The Element Encyclopedia of Witch Craft; The Complete A-Z for the Entire Magical World

Element Encyclopedia

by Judika Illes

Overview Stories of witches and the power of magic have enthralled us since humanity first walked the earth. The words "witchcraft" and "witch," or their equivalents, are rooted in perceptions of the magical arts, primordial spiritual traditions, or women's primal power. But what is the true definition of a witch, and what do we really know about the world of magic? The Element Encyclopedia of Witchcraftis a comprehensive celebration of all facets of witchcraft. From fairy tales to familiars, hags to healers, from Ancient Egypt to modern Wicca and Neo-Paganism, this definitive reference book reveals the many faces and traditions of thousands of years of witchcraft. Here is a feast of facts and curiosities, including recipes from the witch's cauldron, auspicious dates from the witch's sacred calendar, and different methods of witches' flight. Discover how witches have inspired fine art and mass entertainment, from Shakespeare to Harry Potter, and how witchcraft has been depicted in various ways, from veneration to defamation. Learn about witches and worship, with those special deities most identified with witchcraft; and take a journey to the Burning Times, those terrible centuries when witches suffered persecution and death. Packed full of legends, lore, magic spells, potions, recipes, and rituals, The Element Encyclopedia of Witchcraft is a delightful mixture of instruction, entertainment, and the downright bizarre; it is the ultimate reference work for both the dedicated follower and casual consumer of all things magical. Judika Illes fell in love with the magical arts during childhood. She is a spell-collector, tarot-card reader, aromatherapist, and multi-cultural studies teacher. The author of three previous books of magic spells, including the companion volume to this book, The Element Encyclopedia of 5000 Spells.

Genres: Witchcraft, Nonfiction, Reference, Occult, Spirituality, Paganism, Wicca

887 pages, Paperback

First published June 28, 2005

About the author

Born in New York City, my metaphysical career began early: My first encounter with tarot cards at age six was also my first experience of love at first sight! That passion still burns true. Although I do practice other forms of divination, tarot remains the foundation of my practice.

A lifelong pursuit of metaphysical wisdom followed and continues: astrology, mythology, Kabbalah, the Egyptian mysteries as well as spiritual, magical and healing traditions from all over Earth but particularly Africa and Asia.

I've also been a blues and free-form rock and roll disc jockey, a corporate travel consultant specializing in the Caribbean, a skin-care and cosmetics consultant, and a teacher of mythology and multicultural studies. I wrote and edited the Ancient Beauty Secrets section for the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism's monthly online magazine, which integrated modern aromatherapy with ancient methods of body care and decoration.

True love's arrows pierced my heart yet again when I first encountered a vial of essential oil. (Essential oil of frankincense, to be exact, still a favorite.) Essential oils are not true oils but potent plant extracts. Modern aromatherapy, with its roots stretching back to ancient China, Egypt, Mesopotamia and the Middle East, is the manipulation of essential oils for therapeutic and cosmetic purposes. Essential oils are perhaps the purest, most potent expression of a plant's power and play a profound role in rituals, potions and spells. Many are powerful aphrodisiacs and may be used to enhance health, beauty and peace of mind.

Following over a decade of independent study, I earned a certificate in therapeutic aromatherapy. I served on the faculty of the Australasian College of Herbal Studies as an aromatherapy tutor, teaching the certification program.

My special passion for almost fifteen years has been magical and traditional approaches to fertility. Originally stimulated by own reproductive challenges, I was frustrated by the medical options offered to me. I went searching for other avenues, gentle Earth and female-friendly solutions and found them: a vast repository of women's wisdom. Two children and many years later, I still search and research, impressed and empowered by thousands of years of women's inventiveness, endurance, defiance and humor.

Reviews

[D · Rating 5 out of 5]

This "review"'s going to deviate from my standard reviews a bit. Back to your regularly scheduled reviewing next time.

A commenter on my other blog and I were having a little conversation about book buying in the comments of one of my posts there. I don’t know about you, but right now I need more books like I need a double lobotomy. Like I told him in my comment, when I went to pre-order Jessica’s Guide to Dating on the Dark Side, I just had to pick up Why We Suck by Dr. Denis Leary. The man is my god, after all. Might as well have the bible. But that’s just my little compulsive twitch for book buying at work.

But I did go into Barnes and Noble that day. No, not to buy anything, at least initially. I wanted to collect information for a post I'm planning on doing over there that my lazy butt hasn't gotten around to doing yet. But what did I see on the bargain racks before I even walked into the store? A slew of Element Encyclopedias, soft cover versions.

Now, I already owned one, the Encyclopedia of Witch Craft. I’ve owned it for years. My mom got it on discount from One Spirit book club and it’s helped me immensely with building a character for one of my books. So, needless to say, I screamed a little on the inside when I saw all these Element books just sitting there for $9.98 and begging to be bought. They're $30 books! Each! So I picked up Encyclopedia of Magical Creatures, Encyclopedia of Secret Signs and Symbols and Encyclopedia of Ghosts and Hauntings.

OMG I’m in heaven. When I buy when I really shouldn't, I get that tinge of guilt afterwards. You know what I'm talking about. But these . . . these will not go to waste at all and I would have kicked myself in the ass repeatedly had I not picked these up. The Element Encyclopedias are some of the best references for the mystical and magical and if you’re even considering writing anything like that, you’ll want these books amongst your reference guides. I’ll be able to use these with everything that I’m writing and plan to write.

Squee! I smile every time I look at them!

[Artemis Crescent · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent, 850-page information book on everything relating to witchcraft - and how much of history, mythology, language, storytelling (fairy tales, literature and television), and so many other universal cultural aspects were influenced by paganism, ancient deities, nature, and women from the beginnings of human civilization. Correspondences, Sabbat and Esbat info, animal info, colour info, birth signs, real witches list, and spell casting included. The author, Judika Illes, is incredibly well learned, and has a good sense of humour as well.

It is very dense and some parts are easy to skim through, just like any encyclopedia, but overall 'The Element Encyclopedia of Witchcraft' is fascinating, interesting and educational. Especially about the "Burning Times" and "Witchcraze". Horrific, terrifying, an eyeopener: It makes you understand how prejudice still works today, and why.

Final Score: 4/5

[Miranda Hanley · Rating 5 out of 5]

This encyclopedia is so good and informative! It's also easy to read and understand! Great reference book.

[Lily Heron · Rating 5 out of 5]

An accessible and incredibly detailed work.

[Dollie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was one of the most interesting books I’ve ever read. I learned so much history from this reference book. Not that I’ll ever put any of this new knowledge into practice (although I do think of myself and my best friend as Granny Weatherwax and Nanny Ogg). This took me longer to read than any other book I’ve ever read (more than a year) because I read it in small doses. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Anything anyone would ever want to know about witches and witchcraft is in this book.

[Espresso · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not a complete waste of time. Interesting historical notations lead to further study.

[Tracey-anne McCartney · Rating 5 out of 5]

Full of information, a comprehensive volume.

[Heka · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an excellent reference and companion to The Element Encyclopedia of 5,000 spells. It is fairly comprehensive--I don't remember many instances where I went looking for something about witches and didn't find it here in some form or another. Unfortunately, I don't find myself needing the information in this book very often.

[Mary Jane · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had high expectations of this book and my goodness, it did not disappoint. So richly detailed and engrossing I've found myself reading for hours when I only intended to dip in for a few minutes. I thought I was well-versed in witchcraft lore before picking this up, but I've learned so much more. And it's made me re-examine the past and my own perceptions in ways I never would have imagined.

[Eve · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wowzers! What a huge, comprehensive read! Plenty of information here to get you started on your magickal quest for further exploration. Take what you can from this book, there's plenty of information there to wet your whistle.

[Jackie · Rating 1 out of 5]

I just finished it for the same week and i really enjoyed it. I loved how at first the storylines didn't seem to have anything to do with each other but slowly details were revealed to show how they are all connected.

[Grace · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful, thorough, and fascinating information about witchcraft and magical traditions and folklore around the world. This is a must-read for anybody interested in knowing more about witchcraft and magic traditions, history, and lore.

[Susanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very well written, this is a great reference book and I reckon this is an essential part of any occult or magickal library.

[Frau Sorge (Yuki) · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s a long book, I mean look for the page count, and I took my time with it. I skimmed here and there, but it was interesting and written in easy going style, and I learned a little bit.

[Raven Black · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very interesting book with a large amount of information about the Craft. I enjoyed it but I am a bibliomaniac!

[Ronel Janse van Vuuren · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent manual for the how’s and why’s of different types of witchcraft with a bit of folklore. Another great book for the library of an author writing about witches.

[Cathy Addley · Rating 2 out of 5]

A comprehensive guide of all things Witchy.
Need to be in the right frame of mind to read it.
I basically skimmed thru it, a lot of things I found to be of no interest

[Nat Gonzalez · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favorite book for the craft. It gives a great history, is very in depth about myths across traditions, and is a great general knowledge book.

[Natasha · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think this is the dictionary definition of a Tome!

[pearlsephoney · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great source to cover all the basic stuff in witchcraft. Definitely informative

[Sophie Crane · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book is perfectly personal but not too much, well explained, with simple English. It just lacks graphic representation

[Ren · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic and huge book full of references to magics and folklore in every direction! Really gets into detailed explanations, it's clear that a lot of care went into this book.

[Julie Morgan · Rating 5 out of 5]

She has such a plethora of knowledge of our ancestors history. A very interesting read. Even though the book is a mammoth, I enjoyed reading every bit of it!

[Salem ☥ · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love love loveee this book. I'd forgotten to add it to my read shelf, but I use this constantly for my own grimoire.

[nikki · Rating 4 out of 5]

this series is a good starter pack. it contains brief information on a lot of different things, and is a good place to do beginner reference and expand further from there. i'm also a sucker for the format and style of the books - they just look good, and i can't help but think of how good they'd look together on my bookshelf. as a bibliophile, i really like this series.

obviously, don't consult these for in-depth research. but, again, they're a good place to start broad, wide-ranging consultation. not to be crass but they'd be good bathroom/coffee table reading, too. it's kind of like wikipedia - great place to dip your feet in, but it's just the surface, and should be taken with a grain of salt. very useful if used properly.

[Christian · Rating 4 out of 5]

That's one doorstopper of a book - and I especially love those! Judika Illes gives a quick introduction/ overview to nearly every topic/thing/whatever you could think of in relation to witchcraft, most pleasingly out of a broader, non-wiccan perspective. It's of course no scholarly work, but at least the bibliography in the back is quite impressive. Seriously, I was surprised by the relative lucidity oif hear introduction on the difficulties defining the term "witchcraft". Historically, not everything in here might by absolutely solid, waterproofed and/ or still accepted standard. But especially in such a book, which is not geared towards a special theology or the like, it is more relevant to get starting points for the inevitable own research. And Judika provides plenty of them.

[Lori Schiele · Rating 4 out of 5]

A 886 page book that covers everything related to witchcraft including animals, botany, fairies, the Horned One and how he relates (or doesn't) to the Christian Devil, magickal places and things, Women's Mysteries and even the "Witchcraft Hall of Fame". It also discusses how different countries dealt with witches during the Burning Times.
A must-read for anyone interested in witchcraft.

[Jovy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good reference especially if your reading a story about witchcraft...covens...potions... spells. Also have a good historical information. It's almost like the Wikipedia of witchcraft but more comprehensive and you don't have to go from one screen to a different screen...

[Eileen Fikes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved this book....Great information

[Eileen Fikes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Full of information....Love it!!!