witches: a compendium

＂Witches: A Compendium maps the landscape of witchcraft and occult practices, past and present. Within these pages, you’ll find clear descriptions of magical practices and tools, animal familiars, inspirational witch figures . . . and even witch-related sites around the world to star on your Google Maps. This book will serve as reference, guide, and inspiration to anyone curious about the magical arts.＂
--from the foreword by Frances F. Denny

Witches explores what a witch is and the different ways to be one. Judika Illes presents the history, mysteries, and diverse natures of witches from around the world. Featuring a who’s who ranging from famous--or infamous--historical witches such as Tituba, Sybil Leek, Aleister Crowley, Isobel Gowdie, and Countess Erzsebet Báthory (widely known as the Blood Countess) to popular literary, cinematic, and TV witches such as Endora, the Scarlet Witch, Melisandre, Storm, Agatha Harkness, and the Wicked Witch of the West, Witches also offers travel tips for witches and a guide to the tools of the trade such as brooms, wands, cauldrons, and mirrors.

This celebration of witches and witchcraft also features:

• Sacred witches such as Baba Yaga, Lilith, Isis, Hekate, Diana, Circe, and Yemaya
• Familiars and creatures closely associated with witchcraft including cats, bats, crows, owls, and foxes
• Art witches like Moina Mathers, Vali Myers, Rosaleen Norton, Leonora Carrington, and Cameron
• Different schools of witchcraft including green witchery, kitchen witchery, Wicca, and Hekatean Witchcraft
• The various things witches do from divination to spirit working to spell-casting

Judika Illes is a lifelong student, lover, and practitioner of the magical arts. She is the author of numerous books devoted to spells, spirits, and witchcraft, including the bestselling Encyclopedia of 5000 Spells and Encyclopedia of Spirits, as well as Pure Magic; Daily Magic; Encyclopedia of Witchcraft; Encyclopedia of Mystics, Saints, and Sages; and Magic When You Need It. Judika is the editor and curator of two books of mystical fiction, The Weiser Book of the Fantastic and Forgotten and The Weiser Book of Occult Detectives. A certified aromatherapist, she has been a professional tarot card reader for over three decades. A native New Yorker, Judika teaches in the US and internationally, live, and virtually. Follow her on Instagram @judikailles.