The Encyclopedia of Magic and Alchemy

by Rosemary Ellen Guiley

Interest in magic and sorcery has been rekindled in recent years due to the success of popular fiction and film such as the Harry Potter novels and The Lord of the Rings. Surprisingly, much of that fancy is founded on fact. With more than 500 entries, The Encyclopedia of Magic and Alchemy is a fascinating A-to-Z reference to the history of the Western magical and alchemical traditions, sorting history from myth and folklore and examining mystical beliefs through the ages. With roots reaching back to ancient Egypt, the classical world, and the Middle East, magic and alchemy have often played an integral part in science, politics, and religion. From the quest for the Philosopher's Stone to 20th-century wizards like Aleister Crowley to contemporary pagans and wiccans, the full range of Western magic and its influence on society is documented here. Topics covered include history, lore, famous people, procedures, materials, rituals, and relationships to science.

Genres: Reference, Occult, Magic, Nonfiction, Alchemy, Witchcraft, Research

Kindle Edition

First published September 30, 2006

About the author

Rosemary Ellen Guiley is a leading expert on the paranormal, and is the author of 45+ books, including ten single-volume encyclopedias. Since 1983, she has worked full-time in the paranormal, researching, investigating and writing. She has done extensive field work investigating haunted, mysterious and sacred places, and has had numerous strange and unexplained experiences. When she is not on the paranormal road, she is working on new books and writing for TAPS Paramagazine, FATE magazine, and the Journal of Abduction-Encounter Research. Rosemary lives in New Jersey, and spend much of her time traveling the spooky byways of one of the most haunted states in America, Pennsylvania."

Reviews

[Brandy Dolce · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love glancing through this book to get story ideas, however I don't believe references to Harry Potter should be included in this work. Maybe it's just me?

[Nicole Westen · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was going to go with 3 stars, but a few things at the very end of the book bugged the heck out of me. Overall, not bad, and I like that at the end of each section there is a little list of other sources to pursue on the subject, although personally I think the summaries of the grimores should have each had their own entries, instead of being shoved under the 'grimore' entry.
Now for what really cheesed me off. The encyclopedia mention's Zora Neale Hurston's anthropological work on zombies in Haiti, but it forget to mention that Hurston has the honor of being the only person to have ever photographed a zombie!
The second thing is, why in the ever loving f*ck is the Kappa in the Vampire entry?!?! They are like, not the same at all? The only sorta thing in common is a vampire drinks human blood, and kappa eat human intestines, so they both eat humans? So many other mythological creatures eat humans and they aren't under 'vampire'! Also, if you just give the kappa a cucumber he'll leave you alone! And he doesn't have weird gel in his bowl shaped head, it's water. If you wanna stop a kappa from chasing you, make him spill the water. Sucker is then stuck in place until someone puts water back in his bowl head. I just... don't understand. They aren't even remotely similar... or even the same level of scary. While vampires are still kinda scary in modern lore, kappas are now absolutely adorable. That was just... no. Absolutely no. No star for you!

[Jodi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent reference tool

[Justin Anderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great reference