Practicing witches, many of them middle-class women with families, number from 50,000 to 250,000 in the U.S. alone, according to the New York Times. Salem, Massachusetts, draws more than 500,000 tourists and $42 million worth of serious fun every year at Halloween. With 560 entries, a resource section, and 114 photos and illustrations, The Witch Book is an exhaustive A-to-Z exploration of people, places, events, literature, and other matters related to this ever-timely and popular topic. Best-selling occult author Raymond Buckland defines both the darker Christian concept and the true concept of Wicca, concentrating on the Western European and later New World versions of Witchcraft and magic. From Abracadabra to Aleister Crowley to Gardnerian Witchcraft to Rosemary's Baby to Sorcery and Zoroastra, The Witch Book is unmatched in its coverage of witchcraft's historical, practical, and cultural aspects.
