Demon Lovers

Witchcraft, Sex, and the Crisis of Belief

By: Walter Stephens

Write A Review

Paperback | 16 September 2003 | Edition Number 1

At a Glance

Paperback
478 Pages

Edition Type
New edition

Dimensions(cm)
22.8 x 15.2 x 2.5

Paperback

$91.75

or 4 interest-free payments of $22.94 with

Ships in 10 to 15 business days

On September 20, 1587, Walpurga Hausmännin of Dillingen in southern Germany was burned at the stake as a witch. Although she had confessed to committing a long list of maleficia (deeds of harmful magic), including killing forty—one infants and two mothers in labor, her evil career allegedly began with just one heinous act—sex with a demon. Fornication with demons was a major theme of her trial record, which detailed an almost continuous orgy of sexual excess with her diabolical paramour Federlin "in many divers places, . . . even in the street by night."

As Walter Stephens demonstrates in Demon Lovers, it was not Hausmännin or other so-called witches who were obsessive about sex with demons—instead, a number of devout Christians, including trained theologians, displayed an uncanny preoccupation with the topic during the centuries of the "witch craze." Why? To find out, Stephens conducts a detailed investigation of the first and most influential treatises on witchcraft (written between 1430 and 1530), including the infamous Malleus Maleficarum (Hammer of Witches).

Far from being credulous fools or mindless misogynists, early writers on witchcraft emerge in Stephens's account as rational but reluctant skeptics, trying desperately to resolve contradictions in Christian thought on God, spirits, and sacraments that had bedeviled theologians for centuries. Proof of the physical existence of demons—for instance, through evidence of their intercourse with mortal witches—would provide strong evidence for the reality of the supernatural, the truth of the Bible, and the existence of God. Early modern witchcraft theory reflected a crisis of belief—a crisis that continues to be expressed today in popular debates over angels, Satanic ritual child abuse, and alien abduction.

Shipping

	Standard Shipping	Express Shipping
Metro postcodes:	$9.99	$14.95
Regional postcodes:	$9.99	$14.95
Rural postcodes:	$9.99	$14.95

Orders over $79.00 qualify for free shipping.

How to return your order

At Booktopia, we offer hassle-free returns in accordance with our returns policy. If you wish to return an item, please get in touch with Booktopia Customer Care.

Additional postage charges may be applicable.

Defective items

If there is a problem with any of the items received for your order then the Booktopia Customer Care team is ready to assist you.

For more info please visit our Help Centre.

List of Illustrations	p. xi
Acknowledgments	p. xiii
Note on Translations	p. xv
Introduction: Sex Fiends	p. 1
Witchcraft Theory: Copulation with Demons as Carnal Knowledge	p. 13
Why Women? The Malleus maleficarum	p. 32
Sexy Devils: How They Got Bodies	p. 58
Incredible Sex: Confronting the Difficulty of Belief	p. 87
From Dreams to Reality: Why Witches Fly	p. 125
Experiments with Witches	p. 145
The Theory of Witchcraft Power	p. 180
"This Is My Body": Witches and Desecration	p. 207
Witches, Infanticide, and Power	p. 241
Illusion and Reality, Part One: Crib Death and Stealthy Cats	p. 277
Illusion and Reality, Part Two: Witches Who Steal Penises	p. 300
Interview with the Demon: From Exorcism to Witchcraft	p. 322
Witchcraft, Body, and Soul	p. 343
Conclusion: Talking around the Unspeakable	p. 365
Notes	p. 373
Works Cited	p. 421
Index	p. 443
Table of Contents provided by Syndetics. All Rights Reserved.

Demon Lovers

Witchcraft, Sex, and the Crisis of Belief

At a Glance

Paperback

Shipping

How to return your order

Defective items

You Can Find This Book In

More in Sociology & Anthropology

Fluke

Chance, Chaos, and Why Everything We Do Matters

We Have Never Been Woke

The Cultural Contradictions of a New Elite

Death by Comfort

How modern life is killing us and what we can do about it

Thematic Analysis

A Practical Guide to Understanding and Doing

Staring at the Sun

Overcoming the Dread of Death

The Modern Guide To Sex

Learn everything you've ever wanted to know about sex in this expert practical and inclusive guide for readers of Emily Nagoski, Hannah Ferguson and Dolly Alderton

The Knowledge Gene

The incredible story of the supergene that gives us human creativity

The Age of Surveillance Capitalism

Fight for a Human Future at the New Frontier of Power

Decolonizing Methodologies

3rd Edition - Research and Indigenous Peoples

Consent Laid Bare

Sex, Entitlement & the Distortion of Desire

Bush Food

Aboriginal Food & Herbal Medicine

Sand Talk

How Indigenous thinking can save the world

Snake Talk

How the world's ancient serpent stories can guide us

Nexus

A Brief History of Information Networks from the Stone Age to AI

First Knowledges Health

Spirit, Country and Culture

Eve

How The Female Body Drove 200 Million Years of Human Evolution

Matrescence

On the Metamorphosis of Pregnancy, Childbirth and Motherhood

A Brief History of the End of the F*cking World

The hilarious and fascinating new book from the international bestselling author of HUMANS

Great Australian Volunteer Surf Life Saving Stories

Great Australian Stories

The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning

How to Free Yourself and your Family from a Lifetime of Clutter

Factfulness

Ten Reasons We're Wrong About The World - And Why Things Are Better Than You Think

Bullshit Jobs

A Theory

21 Lessons for the 21st Century

'Truly mind-expanding... Ultra-topical' Guardian

When Breath Becomes Air

What makes life worth living in the face of death

This product is categorised by