What do you think?
Rate this book
Witchcraft and Black Magic
2014 Reprint of 1946 Edition. Full facsimile of the original edition, not reproduced with Optical Recognition Software. Intriguing, thoroughly researched volume provides expert historical view of demonology and the occult, drawing information from the Bible, literary classics, personal memoirs, correspondence, and court records. Scholarly, yet highly readable study defines witchcraft, then proceeds to examine ceremonial practices, the casting of spells and conjuring, celebration of the Black Mass, and much more. A masterfully written work for anyone interested in supernatural phenomena, this book has been hailed by critic H. L. Mencken as "learned, honest, and amusing." Summers made a lifelong study of this terrible yet important subject, the black and baleful shadow in our midst. He analyzes the historical traditions and present politics of this cult society, describing in detail its workings, its aims, its frantic proselytism, and its ends.
246 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1946
About the author
Montague Summers
214 books110 followersAugustus Montague Summers was an Anglican priest and later convert to Roman Catholicism known primarily for his scholarly work on the English drama of the 17th century, as well as for his studies on witches, vampires, and werewolves, in all of which he professed to believe. He was responsible for the first English translation, published in 1928, of the notorious 15th-century witch hunter's manual, the Malleus Maleficarum.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
May 4, 2021
I had the impression before reading this book, having vague memories of reading one of this author's works many years ago, that he had been biased in favour of the Catholic church (he was an Anglian who converted to Catholicism) when it came to witchcraft, and regarded everyone accused by the Protestants as innocent people wrongfully persecuted, whereas those accused by the Catholic church were all witches. I didn't find that in the current book, but it would have been better if that had been its only fault, because this read like the worst kind of paranoid conspiracy theory, written in a sort of stream of consciousness in which various subjects were veered off from at tangents onto something else and then back again pages later. For example, early on during a discussion of pre-Christian magic, the narrative veers off into describing instances of conjoined twins that occurred through history before returning to the actual topic in question.
The bias in this book is against anyone who was ever accused of witchcraft by anyone, no matter how flimsy or improbable the testimony against them. And such people were all devil worshippers and Satanists, even centuries before the Christian church was established, and in civilisations and religions which had no concept of the Judaeo-Christian Lucifer/Satan figure, including the original South American beliefs of societies such as the Aztecs.
The Malleus Maleficarum, (Hammer of Witches), written by two Inquisitors, and notorious as a ghastly manual for how to convict people labelled as witches, is called a "noble" book, and the author never seems to grasp that the identikit nature of witch confessions (which to him are proof that they are all "true") was due to torture (which he acknowledges) and the use of manuals with ready made questions and answers in them.
He pours scorn on unnamed writers (presumably contemporary with the date of his book in the late 1940s) who described the mass persecutions in Europe as a creation of the church, because he points to instances of devil worship in Roman times and other earlier civilisations. But he disingenuously ignores the point that when the church became dominant, it labelled all pagan gods and spirits as devils, thus converting pagan beliefs into devil worship. This was followed by the persecution of heretics - anyone with doctrinal differences from the Catholic church - which eventually morphed into the persecution of witches when the latter became equated with heretics, as it did in most countries apart from England. The only writers he finds fault with and actually names, are the brave sceptics, such as Reginald Scot, who wrote in the 16th and 17th centuries about the fallacies around witchcraft beliefs, and the injustice of persecuting innocent people who were for the most part, poor and old. Such writers were, of course, long dead even at the time of writing and hence unable to sue him for libel. But the only half-hearted charge he can make against Scot is to imply that he was an agnostic, which was not the case. Scot was willing to concede the existence of magic and witchcraft - he was a citizen of his time - but just not credulous enough to believe that it was all pervasive, and who rightly attributed a lot of accusations, especially those involving apparent demonic possession, to fraud or delusion on the part of the accusers.
The author accepts without question the propaganda by the church against Christian break away groups such as the Cathars, and gives sensationalist accounts of their supposed devil worship, which entailed child sacrifice, eating of children, rampant promiscuity and so on. Ironically, these are exactly the charges levelled against the early Christians by the Roman authorities and which have been used ever since against various disadvantaged communities, such as the Jews, as well as the various Christian sects throughout history which disagreed with the mainstream Catholic church. Far from being Satanists, the Cathars etc were followers of Christ but disagreed with the mainstream church on major doctrinal points. The book also has a slight anti-Semitic tone in places when describing instances of Jewish magicians-devil worshippers.
The author does not serve the reader well by treating the various types of magic such as divination, necromancy, scrying (far seeing), astrology and maleficium (magic used to harm people or animals), as all being witchcraft and/or devil worship. This ignores the fact that certain magics were associated with particular groups of people - for example, those who drew up magic circles and evoked demons using grimoires (spell books) or invoked spirits of the dead were generally educated and often wealthy men, who can be termed sorcerers. Most magic-working among the common people was folk magic, consisting of charms, potions, poultices and so on, or scrying to locate lost objects etc. There had long been tolerance for "white" witches, otherwise known as cunning folk or wise women/men, who provided medical treatment, located lost objects and helped people who thought they were bewitched to identify the perpetrator. Often their charms and cures were associated with Christian prayers. Such people were subjected to very minor penalties when the church bothered with them at all, even till the middle ages, but with the Reformation and the tensions between the original church, those who tried to reform it from within, and the emergent Protestant faiths, such people became swept up in witch persecutions. The author however follows the line in viewing them all as devil worshipping witches.
Similarly, the book has a sensationalist approach to aspects of the standard charge of witchcraft, as it came to be used in Europe. There is no appreciation that features such as the pact with the devil and the witches sabbat only gradually developed around the 16th century, then gained ascendancy in European thinking about witchcraft, but were much less influential in England until late in the period of persecution. These ideas were common among the educated classes who were exposed directly to them in such books as Malleus Maleficarum, and in time just the assumption of a pact with the devil was enough to condemn someone to death, irrespective of whether they had actually hurt people or animals, or damaged crops etc. Ordinary folk were much more focused on the possible harm that witches might do, rather than their religious beliefs. But the author believes in all these constructs literally, and states that people really did fly through the air or teleport to sabbats, took part in orgies with real devils, and changed form into animals.
In keeping with the paranoid tone, the author declares several times that Satanists were responsible for countless historical upheavals, such as the French Revolution, and that they were working harder than ever in the present day. As the book was published in 1946, it seems likely that the oblique mentions of current terrible events imply that he ascribes the entirety of WWII and the Holocaust etc to witches and Satanists. He informs the reader that witches constantly engage in a worldwide conspiracy to destroy civilisation, and deplores the general scepticism about witchcraft which set in during the 18th century.
All in all, this book is a precursor to the conspiracy theories found on areas of social media today. Unfortunately it is not possible to award zero stars so this will have to be a one star rating.
The bias in this book is against anyone who was ever accused of witchcraft by anyone, no matter how flimsy or improbable the testimony against them. And such people were all devil worshippers and Satanists, even centuries before the Christian church was established, and in civilisations and religions which had no concept of the Judaeo-Christian Lucifer/Satan figure, including the original South American beliefs of societies such as the Aztecs.
The Malleus Maleficarum, (Hammer of Witches), written by two Inquisitors, and notorious as a ghastly manual for how to convict people labelled as witches, is called a "noble" book, and the author never seems to grasp that the identikit nature of witch confessions (which to him are proof that they are all "true") was due to torture (which he acknowledges) and the use of manuals with ready made questions and answers in them.
He pours scorn on unnamed writers (presumably contemporary with the date of his book in the late 1940s) who described the mass persecutions in Europe as a creation of the church, because he points to instances of devil worship in Roman times and other earlier civilisations. But he disingenuously ignores the point that when the church became dominant, it labelled all pagan gods and spirits as devils, thus converting pagan beliefs into devil worship. This was followed by the persecution of heretics - anyone with doctrinal differences from the Catholic church - which eventually morphed into the persecution of witches when the latter became equated with heretics, as it did in most countries apart from England. The only writers he finds fault with and actually names, are the brave sceptics, such as Reginald Scot, who wrote in the 16th and 17th centuries about the fallacies around witchcraft beliefs, and the injustice of persecuting innocent people who were for the most part, poor and old. Such writers were, of course, long dead even at the time of writing and hence unable to sue him for libel. But the only half-hearted charge he can make against Scot is to imply that he was an agnostic, which was not the case. Scot was willing to concede the existence of magic and witchcraft - he was a citizen of his time - but just not credulous enough to believe that it was all pervasive, and who rightly attributed a lot of accusations, especially those involving apparent demonic possession, to fraud or delusion on the part of the accusers.
The author accepts without question the propaganda by the church against Christian break away groups such as the Cathars, and gives sensationalist accounts of their supposed devil worship, which entailed child sacrifice, eating of children, rampant promiscuity and so on. Ironically, these are exactly the charges levelled against the early Christians by the Roman authorities and which have been used ever since against various disadvantaged communities, such as the Jews, as well as the various Christian sects throughout history which disagreed with the mainstream Catholic church. Far from being Satanists, the Cathars etc were followers of Christ but disagreed with the mainstream church on major doctrinal points. The book also has a slight anti-Semitic tone in places when describing instances of Jewish magicians-devil worshippers.
The author does not serve the reader well by treating the various types of magic such as divination, necromancy, scrying (far seeing), astrology and maleficium (magic used to harm people or animals), as all being witchcraft and/or devil worship. This ignores the fact that certain magics were associated with particular groups of people - for example, those who drew up magic circles and evoked demons using grimoires (spell books) or invoked spirits of the dead were generally educated and often wealthy men, who can be termed sorcerers. Most magic-working among the common people was folk magic, consisting of charms, potions, poultices and so on, or scrying to locate lost objects etc. There had long been tolerance for "white" witches, otherwise known as cunning folk or wise women/men, who provided medical treatment, located lost objects and helped people who thought they were bewitched to identify the perpetrator. Often their charms and cures were associated with Christian prayers. Such people were subjected to very minor penalties when the church bothered with them at all, even till the middle ages, but with the Reformation and the tensions between the original church, those who tried to reform it from within, and the emergent Protestant faiths, such people became swept up in witch persecutions. The author however follows the line in viewing them all as devil worshipping witches.
Similarly, the book has a sensationalist approach to aspects of the standard charge of witchcraft, as it came to be used in Europe. There is no appreciation that features such as the pact with the devil and the witches sabbat only gradually developed around the 16th century, then gained ascendancy in European thinking about witchcraft, but were much less influential in England until late in the period of persecution. These ideas were common among the educated classes who were exposed directly to them in such books as Malleus Maleficarum, and in time just the assumption of a pact with the devil was enough to condemn someone to death, irrespective of whether they had actually hurt people or animals, or damaged crops etc. Ordinary folk were much more focused on the possible harm that witches might do, rather than their religious beliefs. But the author believes in all these constructs literally, and states that people really did fly through the air or teleport to sabbats, took part in orgies with real devils, and changed form into animals.
In keeping with the paranoid tone, the author declares several times that Satanists were responsible for countless historical upheavals, such as the French Revolution, and that they were working harder than ever in the present day. As the book was published in 1946, it seems likely that the oblique mentions of current terrible events imply that he ascribes the entirety of WWII and the Holocaust etc to witches and Satanists. He informs the reader that witches constantly engage in a worldwide conspiracy to destroy civilisation, and deplores the general scepticism about witchcraft which set in during the 18th century.
All in all, this book is a precursor to the conspiracy theories found on areas of social media today. Unfortunately it is not possible to award zero stars so this will have to be a one star rating.
April 24, 2008
Montague Summers’ Witchcraft and Black Magic was published in 1945. You have to keep reminding yourself of this while reading the book that it dates from 1945, and not 1645. It was intended as a factual and historical account of the practice of witchcraft. In fact it’s a fascinating, at times hilarious, at other times deeply disturbing, insight into the paranoid mindset of the religious fanatic and the conspiracy theorist. Summers believed that witchcraft was real. Not only that, but he believed that all the reports of witchcraft were true. If someone was accused of being a witch, then they undoubtedly were a witch. If there was no actual evidence against them, that just proves how cunning Satan and his minions are! In fact it proves that the person must have been a witch, since if they were a witch you’d expect to find no evidence! And of course the confessions of witches, extracted under torture, were all true. The Salem Witch Trials were necessary, because Salem as overrun by devil-worshippers. The Albigensian Crusade was not, as most people suppose, the most shameful episode in the history of the Catholic Church. It was the only way to defend Christendom from the servants of the Evil One! And Anne Boleyn had to have been a witch, because Henry VIII said she was. Most importantly though, Summers warns us that Satanists are more active in the 20th century than ever before, and that all the evils of the modern world (wars, revolutions, crime, jazz, cosmetics) can be traced back to the activities of devil-worshippers.
Reading this book you suddenly realise where so many of the ideas that are a commonplace in modern horror literature and in horror movies actually come from. If they don’t come from Summers directly, they come from Summers via people such as Dennis Wheatley who picked up so many of his ideas. The idea of Satanists being involved in political conspiracies is one that particularly obsessed Summers, and has had a rich subsequent history. The French Revolution and the fall of the Roman Empire were just some of the historical events brought about directly by the Devil and his followers. And when he moves on to subjects like voodoo he’s even more fun. Sadly Summers died before he could integrate UFOs and the JFK assassination into his theories. . It’s actually an immensely entertaining book, and if you’re a fan of conspiracy theories it’s an absolute must-read.
Reading this book you suddenly realise where so many of the ideas that are a commonplace in modern horror literature and in horror movies actually come from. If they don’t come from Summers directly, they come from Summers via people such as Dennis Wheatley who picked up so many of his ideas. The idea of Satanists being involved in political conspiracies is one that particularly obsessed Summers, and has had a rich subsequent history. The French Revolution and the fall of the Roman Empire were just some of the historical events brought about directly by the Devil and his followers. And when he moves on to subjects like voodoo he’s even more fun. Sadly Summers died before he could integrate UFOs and the JFK assassination into his theories. . It’s actually an immensely entertaining book, and if you’re a fan of conspiracy theories it’s an absolute must-read.
July 4, 2017
Written a century ago, the work has aged in a mixed manner. The academic study of witchcraft and black magic is fairly well researched and historic accounts are well referenced. Summers own bias, as indicative of the period in which he wrote, colours his work heavily and such blemishes the work somewhat. If you can mentally edit the racism and notions of 'Satanists are out to rule the world!' panic that would be more suited to the 17th century, then Summers work has some very useful elements of research.
January 31, 2022
A great presentation of the illusionary world of Montague Summers and the ideas of educated people from the Middle Ages till the late 17th century. These theories killed thousands of innocent people and they are all presented in this book, with texts and experiences from books, newspapers, confessions through tortures, etc.
It's a good book for the witch who wants to see what the other side believed in witchcraft and know what to expect from the fanatic ignorant side. Although Summers writes about witchcraft, the careful reader will notice that he ignores branches of witchcraft that are valid and practiced to our days, as he has another definition of witchcraft in his mind.
It's a good book for the witch who wants to see what the other side believed in witchcraft and know what to expect from the fanatic ignorant side. Although Summers writes about witchcraft, the careful reader will notice that he ignores branches of witchcraft that are valid and practiced to our days, as he has another definition of witchcraft in his mind.
July 27, 2023
This book was first published in 1946, but it seemed like it was a lot older. It is a history of witchcraft and black magic but with a Christian bias (ie all witchcraft is evil). Interesting read as it discusses older works on the esoteric and examples of apparently historical mystical events.
Read
April 8, 2013como se lee
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 12, 2022
This is a very hard read, that does NOT mean it's not good or that it's a waste, just that you must THINK for every minute that you read this work. The work starts with the not so bad premise," All magic is black magic. There is no such thing as white magic or good magic." The problem with this is in every chapter there are stories from medieval courts, Renaissance courts, Papal Courts, or the Bible that say white magic is real and is good for the community. Several stories of over zealous Priests in small communities that kill the local "Wise Women" as a witch, and is then removed from his Parish because the Holy See does not like the huge increase in infant mortality and deaths of women in child birth. All documented from Vatican archives with references cited. This is a great scholarly work, but you will have to THINK through out. I only mentioned a few of the thinking moments that Summers cites . This is a great scholarly work, but you will have to THINK through out.
April 9, 2022
One of the best books on the occult you could ever read detailing in great depth occurrences of witchcraft and occultism throughout history with many references on each page stating where those facts come from.
If you want to find out what people thought about the occult and what was happening and may not have been happening over the years from about 200BC then this will keep you interested
It is a deeply packed book and well worth the read
It was honestly hard to put this book down
If you want to find out what people thought about the occult and what was happening and may not have been happening over the years from about 200BC then this will keep you interested
It is a deeply packed book and well worth the read
It was honestly hard to put this book down
July 19, 2024
I got this for writing research for my current ghost horror manuscript WIP. The religious origins of some of the superstitions regarding witchcraft was most fascinating, especially inverting rituals and also some of the folk culture origins. A good reference book that I'll return to again at some point.
December 7, 2025
This is a treatise of instances of witchcraft across all time, so it’s not exactly an exciting read. Often ahistorical. But interesting, bit of a spooky read.
June 16, 2026
I want to read the complete book
April 23, 2011
Very dry.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews