Bøker av Claude Lecouteux

- Examines the esoteric side of texts and tales from the Middle Ages, including the enduring presence of haunted areas and power places and the roles of witches, house spirits, rune priests, shapeshifters, and the undead - Discusses the dividing line between magic and deviltry, as well as the significance of grimoires, bells, blacksmiths, storm callers, and more - Serves as a guide to a still-present magical and imaginal realm, pointing readers to the borderlands and liminal thresholds that enable access to the other world In this new collection of his writings, scholar and Sorbonne instructor Claude Lecouteux reveals that the magical world of the distant past is real and still very present--if you know where to look. Explaining how he makes the texts he studies reveal their hidden teachings, Lecouteux directly explores the esoteric side of medieval myths and tales, peeling back the Christian veneer to show the enduring presence of haunted areas and power places, of witches, house spirits, rune priests, vampires, shapeshifters, and the undead. In tales originating from Greenland and Iceland to Saxony, Romania, and beyond, the author discusses the dividing line between magic and deviltry as well as the significance of grimoires, bells, blacksmiths, and other magical objects and characters. He explores magic in the elements of nature and as illustrated by the art of witches and magicians specializing in weather magic--storm callers and storm dispellers. He examines the medieval mythology surrounding clouds and the mythic significance of mountains in the haunted world of our ancestors, which is still as close to us today as it was to them in the past. Looking at borderlands and liminal thresholds that can serve as gateways to other worlds, the author also discusses land spirits and the shapeshifting needed to engage with them, including how their ownership of the land can never fully be usurped. Through these writings Lecouteux acts as a ferryman, transporting readers into the realms of the wondrous and magical. He enables us to see how the haunted magic of the Middle Ages never ended and how the imaginal realm, standing just beyond the borders of our own, is as vividly real as the material world.

Explores the many forms and abilities of the devil in stories from around the world.

SPIRITUALITY / GEM STONES "This has to be the most incredible book ever published on sacred and magical stones. A must-have for historians and anyone interested in the sacred and magical properties of stones. This book really is a magical mystery tour!" --John DeSalvo, author of Power Crystals, Decoding the Enochian Secrets, and host of Mysterious Realms radio show Our ancestors believed stones were home to sacred beings of power, entities that if properly understood and cultivated could provide people protection from ill fortune, envy, and witchcraft; grant invisibility and other magical powers; improve memory; and heal the sick from a wide variety of diseases. These benefits could be obtained by wearing the stone on a ring, bracelet, or pendant; through massage treatments with the stone; or by reducing the gem to a powder and drinking it mixed with water or wine. Drawing from a wealth of ancient Arabic, Greek, Jewish, and European sources--from the observations of Pliny the Elder to extremely rare texts such as the Picatrix and Damigeron's Virtue of Stones--Claude Lecouteux provides a synthesis of all known lore for more than 800 stones. He includes such common examples as the emerald, which when engraved with the figure of a harpy holding a lamprey in its claws will banish panic and nightmares, and beryl, which when appropriately carved can summon water spirits or win its owner high renown, as well as more exotic stones such as astrios, a stone celebrated by ancient magicians and whose center glows like a star. Lecouteux also examines bezoars--stones formed in animals' bodies--as well as "magnets" that attract materials other than iron, such as gold, flesh, cotton, or scorpions. This comprehensive dictionary of sacred and magical gem lore, drawn from the rarest sources of Antiquity and the Middle Ages, represents a one-of-a-kind resource for gem enthusiasts and magical practitioners alike. CLAUDE LECOUTEUX is a former professor of medieval literature and civilization at the Sorbonne. He is the author of numerous books on medieval and pagan beliefs, including The Secret History of Poltergeists and Haunted Houses and The Secret History of Vampires. He lives in Paris.