Ecstatick Magick

Some days the sun shines on you and ebay sends you a saved search alert that actually contains something useful. I finally got a copy of the original 1965 “The Witches Speak” by the Crowthers.

When the book arrived, it was a bit of a surprise, because it’s essentially a magazine. It was published by Athol as a special offer from FATE magazine. Still, that only adds to it’s ephemeral nature and it has some fascinating pictures not included in the later edition.

The book kind of what you’d expect from the time period and format…it’s a very general overview of Witchcraft, history etc. It’s written in a way that anticipates lay people’s questions and reactions to the topic, reads a bit defensively, which is understandable.

I went through both books page by page to spot any differences. Turns out the only things different are the pictures (1976 is all illustrations, 1965 is photographs) and the forward by Leo Martello in 1976. The forward is very interesting, it gives some great historical context for the book.

Overall I’m not sure which I’d recommend. The 1976 illustrations and forward are very interesting, but the 1965 version is such a cool piece of history.

**CLICK HERE** to continue to the gallery where you can see all the images from both books. Enjoy!