Encyclopedia of Witchcraft: The Complete A-Z for the Entire Magical World (Witchcraft & Spells)

Finally we are getting the books we deserve! Reference books for the magickal practioner.I've owned "The Encyclopedia of 5000 Spells" and devoured it (aprox 900 pgs) in a week, earning my Hermoine "light reader's" badge indefinitely. I have been aching to get my hands on this one since I first laid my eyes on it in the library's directory! I knew I was hooked when I racked up 30$ in fees, lol, bc I didn't want to give it back!Judika doesn't go on and on about her accolades and accomplishment (ie Gilderoy Lockhart). She gets to the point. She researches and references her sources and encourages you to do the same! This book reads like a true encyclopedia and that alone is a testament to the amount of work she's had to put into it! Stuff like, in the human language there's over 40 words for "witch"/ "magickal practitioner". HAD NO CLUE! The many different magickal practices that play a role in what that particular society thought magick users were/ are/ will be. Orishia, Hoodoo, Santeria, Italian, Christian and even Gypsy magickal traditions and their respective practitioners (titles, styles, talents, etc.)This should be required reading for all who truly wish to walk, teach and learn the magickal traditions.

I bought this for intentions of learning about everything as a refresher. I concluded by my observation this, as most witch books leave out is the masculine or racial, or lgbt details of witches. As much as us feminine ones are involved i was kinda looking for a wholistic book. It's still a great book just at some point, i would love to get a book cratered to a more ancient way i practice. Were i want a true guide book that includes every ethnicity, gender, culture and equally show the details of the variances of the pagan fold around the world. Maybe one day ill write that book hahaha. I've been studying religion for over a decade, so this is valuable. But this is only a small part of the diverse knowledge that is out there. If you are person who is a beginner or a moderate knowledge level of pagan study then this is good refrence material. But this is not a complete AㅡZ, or it would be a collection series and more weighted. Gave it 4 stars because nothing is truly perfect and as time changes so does ability to find out more knowledge.

Pretty useful book for the price, even if you're a skeptic or a very critical witchcraft reader. Lots of good info even if not everything is perfect, which you would hope would be the case with that many freakin' pages, right? It's bigger and heavier than my college textbooks and I'm pretty impressed by how much of that bulk gets used to its full potential.Now, I could do without Judika defaulting to calling witches females/she/her/women in the book, but she DOES state that all genders can be witches if they so choose. She's by no means a flawless author, and truth be told, no author is, but she's definitely got some major experience under her belt. Don't get this book if you're expecting a COMPLETE guide to anything, you'll need more than just this book. It covers a small selection of each topic, sometimes skipping quite a few deities in pantheons and such. This was entirely expected, because complete never actually means complete with books like this. No one knows it all, after all.The book covers a VERY wide range of topics, hence the somewhat small selection for each one. No matter what path you're considering, you'll probably find at least a couple things about it, and learn about others while you're at it. No matter what books you get, always remember the importance of cross-referencing, but also remember that sometimes the lore on something is not the end-all-be-all for information about it. Don't be scared to experiment with what things mean to you (as long as you don't eat something poisonous or something ridiculous like that!) and figure out how it works best in your practice.Not everything in the book is strictly about witchcraft, so even on-witches might find some use in this if they're interested in lore on deities, old holidays, and general history.Overall I found the book really useful as both a useful reference and an interesting read, and I 100% recommend it to anyone who's still on the fence about it

I love Judika Illes, I'm so fond of her books. And this book takes the cake. I've always been into witchcraft, but I found it challenging to find books that accurately related to my feelings about the subject. Her collection of these books blew me out of the water. I would definitely recommend to any person interested in the subject, intentions good or bad. It gives you a greater understanding of beliefs from around the world. It does not have images no, but, I didn't buy it to look at pictures. Five stars.

Missing hundreds of pages in the kindle version. Otherwise an incredible book, I own both versions.

I found a few editing errors in this book involving grammar and spelling. However, it is an awesome book. The information encourages interest in further learning. I felt I might not interpret some things the way Illes does and in some places I felt she might have mentioned things that seemed obvious to me, but the book is a wonderful new favorite for my shelf. I’ll be referencing it again.

General:Love this book! Even though it’s titled an encyclopaedia, and loosely laid out like one, the entries themselves are written more in a brief chapter way. Personally I loved this, as I do struggle with Encyclopaedias that follow a dictionary-layout style. A lot of hard work as gone into this and it shows. It covers so much and I would highly recommended it, whether your a beginner looking to augment their path, or a writer that’s trying to expand on their world building. In fact, I would highly recommend this for fantasy writers that want to incorporate magic-systems into their world/story. While I’m not an expert (FAR from it) it does seem also, the things covered here are mostly from European traditions, elements of different cultures are mentioned and given their due respect, but the bulk of it does feel European. As mentioned it covers so much but the author takes her time to clearly explain things. It’s written in a clear and easy manner to read and comprehend. I bought this as hardback and kindle, both were delivered very quickly and in fantastic condition.Pros:1) well researched and evident a lot of work has been put into it.2) easy to read3) laid out clearly, easy to dip in and out - but doesn’t feel as impersonal as dictionary/Encyclopaedias can sometimes be.4) wonderful nuggets of information.Cons:1) a lot of entries are designed to be quick intros - nothing in depth. Will need to do further research/reading if that’s what your after.2) while it does cover ALOT, naturally there will be things missing. Especially, from paths that lie outside of European traditions.3) not a strict encyclopaedia in the strictest sense. If your looking for something with a more dictionary-layout then there are other great books.

A good reference book with plenty of information about witchcraft helpfully broken down into various sections (by fiction, popular culture, by country, characters from witchcraft mythology etc...).It compliments my other 'Element' encyclopaedia's fine but I've docked a couple of stars as the item is described as 'hardback' when in fact it is the 'softback' 2014 reprint of the original 2005 edition and doesn't even come with a dust-jacket for extra protection.This is a shame as it's a fairly large tome (the same size as the hardback series) but it's flimsy cover and binding are cause for concern regarding it's longevity if used or read with regularity. A shame.

Jeepers creepers!!!!! The second page in the book frightens the living hell out of you. The author very openly tells you how witchcraft is still met with people of today being brutally murdered & burnt in countries around the world, but then goes on so nonchalantly. Like Is this a warning? Go on ahead but at your own peril? Keep this a secret or you could chance something awful happening to you? It quite frankly makes me very nervous tbh, living in a very ethnically diverse place.Just to add i did indeed read on, flicking through to random pages. There is a whole chapter on 'TheHag' saying traditionally witches are hags and 'ugly women'.plus at page 656 they were still talking about witches being burned and now I see why others here have said this book is full of s***.

This was supposed to be in "good condition". Well it arrived within a few days, well packaged and you REALLY would be hard to say it was second hand. The dust cover was a TINY bit turned up at edges, but I've seen that much on new books in bookstores, otherwise the book is in EXCELLENT condition, you really wouldn't know it wasn't new. So I bought this to use as an encyclopedia, well it is one after all, planning to have on the shelf and dip in when a subject needed further research. I can never resist dipping into a book when I get a new one and I opened it at random and found myself reading for 1/2 and hour, and then flicking through as other related subjects caught my eye. So I have changed my mind, I will keep it on the shelf for research because it looks perfect for that. But before that I shall ready it from cover to cover, for pure pleasure........and also I will then have a better knowledge of what is there to research later. An excellent book, I would highly recommend both for content, writing style and shear joy to read.

I have bought this previously, although many years ago. So it's been around for a long time. It's not hard back, but it's stronger than paper back. Good reference used in the book and the author is down to earth and explains well. The book covers everything. Glad to have it back in my collection.