Title: THE GOD OF THE WITCHES
Author: Margaret A. Murray
Publisher: Faber and Faber Limited
City: LondonYear: 1956 Binding Style: Hardcover
Pagination: 212 Pages
Illustrated: Yes
Book Details + Condition: Second edition from 1956 of "The God of the Witches" by Margaret A. Murray, in overall very good condition. Includes scarce dust jacket. Solid, tight boards and binding with gilt lettering on spine, showing minimal shelf wear. Former owner's name on first blank page; otherwise, pages are clean and free of markings. Dust jacket has some shelf wear, but holds the book firmly: chipping to top and bottom of spine of jacket; inside front flap has been torn and some text missing. "This celebrated study of witchcraft in Europe traces the
worship of the pre-Christian and prehistoric Horned God from paleolithic times
to the medieval period. Murray, the first to turn a scholarly eye on the
mysteries of witchcraft, enables us to see its existence in the Middle Ages not
as an isolated and terrifying phenomenon, but as the survival of a religion
nearly as old as humankind itself, whose devotees held passionately to a view of
life threatened by an alien creed. The findings she sets forth, once thought of
as provocative and implausible, are now regarded as irrefutable by folklorists
and scholars in related fields. Exploring the rites and ceremonies associated
with witchcraft, Murray establishes the concept of the "dying
god" — the priest-king who was ritually killed to ensure the country and
its people a continuity of fertility and strength. In this light, she considers
such figures as Thomas a Becket, Joan of Arc, and Gilles de Rais as spiritual
leaders whose deaths were ritually imposed. Truly a classic work of
anthropology, and written in a clear, accessible style that anyone can enjoy,
The God of the Witches forces us to reevaluate our thoughts about an ancient
and vital religion." [Google Books]
