The Complete Book of Magic and Witchcraft

by Kathryn Paulsen

Compiled from medieval charmbooks and grimoires as well as from modern sources, this fascinating reference discloses in full detail the techniques, materials, incantations, and spells of the forbidden arts of sorcery and witchcraft practices around the world. Included are complete chapters Magical stones, herbs, and animals; Theories of magic; Spells, charms, and incantations; Native American rites; Amulets and talismans; Voodoo ceremonies; Rites of satanism and witchcraft. If you are interested in the theory or the practice of magic (Black, White or Gray), this book is an invaluable addition to your library of the mystic sciences.

Genres: Witchcraft, Magic, Nonfiction, Religion, Magick, Spirituality, Paganism

192 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published September 1, 1970

Reviews

[Andria Potter]

Utterly religious, sexist, and praying to god in solving all their problems while also hoping that luck goes their way. This was a waste of time and utterly laughable. 1.5 ⭐ for the humor.

[Jinx Mchue]

Cheese.

[Noah]

Came looking for cheese, but found gold.

[Sabrina Voerman]

3.5 stars.
These types of books are always fun and entertaining. I dog-earred a LOT of pages for references for my fantasy series I'm writing. But I do always find books like this make me laugh at the silliness of how serious some people take it. I mean, it's all cool and entertaining but it's also all mumbo jumbo. I take it all with a grain of salt, it's used as reference for fantasy writing than reality.

[DJ Harris]

This little paperback gem treads softly but carries a big stick! After reading it you will have no doubts as to why it has remained in print continuously since 1970.

There is no better value for the cash, this book is stuffed with hundreds of resources; spells, incantations, talismans, and charms!

The coolest thing about this book is where the information hails from. Taken from European, Middle-Eastern, and Indian books dating to the Middle Ages or earlier the information inside these pages could be considered a grimoire in its own right. All of the spells are annotated by source and there is a detailed bibliography.

The reputation the book carries has much to do with a small portion of the wiccan community shrouded in ignorance, notably however through no fault of their own. With the past attention that Hollywood has given to the "Dark" arts, certain language can scare people without cause who are just not educated to what witchcraft really is.

At the very least, this book make a wonderful reference manual for your bookshelf.

Buy your copy of The Complete Book of Magic And Witchcraft: Revised Edition on Amazon now!

[Sindhu]

i want to learn magic

[heather utah]

this was the first book i bought on magick when i was 14 and has stuck with me since. through all the cunningham crap, wicca, satanism, and galore, for some reason the hack sourcing in 'complete book of magic', however incomplete, remains in my altar at all times. thank you for not erasing black magick, and being a weird as possible. great for chaos mages.

[Morpho]

Finally found a copy online that I could read and went through the whole thing in just a few hours. A jam packed collection of rituals, information, and history. I see why it's so expensive and hard to get your hands on. Plenty of silly things included as well, like eating spiders everyday for strength, etc but that's what was believed back in days passed, so it was really cool to read spells that included such bizarre ingredients and beliefs.

[Steven]

2.5 rounded up to three stars. This book purports to be about witchcraft but it's mostly about ceremonial magic. There is some useful information in it though, including a compilation of magical substances, sigils for the planets, correspondence tables, etc. The spells are highly impractical but one might find the sections about Goetic magic to be doable. Most of the information, however, is outdated, or occultists have found new ways to do the spells in this book.

[Jerilyn]

interesting.

This book, The Complete Book of Magic and Witchcraft, by Kathryn Paulsen is interesting. Written and organized more like a book of Shadows as apposed to an organized, grouped topics style. Contains Magic Spells. Potions, Natural Healing, and How Too’s. Some are really odd but this book is very informative and interesting.

[Frank]

Kind of a novice guide to occult. Well researched but not very detailed or insightful.

[Michelle]

I read this off of the Internet Archive's Open Library. Glad I didn't waste a cent on it. Wasn't worth the time.

[Kelly]

Fun collection of material. Not what I expected however.

[Julie Ieronymides]

Sexist. Biased. Not researched. Utter rubbish!

[dumbassross]

You may fascinate a woman by giving her a piece of cheese.

[Mrmbag0703]

You may fascinate a woman by giving her a piece of cheese.

[Duck Off]

Started reading it bc of the cheese meme, but unfortunately the rest of it is just very dull.

[Tracey]

Lots of fun for fans of Glass and Steele. Definitely worth the read. Looking forward to seeing more!

[Beverly]

This book is horrible, biased, uneducated and useless.

[Jamie Mustard]

Did not like it at all. I didn't even finish it. I am not into Dark Magic and didn't like reading it at all.