Witchcraft: Its Power in the World Today
Encyclopedia
Witchcraft: Its Power in the World Today is a book by William Buehler Seabrook
which was published in 1940. It details the author's views on psychology
, parapsychology
and the occult
, and contains information about the author's meetings with a number of famous people.
Throughout his writing career, Seabrook had been fascinated with the strange, from Dervish
mystics (Adventures in Arabia) to Haiti
an zombie
s (Magic Island). Witchcraft contains Seabrook’s look back at his earlier first-hand experiences. He writes in the forward that the book will be “a disappointment to all who believe in the supernatural.” He concludes that although he had searched the world for the supernatural, on reflection he had to conclude that he had seen nothing inexplicable by science. Nevertheless, he remained fascinated by the possibilities of human psychology and parapsychology.
The book is divided into four sections, including a long appendix.
s) to cause illness and death, with examples taken from the Ivory Coast, France
, and the UK. The author is of the opinion that the dolls work through the power of suggestion, and that even in cases of conscious scepticism unconscious belief might have an effect. The author also wrote that he had trained as a witchdoctor in a Malinke town near Bassam
.
The section also includes the claim that Seabrook's ancestor, Bishop Peter Boehler, had been a practitioner of black magic.
, a noblewoman accused of murder and sadistic practices.
It also recounts the case of a woman known to Seabrook who felt an urge to drink blood due to pernicious anaemia, and a couple of incidents from Africa that showed a belief in humans turning into animals. He also recounts an incident involving his friend, an occultist named John Bannister, who helped a young Russian woman remember having been a wolf.
abilities, and he criticises the work of parapsychologist J.B. Rhine for failing to consider this. While Seabrook was generally sceptical of such abiltiies, he was perplexed by some incidents he recorded, and suggests that the theories about time and space of Albert Einstein
might hold the answer to some of these mysteries.
The anecdotes in this section include the author's own experience of navigating a boat while in a kind of trance due to extreme tiredness, which he compares with the practices of Melewi Dervishes, whom he said that he studied under in Syria
.
Seabrook then goes on to recount a meeting with G.I. Gurdjieff, and to describe the dances performed by his followers. Seabrook claims that Gurdjieff asked him to invite some his friends to Gurdjieff's apartment, where Gurdjieff gave a reading from his manuscript Beelezbub's Tale. Apparently the listeners (who included the behaviourist John Watson, Lincoln Steffens
, and George Seldes
) were perplexed and unimpressed; Seabrook notes that the book did not have a publisher (although it was later published under as Beelzebub's Tales to his Grandson
).
This is followed by a sympathetic account of Aleister Crowley
and Seabrook's encounters with him.
The final chapters discuss Upton Sinclair
and his book Mental Radio
, and an incidence of biographer William Woodward debunking someone who claimed to have a supernatural power. This is followed by an account of Seabrook's experiments in sense deprivation involving his lover Justine. The experiments include the use of a specially made mask, which Seabrook notes was considered to have "psycho-erotic" elements by Michel Leiris
. Seabrook claims that the experiments led to results suggestive of precognition
.
's Strange Cults and Secret Societies of Modern London (describing a "panther-cult"), John Mulholland
's Beware Familiar Spirits (describing his investigation of chance by using a randomizing process developed by IBM
, in order to criticise Rhine), and Peter Freuchen
's Arctic Adventure, which describes the mystical practices of Eskimo
s.
The appendix also includes discussion of Jiddu Krishnamurti
, Pierre Bernard
, Nostradamus
(apparently before he was well known in the USA), Spiritualist Bishop Arthur Ford
, and Ignatius Trebitsch.
The book was used as a source for the 1973 novel Daughter of Darkness
, about a young woman who uses African sympathetic magic
and poppets to control her family and environment.
William Buehler Seabrook
William Buehler Seabrook was an American Lost Generation occultist, explorer, traveller, cannibal, and journalist, born in Westminster, Maryland. He began his career as a reporter and City Editor of the Augusta Chronicle in Georgia...
which was published in 1940. It details the author's views on psychology
Psychology
Psychology is the study of the mind and behavior. Its immediate goal is to understand individuals and groups by both establishing general principles and researching specific cases. For many, the ultimate goal of psychology is to benefit society...
, parapsychology
Parapsychology
The term parapsychology was coined in or around 1889 by philosopher Max Dessoir, and originates from para meaning "alongside", and psychology. The term was adopted by J.B. Rhine in the 1930s as a replacement for the term psychical research...
and the occult
Occult
The word occult comes from the Latin word occultus , referring to "knowledge of the hidden". In the medical sense it is used to refer to a structure or process that is hidden, e.g...
, and contains information about the author's meetings with a number of famous people.
Throughout his writing career, Seabrook had been fascinated with the strange, from Dervish
Dervish
A Dervish or Darvesh is someone treading a Sufi Muslim ascetic path or "Tariqah", known for their extreme poverty and austerity, similar to mendicant friars in Christianity or Hindu/Buddhist/Jain sadhus.-Etymology:The Persian word darvīsh is of ancient origin and descends from a Proto-Iranian...
mystics (Adventures in Arabia) to Haiti
Haiti
Haiti , officially the Republic of Haiti , is a Caribbean country. It occupies the western, smaller portion of the island of Hispaniola, in the Greater Antillean archipelago, which it shares with the Dominican Republic. Ayiti was the indigenous Taíno or Amerindian name for the island...
an zombie
Zombie
Zombie is a term used to denote an animated corpse brought back to life by mystical means such as witchcraft. The term is often figuratively applied to describe a hypnotized person bereft of consciousness and self-awareness, yet ambulant and able to respond to surrounding stimuli...
s (Magic Island). Witchcraft contains Seabrook’s look back at his earlier first-hand experiences. He writes in the forward that the book will be “a disappointment to all who believe in the supernatural.” He concludes that although he had searched the world for the supernatural, on reflection he had to conclude that he had seen nothing inexplicable by science. Nevertheless, he remained fascinated by the possibilities of human psychology and parapsychology.
The book is divided into four sections, including a long appendix.
Part One: The Witch and the Doll
This section contains anecdotes concerning the use of voodoo dolls (more properly, poppetPoppet
The word poppet is an older spelling of puppet, from the Middle English popet, meaning a small child or doll. In British Dialect it continues to hold this meaning. Poppet is also a chiefly English term of endearment.-Folk magic:...
s) to cause illness and death, with examples taken from the Ivory Coast, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, and the UK. The author is of the opinion that the dolls work through the power of suggestion, and that even in cases of conscious scepticism unconscious belief might have an effect. The author also wrote that he had trained as a witchdoctor in a Malinke town near Bassam
Grand-Bassam
Grand-Bassam is a city in Côte d'Ivoire, lying east of Abidjan. It was the French colonial capital city from 1893 until 1896, when the administration was transferred to Bingerville after a bout of yellow fever. The city remained a key seaport until the growth of Abidjan from the...
.
The section also includes the claim that Seabrook's ancestor, Bishop Peter Boehler, had been a practitioner of black magic.
Part Two: The Vampire and the Werewolf
Section two reviews the case of Countess Elizabeth BathoryElizabeth Báthory
Countess Elizabeth Báthory de Ecsed was a countess from the renowned Báthory family of Hungarian nobility. Although in modern times she has been labelled the most prolific serial killer in history, the number of murders has been debated...
, a noblewoman accused of murder and sadistic practices.
It also recounts the case of a woman known to Seabrook who felt an urge to drink blood due to pernicious anaemia, and a couple of incidents from Africa that showed a belief in humans turning into animals. He also recounts an incident involving his friend, an occultist named John Bannister, who helped a young Russian woman remember having been a wolf.
Part Three: White Magic, Professor Rhine, the Supernormal, and Justine
In this section, the author puts forward his theory that sense deprivation may encourage psychicPsychic
A psychic is a person who professes an ability to perceive information hidden from the normal senses through extrasensory perception , or is said by others to have such abilities. It is also used to describe theatrical performers who use techniques such as prestidigitation, cold reading, and hot...
abilities, and he criticises the work of parapsychologist J.B. Rhine for failing to consider this. While Seabrook was generally sceptical of such abiltiies, he was perplexed by some incidents he recorded, and suggests that the theories about time and space of Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein was a German-born theoretical physicist who developed the theory of general relativity, effecting a revolution in physics. For this achievement, Einstein is often regarded as the father of modern physics and one of the most prolific intellects in human history...
might hold the answer to some of these mysteries.
The anecdotes in this section include the author's own experience of navigating a boat while in a kind of trance due to extreme tiredness, which he compares with the practices of Melewi Dervishes, whom he said that he studied under in Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
.
Seabrook then goes on to recount a meeting with G.I. Gurdjieff, and to describe the dances performed by his followers. Seabrook claims that Gurdjieff asked him to invite some his friends to Gurdjieff's apartment, where Gurdjieff gave a reading from his manuscript Beelezbub's Tale. Apparently the listeners (who included the behaviourist John Watson, Lincoln Steffens
Lincoln Steffens
-Biography:Steffens was born April 6, 1866, in San Francisco. He grew up in a wealthy family and attended a military academy. He studied in France and Germany after graduating from the University of California....
, and George Seldes
George Seldes
George Seldes was an American investigative journalist and media critic. The writer and critic Gilbert Seldes was his younger brother. Actress Marian Seldes is his niece....
) were perplexed and unimpressed; Seabrook notes that the book did not have a publisher (although it was later published under as Beelzebub's Tales to his Grandson
Beelzebub's Tales to his Grandson
Beelzebub's Tales to His Grandson or An Objectively Impartial Criticism of the Life of Man is the first volume of the All and Everything trilogy written by the Greek-Armenian mystic G. I. Gurdjieff...
).
This is followed by a sympathetic account of Aleister Crowley
Aleister Crowley
Aleister Crowley , born Edward Alexander Crowley, and also known as both Frater Perdurabo and The Great Beast, was an influential English occultist, astrologer, mystic and ceremonial magician, responsible for founding the religious philosophy of Thelema. He was also successful in various other...
and Seabrook's encounters with him.
The final chapters discuss Upton Sinclair
Upton Sinclair
Upton Beall Sinclair Jr. , was an American author who wrote close to one hundred books in many genres. He achieved popularity in the first half of the twentieth century, acquiring particular fame for his classic muckraking novel, The Jungle . It exposed conditions in the U.S...
and his book Mental Radio
Mental Radio
Mental Radio: Does it work, and how? was written by the American author Upton Sinclair. This book documents Sinclair's test of psychic abilities of Mary Craig Kimbrough, his second wife, while she was in a state of profound depression with a heightened interest in the occult. She attempted to...
, and an incidence of biographer William Woodward debunking someone who claimed to have a supernatural power. This is followed by an account of Seabrook's experiments in sense deprivation involving his lover Justine. The experiments include the use of a specially made mask, which Seabrook notes was considered to have "psycho-erotic" elements by Michel Leiris
Michel Leiris
Julien Michel Leiris was a French surrealist writer and ethnographer.-Biography:...
. Seabrook claims that the experiments led to results suggestive of precognition
Precognition
In parapsychology, precognition , also called future sight, and second sight, is a type of extrasensory perception that would involve the acquisition or effect of future information that cannot be deduced from presently available and normally acquired sense-based information or laws of physics...
.
Part Four: Appendix
The Appendix contains extra anecdotes and references, often taken from newspaper reports. There are also long quotes taken from Elliott O'DonnellElliott O'Donnell
Elliott O'Donnell was an Irish author known primarily for his books about ghosts. He claimed to have seen a ghost, described as an elemental figured covered with spots, when he was five years old...
's Strange Cults and Secret Societies of Modern London (describing a "panther-cult"), John Mulholland
John Mulholland
John Mulholland is the name of:*John Mulholland , president of the Irish Republican Brotherhood, 1910–1912*John Mulholland, 1st Baron Dunleath , Irish businessman and Conservative Member of Parliament*John F...
's Beware Familiar Spirits (describing his investigation of chance by using a randomizing process developed by IBM
IBM
International Business Machines Corporation or IBM is an American multinational technology and consulting corporation headquartered in Armonk, New York, United States. IBM manufactures and sells computer hardware and software, and it offers infrastructure, hosting and consulting services in areas...
, in order to criticise Rhine), and Peter Freuchen
Peter Freuchen
Peter Freuchen, born Lorenz Peter Elfred Freuchen was a Danish explorer, author, journalist and anthropologist.-Biography:...
's Arctic Adventure, which describes the mystical practices of Eskimo
Eskimo
Eskimos or Inuit–Yupik peoples are indigenous peoples who have traditionally inhabited the circumpolar region from eastern Siberia , across Alaska , Canada, and Greenland....
s.
The appendix also includes discussion of Jiddu Krishnamurti
Jiddu Krishnamurti
Jiddu Krishnamurti or J. Krishnamurti or , was a renowned writer and speaker on philosophical and spiritual subjects. His subject matter included: psychological revolution, the nature of the mind, meditation, human relationships, and bringing about positive change in society...
, Pierre Bernard
Pierre Bernard
Pierre Bernard, Jr. is a graphic designer and comedian, most notable for his work on The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien, Late Night with Conan O'Brien and Conan. He had a recurring sketch called "Pierre Bernard's Recliner of Rage", where he would complain about issues that concern him while...
, Nostradamus
Nostradamus
Michel de Nostredame , usually Latinised to Nostradamus, was a French apothecary and reputed seer who published collections of prophecies that have since become famous worldwide. He is best known for his book Les Propheties , the first edition of which appeared in 1555...
(apparently before he was well known in the USA), Spiritualist Bishop Arthur Ford
Arthur Ford
Arthur Ford was an American psychic spiritual medium, clairaudient and in 1955 founded the Spiritual Frontiers Fellowship.- Biographical problems :...
, and Ignatius Trebitsch.
Critical reception
The publication was widely reviewed. Time called it a "mildly entertaining potful of scraps." Newsweek was more complimentary, saying that the book was ".. no doubt a valuable contribution to the science of this peculiar subject." The New York Times Book Review wrote: "These personal experiences of the author are especially interesting parts of an interesting book."The book was used as a source for the 1973 novel Daughter of Darkness
Daughter of Darkness (novel)
Daughter of Darkness is a 1973 psychological thriller written by Jan and Robert Lowell, a husband and wife who use the joint pseudonym J.R. Lowell.-Plot:...
, about a young woman who uses African sympathetic magic
Sympathetic magic
Sympathetic magic, also known as imitative magic, is a type of magic based on imitation or correspondence.-Similarity and contagion:The theory of sympathetic magic was first developed by Sir James George Frazer in The Golden Bough...
and poppets to control her family and environment.