Examines the relics of European shamanism in early modern sources, and the techniques and belief-systems of mediators found in the records of witchcraft trials for the 16th to the 18th century.

About the Author
Eva Pocs is Professor emeritus at the Department of Ethnology and Cultural Anthropology, University of Pecs, Hungary.

Reviews
"Fascination with the phenomenon of medieval witchcraft and witch hunting has produced a plethora of works detailing new discoveries and theories in a continuing attempt to understand one of Europe's most enduring historical legacies. Until recently, however, English-language works have neglected Southeastern European regions. This newly translated work by Pocs begins to fill some gaps while providing valuable insights into parallels between this region and Western Europe. Pocs argues that fairies, magicians, seers and witches each played a dualistic mediatory role in the life of the early modern Hungarian village. Rather than seeing these systems of mediation as evolving from benevolent to demonic, she convincingly shows that they were interactive and concurrent. Excellent bibliography." * Choice *
"Eva Pocs has a deserved reputation as an important scholar of folk beliefs in East Central Europe ... we can be thankful to George Soros and the efforts of the Central European University Press for bringing sorely needed and significant new findings on Hungary to an English audience. Pocs' contribution to the debate on witchcraft and popular beliefs certainly meets these criteria and should be well received." * Medieval Review *



Book Information
ISBN 9789639116184
Author Eva Pocs
Format Hardback
Page Count 192
Imprint Central European University Press
Publisher Central European University Press
Weight(grams) 458g