by Daniel A. Schulke (Author)
The figure of the witch in medieval Europe was strongly defined by her relation to the Sabbat: the phantasmagoric nocturnal rite where the living trafficked with the dead. Sometimes conflated with the Christian heresy of the Black Mass (or derided by occult writers as a degenerate form of ancient high magic), the Sabbat is in fact a fully-realized wellspring of ecstasy and ritual power wit its roots in prehistory. This sequel to Schulke's Veneficium examines the elements of the Sabbat, from the nocturnal flight of the witches, to the frenzied Round Dance, to its more notorious features such as The Witches' Supper and Intercourse wit the Devil. The essential syncretic nature of Sabbatic ritual and magic is examined, as well as its relation to Judaism, Christianity and Islam, as well as the polytheistic and animist religions which preceded them. As well as as its capacity as a vehicle for individual power and ecstatic experience, the book examines the persistent embodiments of the Sabbat through time, up to an including modern occult practices.--Publisher