Witchcraft

Library of Esoterica #3

by Jessica Hundley (Editor), Pam Grossman (Editor)

A spellbinding journey through the global history of witchcraft, the third volume in The Library of Esoterica follows this magickal tradition from its ancient roots to its modern incarnations. Through more than 400 artworks, and revelatory essays and interviews with modern practitioners, Witchcraft chronicles a cathartic evolution, from the craft’s emergence in ancient goddess worship to the embrace by today’s diverse witch community.

Genres: Nonfiction, Art, Witchcraft, History, Occult, Witches, Feminism

520 pages, Hardcover

First published March 4, 2022

Reviews

[Sophia · Rating 1 out of 5]

Pictures were great. The best part. But that’s why you buy Taschen. I was disappointed at the repetitive text, we get it but each essay was more of the same. Captions for the pictures were ok, not great. More context and history and contemporary reactions to the works/portrayals was needed. I would have liked to see more historical and cultural contextualization - a whole page dedicated to Circe, one to Hecate, Morgan Le Fay, Freya, but nope. A chapter to Salem, Hopkins, voodoo, more eastern mythology and figures. Circe was only mentioned and shown about 10-15 times but no full story. Instead we get people some awkward walls of text, personal and political. I would have rather learned more about the ancient practices from Samhain, turnip carving! Or more about Johannes Keplers mother, Brujeria, druids, Brigid, why was she so significant? Ancient Goddess worship, sooooooo much potential. We had constant modern cultural context and references but I think that would have made a cooler bit on its own going more into depth, especially the rapid evolution of our perception of witches from the last 150/100 years due to her portrayal in popular culture. Also a section on modern Wicca and pagan practices would have been great. Meshing it together with historical and ancient practices and low key presenting modern pagans and wiccans and self identifying witches as a continuance of ancient pagan rituals is disingenuous and old. Get it for the pics but If you can swing $50 on this spend the $10 on Ronald Huttons book The Witch or something similar for a better ride on your broomstick. Cover 10/10. Organization just needed to be clearer and more cohesive and included more topics and figures.

[Caro the Helmet Lady · Rating 4 out of 5]

If it would contain illustrations exclusively I'd still love it.

[Sam · Rating 1 out of 5]

Excellent pictures throughout - but the writing is shockingly poor.
For those looking to learn more about Witchcraft in history, the “very short introductions” book on the subject covered more in about 100 pages than this book managed and in >500. That particular book is also more balanced in its viewpoint.
There are also many other books on this topic which are available - look elsewhere.
More on this -
No real interest was given to any one subtopic, it contained historical statements which were inaccurate, descriptions of any popular practices were kept vague and vapid.
The book also promotes the leftist agenda under the surface of witchcraft. Whilst I am inclined to agree that there are some joining threads with leftism in witchcraft, I feel the authors were not balanced / critical enough of this. The authors should read more about the history of communism. It doesn’t end well for people.
At various points we are also treated to a singular page where a modern witch talks about their beliefs. They describe themselves in a way which is invariably adolescent and embarrassing to read, for example, one claims to be a “sonic poet”.
The nail in the coffin for me : the author quoted herself in one of her essays.

[Verónica Fleitas Solich · Rating 5 out of 5]

This series of books is first and foremost a splendid visual delight.
The compilation of images for the various topics covered in the book are great.
The information is nothing new but added to the image and an impeccable layout and printing, the result is an excellent product.
The contributions of those involved in the matter are also highly valued and, without a doubt, the filter with which the author has unified the subject.

[Jessi ❤️ H. Vojsk [if villain, why hot?] · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book so much!

It’s a book full of magic information with beautiful paintings, drawings, photographs and essays between chapters of witches/brujas/other.

Absolutely loved it!

[Adam Clark · Rating 3 out of 5]

The pictures are lovely, although not always strictly relevant to the subject, but the text really lets this book down. The body text can be repetitive and both the body text and image descriptions are sometimes plain wrong (for example, Robert Eggers’ film ‘The Witch’ wasn’t in black and white, and John Dee’s obsidian scrying mirror is currently in the collection of the British Museum, not the British Library). Better fact-checking and editing would have caught these errors as well as the typos.

[Ugnė · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nuo pirmų dviejų serijos knygų skiriasi tuo, kad teksto gerokai daugiau, o iliustracijų - mažiau. Tačiau vis tiek gana gerai ir įdomiai viskas padaryta, ypač jei norisi suprasti, kas ta raganystė (raganų istorija irgi užkabinta, tačiau siaurokai ir seklokai mano galva) ir kaip nuo žiniuonės nueita iki velnio sugulovės, o nuo jos - iki galių saugotojos ir valdytojos. Ir net jei skaityti tingėsis, tiesiog vartyti irgi gražu.

[Josefine · Rating 3 out of 5]

A beautiful book, which is the entire concept of Taschen. It promises a visual history of the witch and it upholds to that promise. I’m therefore willing to forgive some of the criticism I see when it comes to the writing, the essays etc. as this is not the books main focus. However, I did notice a few things that scratches the overall quality of the work. Most critically, the book seems not to be able to decide whether it wants to give an outside or inside view on witchcraft. At first glance it seems an outside view, but then it presents ideas such as leylines as though they are a fact of being. It could be merely a wording issue, “Leylines are” instead of “Leylines are believed to”. This is a major flaw that I cannot overlook and disqualifies the work as a stritcly academic source.

Secondly, which builds into this, many “essays” (far too short to be qualified as such) are written by the same three or so people. This undermines the broad viewpoints the book otherwise advertises. Finally, I question the “scholar” title many of the contributing writers are bestowed with. The most important aspect of a scholar, is the separation of beliefs and fact. And witchcraft, as a belief-system IS a pseudoscience and should be acknowledged as such. You cannot do scientific, scholarly work build on a foundation not verified by the same evidence-based practiced. Again, the book holds too close to an inside view of witchcraft to be of any consideration for outside learning.

[Marin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just arrived today, and, granted, I have not yet read all the texts, but I did spend an entire afternoon flipping through pages and pages of gorgeous art. A lot of it is full-page full-color amazing pieces, maybe 80% of the book is art, hundreds of pages and artworks. That alone is worth the 5 star rating - you will find old classics and masters right next to worthy modern artists that are still alive and kicking today.

If you are wondering how I am reading this before its expected publication date - my wife is a contributor to one of the images in the book and we got a copy. So, while I know next to nothing about witchcraft and its lore, I expect I will learn a lot very soon when I also get to go through the texts.

[Raquel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Le he dado 4 estrellas y me parece que he sido un poco generosa.
El libro me ha parecido súper interesante, a cualquiera que le interese el mundo de la brujería o el ocultismo le va a encantar.

Ahora diré lo que no me ha gustado. No quiero que se entienda mal. Esta claro que la historia de las brujas ha estado ligada a la persecución sobretodo por parte de hombres, pero no me gusta el tono en el que está escrito el libro en ese sentido. Como digo, las brujas van ligadas al feminismo en cierto modo, pero al "feminismo de verdad" y no el que se ha propagado en los últimos tiempos.
Literalmente, me han sobrado TODOS los textos que van apareciendo aquí y allá escritos por artistas/brujos/brujas/ocultistas etc "modernos". Sinceramente, no entiendo por qué se ha de mezclar en la mayoría de todos ellos (casi todos vienen a decir las mismas cosas) temas queer, no binarios, transgénero y patriarcados en el sentido casposo de hoy en día.
Entiendo que se le haya querido dar un punto de vista feminista pero no es normal que haya tenido que llevar un contador de las veces que han aparecido "patriarcado" "opresión" "feminismo"y la que menos me gusta de todas "empoderamiento"pues hay veces que se repiten varias veces en un mismo párrafo. Exagerado.

Otra cosa que añadiría, aunque eso imagino que solo lo habrá echado de menos gente a la que le interesa el arte, es que se hubiera incluido en las descripciones de las obras de arte datos como los medios (óleo sobre lienzo, acuarela sobre papel, escultura en "lo que sea"....) y las dimensiones de las obras. Pero está bien que sólo aparezca el nombre, título, año y país.
También me ha parecido interesante, aunque poco desarrollado y muy de pasada, el tema de la influencia de la temática brujeril y del esoterismo en la moda, aparte de que han faltado imágenes a veces de lo que te iba describiendo el texto.

[Maya Tsingos · Rating 3 out of 5]

the writing itself is somewhat uninspiring but this should be approached as a picture book for esoteric little girls

[Tina · Rating 4 out of 5]

I rarely buy or own books, but I bought this new. Shrink-wrapped even. It is gorgeous, full of artwork and essays about witches, magick and lore.

[Cynthia Janda · Rating 4 out of 5]

I took a year to read this book. Picking it up here and there, and I finally finished it today. Relating art to witchcraft was clever. Some of the artwork I wasn’t aware had connections to witchcraft such as Judy Chicago’s Dinner Party. I enjoyed this book, and referenced it several times in conversation. If you’re looking for direction on how to expose yourself into a coven and explore your own witchy means. No, this isn’t the book. However, if you want to navigate an exploration of cultures’ definitions and influence of witchcraft and how it evolved through different mediums, yes this would be your book. I think this should be a regular on any curious one’s bookshelf.

[Yeliz · Rating 3 out of 5]

As for the artwork, this is just beautiful and a must have. I could stare at any given page of this book for hours. A 11/10 at least. I wished I had each painting/sketch/photograph on this collection.

The essays though, I am struggling. Such new age your happy liberated inner self garbage.
"Even if levitation is true or not" - Well news, No! You can not levitate with the help of herbs or concentrating or chanting.

There are few loose links to science but not harshly argued, mostly because it is in vain. Science is quite good at denouncing all religion (incl. this one) - emphasis on religion as a belief system not the idea of a creator - .

For example, one self-identified witch writer/anthropologist is quoted to assert that writing was mostly invented to remember the magic and transfer the spells to the future. Well no, the strongest argument would be that trade and ownership made it a necessity. Preserving spells would not go in the top 100 strong theories for the invention of writing. For quite a long time, religions relied on oral transference much like literature.

I could write hundreds of loose arguments from this book, this review would never end.
Reading this, I feel like I just paid a good deal of money to be locked in a wooden shed by a gender fluid cult leader to cleanse my soul.

Still, when art holds the dark lore's hand the outcome is stunning. I always have chills for some Goya, some Bosch. Now I have many more dark artist favourites thanks to this book. This book is a rare find, just buy it in a foreign language that you can't speak and read.

[Fran · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was such a treat! Yes, I read this tome cover to cover and took my time with the illustrations. Absolutely recommend this as a first dip into witchcraft for anyone interested or flirting with the occult. I have been very disconnected from my practice recently and have found myself reinvigorated by this book...

[Ana Margarida · Rating 5 out of 5]

For a all-in-one volume that is presented as introductory to the subject, this book is way more complete then most "begginer books". The edition by itself deserves a five star rating, but the overall information that is compiled by the authors of the essays makes it a great source.

[Iris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun pictures

[Katharine Ramshaw · Rating 3 out of 5]

beautiful art so good for uni references 👍🏻
writing was a little basic and repetitive / surface level 👎🏻

[tomasawyer · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ce livre vaut le coup d’œil pour la richesse de ses illustrations (j'y ai retrouvé quelques crushs) mais niveau textes, c'est un peu la foire à la saucisse. Il y en a pour tous les gouts.

Des passages très instructifs qui font comprendre comment la sorcière est devenue l'ennemie à abattre pour des pouvoirs en place chaque fois qu'elle remettait en cause un monopole spirituel, religieux, scientifique. L'étendue de ses connaissances semble lui donner un coup d'avance et ça fait peur. On ne sait pas ce qu'elle est capable de nous faire subir, alors, on préfère l'abattre, comme les petits hommes verts dans Mars Attack.

Malheureusement tous ces passages historiques fort intéressants sont noyés dans une bouillie ésotérique où on mélange allégrement magie, médecine, chapeau pointu, turlututu. Je veux bien boire les tisanes de mamie parce que je crois au pouvoir des plantes, mais les autres potions pseudo-magiques ont plus de mal à passer.

Ah et pour faire mon grincheux jusqu'au bout de la nuit, nom de dieu, mettez les descriptions sur la même page que les tableaux qu'elles décrivent !

[Oz Ortega · Rating 3 out of 5]

Siendo honestos ¿alguien lee los libros de Taschen? Tengo muchos, solo por la parte visual que siempre es una delicia, especialmente esta colección esotérica, pero es la primera vez que en verdad leo los textos que acompañan y pues es bastante decepcionante en términos generales. Aún cuando se han dado a la tarea de buscar a los famosos y espumosos del tema, la mayoría de los ensayos se sienten superficiales y repetitivos, quizá debido a su corta extensión.El que me ha parecido más interesante es aquel dedicado a la relación de surrealismo con las artes mágicas. Aún así, visualmente es más que hermoso

[Aubrey V · Rating 4 out of 5]

The art is gorgeous and the articles have been fun to read over time. Not necessarily a must read but a wonderful piece of creative inspiration to have on the bookshelf! I'm grateful to have received it has a gift for mine.

[Jenessa · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s a very beautifully made book. I loved the breadth of art shown in it. As someone who gets bored looking at coffee table books with just pictures, the mix of art and writing was a great combo.
Writing wise, it is a collection of essays by different contributors so sometimes it gets a little repetitive. I found the beginning to be a bit painful because it was different people going over the same broad strokes. I definitely wanted a deeper dive into the history folklore. Once you get to part 3 I really loved the content.

[Liliana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Came for the art, stayed for the texts.
Beautiful book filled to the brim with stories, lore, history and culture about witches, as well as art that deals with the imagery of the witch. Basically every other page depicts beautiful and powerful work in a large variety of styles and mediums, spanning hundreds of years: The witch has been around for a long time.
This book lives on my bedside table now!

[Ruth · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book has beautiful images but the text is lacking. It's repetitive and lacking depth and some structure. I wished image captions offered more depth and there is lack of structured information and context of key historical figures that are often mantioned in a passing - like the great goddesses and witches of the past.
Unlike other reviewers I did like the inserts of modern day practitioners and their ideas and views.

[Mag · Rating 5 out of 5]

Livre magnifique.
La bibliothèque de l'ésotérisme de chez taschen sont d'une beauté. Les illustrations présentées ont une belle mise en page. La typographie des textes est un peu petite. Pour ce qui est des lectures elles sont vraiment complètes et très bien travailler, il vaut mieux prendre le temps de les lire car il y a beaucoup d'informations à digérer.

[Leonor Avila · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book has numerous beautiful works of art related to the subject matter but beyond that, it is quite disappointing. Indeed, I would venture as far as saying the text can altogether be ignored so as to not risk diminishing the appreciation of the displayed paintings.

It is facetious to claim this is a review or exposition of western witchcraft. At best, it can be considered a highly politicized divulgation of cherry-picked anglo-centric examples of witchcraft through a highly-gendered revisionist lens. It is bizarre to me how it can claim in its prologue that witchcraft is diverse and inclusive and then proceed to be so uniform and exclusive in its divulgation. You will not learn of the magick traditions of slavic countries, of mediterranean ancestor cultures, of northern europe, or even of the entire southern american continent. You will also not learn of almost any of the historically important male figures of the craft, and certainly none of them if these are not of the white anglo world.

Numerous often erroneous historical claims are made throughout the text with no references to back them up, some of which are blatantly obvious to anyone even passingly interested in the topic. Even the labels describing the paintings, although brief somehow amazingly display significant creative liberties in the interpretation of what was painted and believed by the authors.

In short: this is not a valuable or responsible resource to learn on the history of the craft.

[Amy · Rating 1 out of 5]

The white washing, yikes. Propaganda and erasure of certain histories and inaccuracies was astounding. Why the erasure of Arab, Muslim, Middle eastern, Central Asia rich history of magic, witchcraft and shamanism. They impacted the world through things like the cross pollination the Silk Road created

I’m no amateur and am in this field but wow I really wanted to love this book but it was odd to see such erasure when other cultures and backgrounds were represented in stories and imagery. Sad to see the editors own prejudices get in the way of a good book. I guess they say history is written and rewritten by people with certain intentions. Truth telling holds responsibilities for people to get out of their own cognitive dissonance and Dunning Kruger effects. I’m hoping theirs was not just internalised white supremacy. And yes you can still feel like that yt supremacist ideology and make a book with other ethnicities mentioned but not others. We all have yt supremacy that we uphold and yes this book was set in the west but so much erasure. Why not Vikings and other cultures but then show lots of imagery and story from Judaism which is a beautiful religion but the writers being Jewish they didn’t have to honour of their way to erase other beliefs too. There was enough pages and opportunities to be more inclusive

[Liz Thoth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great layout and art. The only reason I gave three stars is because of the fake oppression. Some of the writers in the book seem to have. Interestingly enough, they’re writing for a mass published book and they’re still oppressed? Lol why don’t you try going to the Middle East or Africa and see what real oppression for women is like. Or maybe you can travel back 300 years and see what oppression for women is like. You have all the rights in the world and you’re still complaining? Very interesting. Their magic must not be working very well if they are still claiming oppression. Not all ‘witches’ are created equal. Some make their life and are greatful for challenges that help them grow. Some are perpetual victims in their own mind and will forever be trapped within the loop of narcissism/victim dynamics.

[MontseMH · Rating 4 out of 5]

Un libro para introducirse en el concepto de brujería y sobre todo para tener un amplio catálogo visual.

La separación de capítulos es mas que correcta, porque plantea un viaje didáctico por las distintas facetas de la brujería: historia, simbolismo, cultura pop. Eso sí, demasiado enfocada en USA, con toda la historia que tenemos en Europa, las menciones son casi exclusivamente anglosajonas. Lo mejor de todo: las imágenes y el viaje por las representaciones de la bruja en la historia del arte.

[Guoda · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked this up for my younger self who was obsessed with witchcraft in her teen years and I'm glad I did. Not only this book is a piece of art on itself with its stunning illustrations, it left me with a newfound respect for the craft. Nevertheless, it did suffer from being more or less a collection of essays as some information was repeated over and over again, especially in the history portion of the book. I got in the groove of it eventually and was sad to let it go when the file chapter came to an end.