Womens Voices In Magic

The essays in this book explode gender stereotypes and survey the spectrum of women's experiences in magic. Their voices whisper their secret experiences, narrate lives of women magicians in the past, speak of the usual and the unusual, roar their triumphal discoveries, and sing the joy of life.

Women come to the fore in witchcraft trials as accused persons or as witnesses, and this book is a study of women’s voices in these trials in eight countries around the North Sea: Spanish Netherlands, Northern Germany, Denmark, Scotland, England, Norway, Sweden, and Finland. From each country, three trials are chosen for close reading of courtroom discourse and the narratological approach enables various individuals to speak. Throughout the study, a choir of 24 voices of accused women are heard which reveal valuable insight into the field of mentalities and display both the individual experience of witchcraft accusation and the development of the trial. Particular attention is drawn to the accused women’s confessions, which are interpreted as enforced narratives. The analyses of individual trials are also contextualized nationally and internationally by a frame of historical elements, and a systematic comparison between the countries shows strong similarities regarding the impact of specific ideas about witchcraft, use of pressure and torture, the turning point of the trial, and the verdict and sentence. This volume is an essential resource for all students and scholars interested in the history of witchcraft, witchcraft trials, transnationality, cultural exchanges, and gender in early modern Northern Europe.

Women's voices throughout history have been minimized, criticized, blocked or shut down by collective societal consciousness, which has created physical and emotional holding patterns in how we express ourselves. Expression is a creative gift that we are all born with, and women's historical lack of rights have made us doubt our wise and intuitive voice. When they say the eyes are the window to the soul, I believe that the voice is how we express that soul. Our voices are one of the most powerful tools we have to communicate with others - they carry our life-force energy! The sound of our voice expresses who we are and what we are feeling and thinking. It tells a story of our inner world. Your voice is also a holographic representation of your state of health. It is a unique gift we are each given at birth to allow life to move through us and express itself. The key to empowerment is communication, and our "voice," either from our throats or hearts, speaks our truth. This book will guide you on an exploration of your wise, magical voice by sharing groundbreaking information, videos and soundbites, backed by science and the author's own personal story of healing. Let's open up a greater awareness of your body as a vibrant instrument of expressive communication - our collective "voices" are meant to be shared from a place of empowerment to facilitate meaningful change in the world!

An imaginative story of a woman caught in an alternate world—where she will need to learn the skills of magic to survive Nora Fischer’s dissertation is stalled and her boyfriend is about to marry another woman. During a miserable weekend at a friend’s wedding, Nora wanders off and walks through a portal into a different world where she’s transformed from a drab grad student into a stunning beauty. Before long, she has a set of glamorous new friends and her romance with gorgeous, masterful Raclin is heating up. It’s almost too good to be true. Then the elegant veneer shatters. Nora’s new fantasy world turns darker, a fairy tale gone incredibly wrong. Making it here will take skills Nora never learned in graduate school. Her only real ally—and a reluctant one at that—is the magician Aruendiel, a grim, reclusive figure with a biting tongue and a shrouded past. And it will take her becoming Aruendiel’s student—and learning magic herself—to survive. When a passage home finally opens, Nora must weigh her “real life” against the dangerous power of love and magic. For lovers of Lev Grossman's The Magicians series (The Magicians and The Magician King) and Deborah Harkness's All Souls Trilogy (A Discovery of Witches and Shadow of Night).

From the award-winning entrepreneur, culture leader, and creator of the BLACK GIRLS ROCK! movement comes an inspiring and beautifully designed book that pays tribute to the achievements and contributions of black women around the world. Fueled by the insights of women of diverse backgrounds, including Michelle Obama, Angela Davis, Shonda Rhimes, Misty Copeland Yara Shahidi, and Mary J. Blige, this book is a celebration of black women’s voices and experiences that will become a collector’s items for generations to come. Maxine Waters shares the personal fulfillment of service. Moguls Cathy Hughes, Suzanne Shank, and Serena Williams recount stories of steadfastness, determination, diligence, dedication and the will to win. Erykah Badu, Toshi Reagon, Mickalane Thomas, Solange Knowles-Ferguson, and Rihanna offer insights on creativity and how they use it to stay in tune with their magic. Pioneering writers Rebecca Walker, Melissa Harris-Perry, and Joan Morgan speak on modern-day black feminist thought. Lupita Nyong’o, Susan Taylor, and Bethann Hardison affirm the true essence of holistic beauty. And Iyanla Vanzant reinforces Black Girl Magic in her powerful pledge. Through these and dozens of other unforgettable testimonies, Black Girls Rock! is an ode to black girl ambition, self-love, empowerment, and healing. Pairing inspirational essays and affirmations with lush, newly commissioned and classic photography, Black Girls Rock!: Owning Our Magic and Rocking Our Truth is not only a one-of-a-kind celebration of the diversity, fortitude, and spirituality of black women but also a foundational text that will energize and empower every reader.

SHE IS MAGIC, YES is a book of 11 women who each share their personal journey.It is filled with hope. Filled with inspiration. Filled with women who chose to rise again and sometimes they chose to rise again and again. All of this made them into the women they are today. They are women who proved to the world that life is more than just the hand of cards you are dealt, but rather, how you respond to those cards you are dealt.It is a choice. They chose to find love. They chose to find healing. They chose to find life. In return, she gives love.She gives healing.She gives hope.She gives inspirationShe gives life.She is more than just a woman.She is Magic.Contributing Authors: Blair Hayse, Kelsey Rojas, Marina Fabian, Stephanie Mahony, Susan Finkel Barrows, Christine D'Elia, Nicole Barker, Mistie S. Rose, Karen Quiros, Brooke J. Coleman and Traci Miller.

For generations, women have had to channel their strength and power into the role of muse, priestess, or earth mother—and always in the shadow of male magicians. This groundbreaking book shatters outdated notions of the Western magical tradition and presents a new paradigm that celebrates and empowers the woman magician. Drawing on thirty years of study and personal experience, Brandy Williams boldly revisions metaphysics from a female perspective. She introduces a new Magia Femina—a female-centered exploration of tradition, history, philosophy, science, culture, theology, and magic—and shares unique wisdom on how to live authentically as a woman and as a dedicated practitioner of her craft. Williams discusses women's roles in magic and philosophy throughout history as well as issues of gender, sexuality, feminism, cultural identity, God as divine feminine, the Qabbalah, and the evolution of such magical systems as the Golden Dawn and modern Witchcraft. Offering a complete and workable ritual system based on Egyptian cosmology, The Woman Magician invites you to become a practicing member of the Sisters of Seshat, the first all-female initiatory magical order since the French Revolution. Experience powerful hands-on individual and group initiatory rituals, and help launch this new order into the greater world.