Although the term 'witch' encompasses diverse meanings across many cultures -most often referring to a practitioner of harmful or antinomian sorcery- the witch of medieval Europe was in part defined in the context of the Sabbat: the nocturnal ritual gathering of the living and 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 with its roots in prehistory. This sequel to Schulke's 'Veneficium' examines the Witches' Sabbat, its magic and symbolism, from the night flight, to the frenzied round-dance, to sexual intercourse with the devil and the notorious 'Witches' Supper'. The Sabbat's essentially syncretic nature is emphasized, as well as its relation to Islam, Christianity, Judaism, and the polytheistic and animist religions which preceded them. As well as its capacity as a vehicle for individual power and ecstatic experience, the book examines the persistent embodiments of the Sabbat from its ancient origins to its present recensions as a vivified corpus of rites and magical philosophy.
