The World, The Flesh, The Devil: A Biographical Dictionary of Witches

by Eric Ericson

A dictionary of witchcraft chronicles the variety of people who worshipped the devil, their beliefs, rituals, and lifestyles

285 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1982

Reviews

[Kate]

The book starts off well with an intriguing introduction but as you begin to make your way through the entries, you start to sense the misogyny and bias.

The author has somehow managed to conflate some of the more infamous rich boys clubs of the 18th and 19th centuries with genuine witches covens. According to Ericson, all covens were run by a man, a Grand Master, who recruited women to basically have sex with, because women are so gullible and desperate right? All witches are apparently overtly sexual and all coven meetings, rituals and celebrations ended in one big orgy. Certain kinds of women are whores, including Mary Magdalene, who we now know was more likely a priestess and consort of the man some call Jesus. The author has a disturbing obsession with women's breasts and can't seem to separate genuine magical ritual of the common folk from bored rich people having drunken orgies.

This would've been a good book if the author could've kept his own skewed opinions out of it. Read with a large pinch of salt.