White Lion Publishing for providing me with an advanced reader copy I shall give an honest review of Michael Streeter’s Witchcraft: A Secret History. This book is able in a concise way answer the story behind the story to what makes the Witch such an enigma of their time. The book explores Witchcraft by breaking down the word and exploring its history. The author explores key moments in time for example the Witch-hunts in Europe to the Witch trials in Salem Massachusetts. There was more to this introduction than others I have read and for that reason do I believe is why I give it four out of five stars on good reads.It will be published on March 3rd 2020.

As a history buff who loves learning about the darker side of humanity - and the many ways in which people are falsely persecuted for daring to be different - I found a lot to enjoy in this book. Others with similar interests are virtually certain to be equally pleased. Recommended!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing a free ARC. This review contains my honest, unbiased opinion.

A thoughtfully compiled & engaging account that brings together witchcraft mythology and lore from various traditions and cultures. A must read for anyone interested in witchcraft and the occult.

Apologies, really wanted to read it but could not download it onto my Kindle! So sorry because it looked really interesting and like my kind of book.

Streeter's book 'Witchcraft' serves as a quick introduction to the history of witchcraft - starting with the concept of 'wise' men and women to the wise in popularity of Wicca as a religion. Clearly outlining the myths from the factual in a concise, easy to read manner.
I enjoyed the mix of colour images and black/white images.
Absolutely worth a read for anyone interested in learning about the history of witchcraft.
I received a free copy of this book from B.E.S. Publishing via NetGalley in return for an honest review.