Topics of magick history

Hi everyone, usually everyone knows me from chatter and stuff but i have been wanting to learn magick's history, so i have been wondering wht other major events happened besides the burning times and how it came to be tht it's topics are so diverse today. I guess u could say i am up for a good history lesson and hoped i could see if i could get some great tib bits and facts and leads to where i mite learn more and wht storys to look at. Anthing anyone?

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Well, first off, the so-called "Burning Times" are a myth. If you want a basic, accurate history of the European witchcraft persecutions, try reading Brian Levack's _The Witch-Hunt In Early Modern Europe_.

For a fairly broad overview of the history of Western esotericism, I can recommend two historical essays by Prof. Ronald Hutton: "The New Old Paganism," and "Paganism in the Missing Centuries." Both can be found in Hutton's 2003 anthology _Witches, Druids, And King Arthur_. Beyond that, I recommend Hutton's history of the origins of modern pagan witchcraft, _The Triumph of the Moon_.

Just to clarify, because the remark of the " Burning Times " is myth...

The term was coined not to long ago and has been used by Gardner as well as Silver Ravenwolf and a few others. It suggests that the specific burning of witches went on shortly after the death of Christ and on for centuries and was a very narrow specturm of target eg. just witches. It also tends to go against historical record, btw.


There are reports that are contrary to these that suggest 1. The Church was not soley responsible for these actions and 2. Christians were in fact the main people killed. Granted they were accused of witchcraft, and it is very difficult to determine who was what in that day and age, but most historians agree that Christians were the main bulk ( if not sole ) of those killed.

Granted, this is all googleable, and a refference to a book is listed, however I wanted to clarify what the Burning Times reffered to before anyone went jumping to conclusions of previous statements.

thx i tried to google it but as sometimes i can't awyas get wht i need and am lookin for, but thx! any thing else anyone would know? i am verry studios today ^.^ and i like to over achieve sometimes i just know this is one of thoes times