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The Black Arts (50th Anniversary Edition): A Concise History of Witchcraft, Demonology, Astrology, Alchemy, and Other Mystical Practices Throughout the Ages
The Classic Study of the Occult Reintroduced in a 50th Anniversary Edition
The Black Arts is a fascinating and wonderfully readable exploration of the practice, theory, and underlying rationale of magick and occultism in all its branches, including witchcraft, spells, numerology, astrology, alchemy, kabbalah, tarot, charms, and summoning and control of spirits.
This edition features a 50th anniversary introduction by historian of alternative spirituality Mitch Horowitz, who frames the book for a new generation of readers.
The Black Arts is a fascinating and wonderfully readable exploration of the practice, theory, and underlying rationale of magick and occultism in all its branches, including witchcraft, spells, numerology, astrology, alchemy, kabbalah, tarot, charms, and summoning and control of spirits.
This edition features a 50th anniversary introduction by historian of alternative spirituality Mitch Horowitz, who frames the book for a new generation of readers.
373 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1967
322 people are currently reading
5460 people want to read
About the author
Richard Cavendish
212 books50 followersRichard Cavendish (1930 - 2016) was a writer, lecturer, broadcaster, historian & leading authority on Magic and Witchcraft. He is the author of 'The Black Arts', a study of the European tradition of magic.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 144 reviews
March 7, 2015
Since this book was written back in 1967, I wasn't too sure about whether to judge it by the standards of the modern day, however it has been re-released in recent years and Richard Cavendish, the author, is still alive, so that's what I'm going to do. Plus, it's not as if the people from the 1960's are going to be reading this review anyway.
To start with a positive, the book is very widely researched, and it is clear that Cavendish is highly well-versed on the subject. He accesses and engages with a very large amount of diverse source material to provide the information that he does. Obviously a subject such as the 'black arts' is very wide reaching, but he manages to give a view of many aspects of it.
Unfortunately, the way that things are presented, especially in the first half of the book, feels a bit chaotic. Reading it makes it seems like it was written in a stream of consciousness style (which I'm sure it wasn't) and it can be quite hard to keep up with everything that the author is writing. The subjects seem to change without any thematic direct link and this can be frustrating.
Also, coming back to my earlier point about the standards of the 1960's being different from the standards of today, this book is rather insulting to women. It takes the tone that assumes that the person reading the book is a man, which clearly isn't always going to be the case. The book also emphasises the association of women with evil in many sections, especially when talking about numerology and planets. However, the worst thing that this book does is actually provide instructions for a man to cast magic to actually sexually overpower a woman who had previously been unwilling. 1967 or not, that kind of thing is disgusting and should have been taken out with the re-release.
I find that this book is best when it's discussing the historical aspect of things, and that's not a bias due to the fact that I'm a history student but I just find that it concentrates itself more and stays within the same theme. Things such as the history of witchcraft, Satanism and necromancy were fascinating topics, and again shows Cavendish's wide research.
This book isn't the most readable of books that I've read, so I'm not sure I'd recommend it simply for general reading unless you have a particular interest. Perhaps try a more modern author? I think maybe this book is best as a reference book, if you actually wanted to try and perform one of these rituals or write some kind of fiction ad use this as a guide, then I imagine it would be sufficiently reliable. As general reading, it is interesting, but frustrating and a little shocking at points.
To start with a positive, the book is very widely researched, and it is clear that Cavendish is highly well-versed on the subject. He accesses and engages with a very large amount of diverse source material to provide the information that he does. Obviously a subject such as the 'black arts' is very wide reaching, but he manages to give a view of many aspects of it.
Unfortunately, the way that things are presented, especially in the first half of the book, feels a bit chaotic. Reading it makes it seems like it was written in a stream of consciousness style (which I'm sure it wasn't) and it can be quite hard to keep up with everything that the author is writing. The subjects seem to change without any thematic direct link and this can be frustrating.
Also, coming back to my earlier point about the standards of the 1960's being different from the standards of today, this book is rather insulting to women. It takes the tone that assumes that the person reading the book is a man, which clearly isn't always going to be the case. The book also emphasises the association of women with evil in many sections, especially when talking about numerology and planets. However, the worst thing that this book does is actually provide instructions for a man to cast magic to actually sexually overpower a woman who had previously been unwilling. 1967 or not, that kind of thing is disgusting and should have been taken out with the re-release.
I find that this book is best when it's discussing the historical aspect of things, and that's not a bias due to the fact that I'm a history student but I just find that it concentrates itself more and stays within the same theme. Things such as the history of witchcraft, Satanism and necromancy were fascinating topics, and again shows Cavendish's wide research.
This book isn't the most readable of books that I've read, so I'm not sure I'd recommend it simply for general reading unless you have a particular interest. Perhaps try a more modern author? I think maybe this book is best as a reference book, if you actually wanted to try and perform one of these rituals or write some kind of fiction ad use this as a guide, then I imagine it would be sufficiently reliable. As general reading, it is interesting, but frustrating and a little shocking at points.
October 9, 2022
Quod superius est sicut quod inferius et quod inferius est sicut quod superius ad perpetranda miracula rei unius
- that which is above is like that which is below and that which is below is that which is above, to achieve the wonders of the one thing. pg 12
This was an informative read about the occult and black magic. The book discussed a lot of topics and referenced historical relevance throughout the narrative. The author did a good job of giving examples, historical people and places, and events as they related to the topic. As I quoted above, Mr. Cavendish did a great job of explaining the principle of 'as above, so below' and interjected it as needed in the book.
I've listed the table of contents to give you the exact topics that were mentioned:
1. The World of the Magician
•The Magician's Universe
•Imitative Magic and the Magical Link
•Analogies and Correspondences
•The Modern Magicians
2. Names and Numbers
•Fortunes by Numbers
•The Roots of Numerology
•The Numbers Revealed
3. Cabala and The Names of Power
•The Splendid Lights
•Paths of Tarot
•Gematria
•The Names of Power
4. The Stone and The Elixir
•The Foundations of Alchemy
•The Making of the Stone
•The Elixir of Life
5. Astrology
•Natal Astrology
•Mundane Astrology
•Astrology and Daily Life
•Astrology and Magic
6. Ritual Magic
•Preparations and the Magic Circle
•The Sacrifice and The Summoning
•The Lords of Darkness
•Necromancy and Psychic Attack
•Low Magic
7. The Worship of The Devil
•The Origins of Satan
•Witchcraft
•The Black Mass
Overall this was an informative read from which I learned a lot. It's more of a topic-driven reference read instead of a casual read. I would classify it more as a history book. There are no instructions or how-to lessons here. I'd recommend it to anyone looking for quick lesson in Black Arts. Thanks!
- that which is above is like that which is below and that which is below is that which is above, to achieve the wonders of the one thing. pg 12
This was an informative read about the occult and black magic. The book discussed a lot of topics and referenced historical relevance throughout the narrative. The author did a good job of giving examples, historical people and places, and events as they related to the topic. As I quoted above, Mr. Cavendish did a great job of explaining the principle of 'as above, so below' and interjected it as needed in the book.
I've listed the table of contents to give you the exact topics that were mentioned:
1. The World of the Magician
•The Magician's Universe
•Imitative Magic and the Magical Link
•Analogies and Correspondences
•The Modern Magicians
2. Names and Numbers
•Fortunes by Numbers
•The Roots of Numerology
•The Numbers Revealed
3. Cabala and The Names of Power
•The Splendid Lights
•Paths of Tarot
•Gematria
•The Names of Power
4. The Stone and The Elixir
•The Foundations of Alchemy
•The Making of the Stone
•The Elixir of Life
5. Astrology
•Natal Astrology
•Mundane Astrology
•Astrology and Daily Life
•Astrology and Magic
6. Ritual Magic
•Preparations and the Magic Circle
•The Sacrifice and The Summoning
•The Lords of Darkness
•Necromancy and Psychic Attack
•Low Magic
7. The Worship of The Devil
•The Origins of Satan
•Witchcraft
•The Black Mass
Overall this was an informative read from which I learned a lot. It's more of a topic-driven reference read instead of a casual read. I would classify it more as a history book. There are no instructions or how-to lessons here. I'd recommend it to anyone looking for quick lesson in Black Arts. Thanks!
January 7, 2020
I started reading this book a long time ago, but I put it down when there was a throwaway line about witches in the Ozarks reading gospel backwards to be "initiated." I was like, uhh, doubt that.
I picked it back up and eventually got to a segment where Cavendish plainly states that Crowley turned a dude into a camel. He does not write that Crowley believed he did, or claimed he did. It is written as a statement of fact. WTF? But I'm like lol ok whatev, I'll just accept that pretty much none of this is true.
There is a later mention of an Anna Rhodes in Oroville, CA in the '20s, who led a group of Adamites (nudists, I guess?) and had orgies. I was like, hey cool, bet I could google this and find out more info. I googled extensively to try to figure out who this Anna Rhodes really was. It turns out that the only other references to an Anna Rhodes are in two other books - a book on witchcraft and a book on Satanism - written around the same time. Each have a few sentences claiming the same thing. Do all of these books just reference one another? I understand that this was written in the '60s but like, couldn't they have done a bit more research here?
Not growing up in the church, I did learn a few things about Christianity while I read this. I learned a little bit about numerology, cabbala, and astrology too. If you are looking for an informative book on witchcraft, though, this is definitely not the book to read.
I picked it back up and eventually got to a segment where Cavendish plainly states that Crowley turned a dude into a camel. He does not write that Crowley believed he did, or claimed he did. It is written as a statement of fact. WTF? But I'm like lol ok whatev, I'll just accept that pretty much none of this is true.
There is a later mention of an Anna Rhodes in Oroville, CA in the '20s, who led a group of Adamites (nudists, I guess?) and had orgies. I was like, hey cool, bet I could google this and find out more info. I googled extensively to try to figure out who this Anna Rhodes really was. It turns out that the only other references to an Anna Rhodes are in two other books - a book on witchcraft and a book on Satanism - written around the same time. Each have a few sentences claiming the same thing. Do all of these books just reference one another? I understand that this was written in the '60s but like, couldn't they have done a bit more research here?
Not growing up in the church, I did learn a few things about Christianity while I read this. I learned a little bit about numerology, cabbala, and astrology too. If you are looking for an informative book on witchcraft, though, this is definitely not the book to read.
November 14, 2008
As I understand Black Magick, it is the act of performing a ritual in order to change something using your will, for selfish reasons. It is not about the spilling of blood (innocent or consenting), it is not about brewing potions that will cause sickness and/or death, it is not about invoking demons/devils (for they do not really exist, at least as they are often understood), it is not about performing every perversion known and not known and it is not about bringing down plagues, blasphemy against the Christian God, or any god for that matter....
With that said, performing certain acts will 'tap' into a persons dark side and while that is often life changing enough to bring someone close to the brink of madness, we should embrace all aspects of ourselves, the 'good' and the 'bad'.
Of course, discretion and control are needed....
Overall, this book is good in that it clears away taboos that many aren't willing to entertain, but it must be understood that this book is often written metaphorically. To use a head of someone in a necromantic spell, does not literally mean to rob a grave and steal a human head!!!! Rather, while the real meaning is mundane, the effectiveness of this particular ritual is unmistakable.
Read it if you are ready....
With that said, performing certain acts will 'tap' into a persons dark side and while that is often life changing enough to bring someone close to the brink of madness, we should embrace all aspects of ourselves, the 'good' and the 'bad'.
Of course, discretion and control are needed....
Overall, this book is good in that it clears away taboos that many aren't willing to entertain, but it must be understood that this book is often written metaphorically. To use a head of someone in a necromantic spell, does not literally mean to rob a grave and steal a human head!!!! Rather, while the real meaning is mundane, the effectiveness of this particular ritual is unmistakable.
Read it if you are ready....
September 1, 2023
Something of a classic summation of a few of the more common fields of esoteric study, this text approaches the subject matter with a serious but skeptical attitude. It provides introductory presentations of numerology, kabbalah, tarot, alchemy, astrology, sorcery, and witchcraft. What's interesting is how they all overlap and reach into each other. Each of them, further, is very credulous, accepting all manner of unfalsifiable propositions; all of them accept the reality of most religious ideas--even Satanism, to the extent it exists independently as a doctrine rather than as the dream-nemesis of inquisitionists, is presented as accepting Christianity's fundamental allegations.
We might therefore conclude that there's a supplemental logic at work here--each item substitutes in for more establishment supernaturalisms, but also adds something, too. It's a marvel that anyone got sufficiently excited about any of this stuff to kill or die for it, considering that these ideas are just as inept as establishment theology. Plenty of great details here, historical and otherwise, stretching back through the renaissance and medieval period into the ancient world. Despite the philosophical abstractions and theological minutiae under discussion in each of these bodies of thought, however, it often seems very crude in objective. Alchemy's philosopher's stone has for instance the objective to create gold, and enlisting supernatural creatures as servants is often intended to locate valuables or exploit them directly as laborers. Most of the bodies of knowledge, despite being oriented toward the spiritual or the afterlife, furthermore find expression in the coarsest of rituals, often descending into ideologically unadorned orgies. Far be it from me to criticize anyone's aesthetics, but the insistence on sexual matters, in the orgiastic direction as here or the celibate direction as in establishment religion, strikes me as well beyond the core competence of doctrines allegedly dealing with things spiritual. Perhaps leave the sarkic to the worldly philosophers?
Primary texts, grimoires such as the Key of Solomon, alleged to have been written by the Hebrew monarch but likely composed in early modern Europe, demonstrate a laudable cosmopolitanism, insofar as the manuscript tradition traces a course through most European languages. When the Key was reduced to print in the 1840s, the first edition laid out a reasonably thorough manuscript history, noting variant readings and translation problems. In some ways, however, to standardize the manuscript tradition in print is to defang it--dispel the benjaminian aura through mass commercial publication. These traditions certainly seem more dime store than diabolical if they sell on Amazon, and I recall the tarot cards that I played with as a kid having a copyright mark on them. I suspect that these indicia of bourgeois orderliness impaired their prophetic capability. For my damnable sortilege, give me therefore dusty untranslated manuscripts any day.
We might therefore conclude that there's a supplemental logic at work here--each item substitutes in for more establishment supernaturalisms, but also adds something, too. It's a marvel that anyone got sufficiently excited about any of this stuff to kill or die for it, considering that these ideas are just as inept as establishment theology. Plenty of great details here, historical and otherwise, stretching back through the renaissance and medieval period into the ancient world. Despite the philosophical abstractions and theological minutiae under discussion in each of these bodies of thought, however, it often seems very crude in objective. Alchemy's philosopher's stone has for instance the objective to create gold, and enlisting supernatural creatures as servants is often intended to locate valuables or exploit them directly as laborers. Most of the bodies of knowledge, despite being oriented toward the spiritual or the afterlife, furthermore find expression in the coarsest of rituals, often descending into ideologically unadorned orgies. Far be it from me to criticize anyone's aesthetics, but the insistence on sexual matters, in the orgiastic direction as here or the celibate direction as in establishment religion, strikes me as well beyond the core competence of doctrines allegedly dealing with things spiritual. Perhaps leave the sarkic to the worldly philosophers?
Primary texts, grimoires such as the Key of Solomon, alleged to have been written by the Hebrew monarch but likely composed in early modern Europe, demonstrate a laudable cosmopolitanism, insofar as the manuscript tradition traces a course through most European languages. When the Key was reduced to print in the 1840s, the first edition laid out a reasonably thorough manuscript history, noting variant readings and translation problems. In some ways, however, to standardize the manuscript tradition in print is to defang it--dispel the benjaminian aura through mass commercial publication. These traditions certainly seem more dime store than diabolical if they sell on Amazon, and I recall the tarot cards that I played with as a kid having a copyright mark on them. I suspect that these indicia of bourgeois orderliness impaired their prophetic capability. For my damnable sortilege, give me therefore dusty untranslated manuscripts any day.
March 7, 2015
I hated this book. This book is all about Christianity and what Christianity would want you to think. Waste of money.
December 21, 2017
While definitely dated and a bit Christocentric, The Black Arts provides a thorough overview of several magic practices. As an author planning to write a dark fantasy series in which magic plays a strong role, I found this book useful for learning about the foundations of various magic practices and the themes/logic applied by practitioners. I especially enjoyed the chapters about numerology, tarot, and astrology. Overall, I'd recommend this book to those interested in researching the history of magic, but not to those interested in its modern forms or practices.
August 8, 2014
The Black Arts is precisely what it claims to be: a concise history of dark mystical practices throughout history, if not exactly factual all the time. This is fine as most of what it's talking about is fictitious anyway, so it can be forgiven the handful of times that it affirms magic's successes in reality, and a few cases of factual historical misrepresentation. I didn't really buy it for that. I bought it for its descriptions of black magic practices, among some other fairly neutral mystical practices which, curiously, take up the larger portion of the book, and in that regard, it satisfied me greatly. There is one glaring problem though, which dampens my esteem for it. As I just stated, the section on the actual black magic arts is the minority in this book by a surprisingly large portion. This would be forgiveable save for one unfortunate detail: the sections on devil-worship, black mass, necromancy, psychic attack, et cetera, the sections of the book after which the entirety of it is named, the climax of material excitement... is also the most boring.
I suppose to someone who knows nothing about the material and who has a love of Christian blaspheming it would be more entertaining than I found it, but sadly, I am me, and my enthusiastic distaste for Christianity died down some time ago, and the material just comes off as dry and repetitious and obsessive. I am still mildly entertained by such things, and the delightfully bizarre extent to which they carry their mockeries, which included impaling live cats on spears, but I was still overcome with a sense of tediousness at the near constant spiting to Christianity.
All in all, it was a great and informative read, and I recommend it to anyone, but just a bit dry at the end for my taste.
I suppose to someone who knows nothing about the material and who has a love of Christian blaspheming it would be more entertaining than I found it, but sadly, I am me, and my enthusiastic distaste for Christianity died down some time ago, and the material just comes off as dry and repetitious and obsessive. I am still mildly entertained by such things, and the delightfully bizarre extent to which they carry their mockeries, which included impaling live cats on spears, but I was still overcome with a sense of tediousness at the near constant spiting to Christianity.
All in all, it was a great and informative read, and I recommend it to anyone, but just a bit dry at the end for my taste.
October 12, 2019
Halloween read 2019. Also some research for book #2 in my writing queue. Lots of interesting material here - even if each piece is a little brief. But that's the nature of a summary of the occult and esoterica!
July 10, 2019
If you want a whole book on "The Black Arts", I wouldn't really recommend starting here. While Cavendish does cover necromancy, demonology and devil worship, which is less than half of the book; the rest covers numerology, the Kabbalah, astrology, tarot reading, alchemy as well as a some other topics that aren't exactly "black". The title of the book is a misnomer to grab a reader's attention. Also, there are ridiculous paragraphs such as this: "The magician's central preoccupation is with the exercise of power, but his use of powers is as various as his methods. From a tremendous ceremony in which he displays his mastery of all the forces of the universe, he may turn to something as trivial as afflicting an enemy with boils. At one moment weltering in the graveyard procedures of necromancy, at the next he is slyly turning people into animals. (Aleister Crowley could do this and once he turned the poet Victor Neuburg into a camel.)" p. 217. Does Cavendish really believe Crowley did this? Does he really think inflicting pain on someone or altering another person's existence is trivial? Statements like these end up diminishing his credibility and viewpoint on the topic, but not completely as he does have a broad understanding of the various branches of occultism--even if they're getting to be a little out of date (a 50th anniversary edition of this book came out in 2017). This is a good place to start for someone who is interested in occultism, but not sure what specific branch may be appealing. (For grimoires, I would recommend Grimoires: A History of Magic Books by Owen Davies.) And, if you can get around paragraphs like the one I quoted above, Cavendish does offer some details that may not be found elsewhere. He also provides plenty of notes and material for further reading. Here's a link to Kirkus' review on the initial release of the book from 1967: https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-re...
August 16, 2012
This book is by definition PURE fiction as this guy does not have any idea what he is talking about. If ya like a good read but don't take any of this to heart fine...read the book...but if you for any reason take any of this seriously then do a lot more research because this book is FAR from the truth. Most of the Occult talked about within this book have very normal Origins and have nothing to do with the Devil or Satanic cults which ALL originate within the Christian Religion. With that said I would not recommend this as a Scholarly review of the Pagan religions that permeated the European areas pre-christian invasion. This guy if he is alive should die of a stroke as this book sickens me to my very soul that such naive people exist in the day and age. I hope that anyone who read this takes everything this guy says with a grain of salt and then throws the book away.
April 17, 2021
neat and engaging history covering many occult avenues, moderately neutral in terms of moralism and amusingly sensationalist in parts.
September 12, 2022
This book was written in the 60's and did not age well at all. It's rather misogynistic and has an aura of Christian apologetics throughout. Witches, pagans, and Satanists are spoken of in a very negative way while Abrahamic religions, especially Christianity, are spoken of in a positive way. Information about witches and pagans is terribly outdated and sometimes just downright wrong.
It does go into the Cabala rather extensively and one can clearly see the author was a Canalist and/or ceremonial magician. If that was his area of expertise, he maybe should've stuck with that rather than rambling on about subjects he didn't know much about and whose Information he researched wasn't necessarily accurate.
The book seems to be considered a classic within the occult community, so if one is interested in the occult they should consider reading it just for the exposure. Like reading classic literature, you do still get something from it even if the material is lackluster.
I don't recommend going out of your way to get a copy of this, but if you happen across it at a library or a used copy, you may consider picking it up. But there are better books on every subject this book touches, so you don't need this one.
It does go into the Cabala rather extensively and one can clearly see the author was a Canalist and/or ceremonial magician. If that was his area of expertise, he maybe should've stuck with that rather than rambling on about subjects he didn't know much about and whose Information he researched wasn't necessarily accurate.
The book seems to be considered a classic within the occult community, so if one is interested in the occult they should consider reading it just for the exposure. Like reading classic literature, you do still get something from it even if the material is lackluster.
I don't recommend going out of your way to get a copy of this, but if you happen across it at a library or a used copy, you may consider picking it up. But there are better books on every subject this book touches, so you don't need this one.
May 29, 2019
Clearly, this book was written by a catholic man because everything in the black arts according to Cavendish is a diversion from or change to catholicism. His single source seems to be Crowley and even though the first proclamation of the subtitle is "history of witchcraft", it's about 20 pages at the end of the 322 page book that are dedicated to such and it's all about devil worship. Because if you aren't down with Jesus, the only other option is the devil.
If you are interested in a Christian or Jewish variety of numerology, this book is for you. There are almost 100 pages dedicated to how 2 and 4 are bad and evil numbers because they represent women and femininity, whereas those strong masculine 1 and 3 are where it's at.
The only thing I give this credit for is organising an introduction in to what Kabbalah even is. I had absolutely no idea and now I understand the general gist. Also, a bit of depth in to astrology and how birth charts are crafted.
But 322 pages about paint-by-number demons and how anything with a vagina is icky is exhausting.
If you are interested in a Christian or Jewish variety of numerology, this book is for you. There are almost 100 pages dedicated to how 2 and 4 are bad and evil numbers because they represent women and femininity, whereas those strong masculine 1 and 3 are where it's at.
The only thing I give this credit for is organising an introduction in to what Kabbalah even is. I had absolutely no idea and now I understand the general gist. Also, a bit of depth in to astrology and how birth charts are crafted.
But 322 pages about paint-by-number demons and how anything with a vagina is icky is exhausting.
October 5, 2014
Thinking this would be about Witchcraft and the Occult through the ages like it says I was excited to read it. More like Religious/Spiritual mumbo jumbo. ONE chapter on Witchcraft and even that was bland. I gave up reading this book. Its all about God and being spiritual. Very disappointed.
August 18, 2022
This took me WAY too long to read, and that's the primary reason for its low rating. It has an inherently dry and winding delivery- it seemed like Cavendish got distracted with minor stories and extraneous detail; reminded me a little of Tolkien in that way actually. That said, the information is interesting and he did his best to share from a variety of sources that he references and includes in his bibliography. The source materials are well documented and he also includes suggested reading to expand on the topics. He's right to say this book is not a comprehensive collection on the knowledge regarding these topics, but I do think he could have organized it a bit better. Given the time it came out and the specific histories, it's no surprise that the background and tone has a decidedly Judeo-Christian lens. I don't necessarily think it's a bad book- I just found it a slog to read through.
February 12, 2025
This was a very informative and interesting look into occultism and all the forms that it has taken throughout the years. It was also quite dry and at some points boring. I think that it would be a good jumping off point for someone interested in the occult but like many others in the genre it is a tough nut to crack into. I would recommend finding some books that are more intriguing and entertaining reads to familiarize yourself with the various schools of occult magic and use this one as reference to find out more for each individually.
January 22, 2023
The fiction reading that I've done often revolves around these motifs. Thought it would be interesting to look at this side of the history rather than the fiction. Chronology of the persecution of witches was outlined along with the major practices of numerology, astrology, Kabbalah and the heretical purges by the Roman Catholic Church.
Mischief managed!
Mischief managed!
September 2, 2023
Big, fat DNF. What a... I can't even begin to explain. Made it a quarter of the way and had to stop because this guy was making me so mad. Trying to figure out honestly how this book has good reviews.
October 30, 2023
*The Black Arts* by Richard Cavendish is full of information, but I agree with other reviewers that it feels weirdly disorganized. This makes the reading experience difficult, as I felt I had to constantly set it down and then pick it up later.
to-finish-later
April 17, 2024Hibernating this one for now because it's mostly just fun when I'm having some adult beverages and pretending that I'm an occultist in the 1960s, and I can't do that frequently enough to make decent progress on this.
May 6, 2023
not gonna lie i couldn't finish it. it would be a cool book if it wasnt a buncha obvious lies
December 15, 2020
A collection of well researched and still relevant mini primers for origins of various occult subjects.
June 11, 2018
I really enjoyed this book and for anyone looking to begin learning about these topics, I’d suggest looking into it. A couple things to note:
This isn’t about pagan witchcraft or practices. This is purely through a Christian lens, both the beliefs discussed as well as, what I assume, a way to make some of the subject matter more palpable to a generation so closely tied to Christianity and Catholicism. I found this was much more interesting that way as it really gives you an idea as to the relationship between all of those elements and an understanding towards the ideology behind banning and judging and executing those who were thought to practice it.
I saw some comments mentioning “sexism” but I honestly never felt it so. And cavendish explicitly states in moments that these are all practices and thoughts that were derived during a time that held beliefs such as men being superior while women were inferior. Which removes him from holding such ideas.
Overall give it a go. I’d recommend it. 4 stars only because I thought the tarot and numerology sections were a bit too long, but that’s only in my opinion.
This isn’t about pagan witchcraft or practices. This is purely through a Christian lens, both the beliefs discussed as well as, what I assume, a way to make some of the subject matter more palpable to a generation so closely tied to Christianity and Catholicism. I found this was much more interesting that way as it really gives you an idea as to the relationship between all of those elements and an understanding towards the ideology behind banning and judging and executing those who were thought to practice it.
I saw some comments mentioning “sexism” but I honestly never felt it so. And cavendish explicitly states in moments that these are all practices and thoughts that were derived during a time that held beliefs such as men being superior while women were inferior. Which removes him from holding such ideas.
Overall give it a go. I’d recommend it. 4 stars only because I thought the tarot and numerology sections were a bit too long, but that’s only in my opinion.
December 21, 2020
After the first half of this book I honestly started skimming, which was a real let-down because I couldn't possibly imagine that you could write such boring chapters on witchcraft, demonology, astrology, etc. The first chapter was so strong and thought-provoking, and the chapter on necromancy went into such specifics that it was really cool, but so much of it was just...a terrible bore. A lot of chapters also mentioned a lot of stuff as fact when it was just?? Historically not true?? For example, a lot of witchcraft allegations were obviously lies and Cavendish wrote the confession letters that the people wrote under torture as true?? Maybe he was being sarcastic?? I honestly couldn't tell and couldn't be bothered to analyze it further. I want to donate it but I live in a rural area so I don't know if any library will accept it. :P
October 1, 2017
This book was a little hard to get through sometimes. While it was full of interesting content there was also a lot of misogynistic or racist content. This isn't the author's fault, as history *is* quite misogynistic and racist, but it did make the read less enjoyable in those parts and I found myself skipping over them to go back to astrology, tarot cards, numerology, and so on. I haven't read many other books like this so I don't know how much information is common, but if you'd like something to flip through once in a while this really isn't bad. The rating is more for history itself than the author's work.
October 7, 2020
As a historian of this particular field of interest, I went into this book with an open mind. I fully recognize and realize that this is a dated source in terms of how mainstream some occult practices have become but wow. Cavendish should have just written a Crowley biography, is there a chapter in this book where he doesn't bring him up? Crowley is not a reliable source, or the only source in matters of the occult. Not only that but this book is poorly organized. It does have some interesting bits and pieces here and there (that's why this is 2 stars and not 1) but honestly it's not worth it for all the nonsense you have to endure to get there.
November 20, 2010
I believe this was one of the first truly occult type book I read some 20-25 years ago. You will not get alot of depth but you will get a broad brush treatment of information to give you a fairly decent overview of the magickal arts. No this is not the fluffy llewyllen stuff but the grimoire type magick with insights into astrology and numerology, cabala and ritual magick. Like I said it is enough to get a taste but not enough to do anything with it. A good starter book.
August 8, 2020
Some decent overall information on basic occult topics such as energy working (under another name), alchemy, astrology, negative-impact arts, and major male occult figures.
Somehow manages to almost completely erases women in occult history in an insulting fashion that detracts from any good info readers might glean from reading.
Probably only useful as mild reference material for views on negative magickal arts from the 1960's, when it was written.
Somehow manages to almost completely erases women in occult history in an insulting fashion that detracts from any good info readers might glean from reading.
Probably only useful as mild reference material for views on negative magickal arts from the 1960's, when it was written.
July 28, 2022
This is the book that sent me down the rabbit hole. Admittedly, the book has its faults. For example, it reads pretty dry (and sometimes with a fair deal of snarkyness for some reason), but it's a good sociological perspective on the occult that focuses on history and less on trying to sell you something. Also, yes, the book does say some ridiculous things - but that's because the history of magic is a bit ridiculous, and it's clear Cavendish is well aware of this.
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