Imagining the witches' sabbath visions of darkness since 1900 Ethan Doyle White

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Doyle White, Ethan, author.

Series:

Cambridge elements. Elements in magic

Cambridge elements. Elements in magic 2732-4087

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Sabbath--History.

Sabbath.

Witchcraft--History.

Witchcraft.

Occultism--History.

Occultism.

Genre:

History

Physical Description:

1 online resource

Place of Publication:

Cambridge Cambridge University Press 2026

Summary:

"Of all the dark visions to haunt the cultural imagination, few have proven so pervasive as the witches’ sabbath or sabbat – an idea born in the fifteenth century. The sabbath, however, did not remain there, and this Element explores some of the ways in which the witches’ sabbath has been reimagined since 1900. It considers how early twentieth-century scholars, most notably Margaret Murray and Montague Summers, took it as evidence of a real witches’ religion, and how later historians like Carlo Ginzburg drew upon it in their search for ancient shamanisms. It examines how occultists such as Gerald Gardner, Austin Osman Spare, and Andrew Chumbley integrated sabbaths as key elements of their own new religions. Finally, it outlines the role of the sabbath in literature, film, and television, where it has continued to terrify and titillate. This Element thus expands upon an oft-overlooked area in the cultural history of witchcraft"-- Provided by publisher

Contents:

The scholars’ sabbath

The sabbath reborn

Literary sabbaths, cinematic sabbaths

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references

Online resource; title from PDF title page (Cambridge Core, viewed July 7, 2026)

Other Format:

Print version Doyle White, Ethan Imagining the witches' sabbath

ISBN:

9781009627467

1009627465

OCLC:

1596766237

Access Restriction:

Restricted for use by site license