Magic Sacrificed


Book Description

A sacrifice must be made... I’ve never felt more alone. With a single spell I can defeat the dark witch Alaria. Maybe even save the world. But I only get one chance; if I fail she’ll kill me and my friends will become her sacrifices. To make things worse, Alaria is cunning and manipulative. The longer I stay under her influence, pretending to be one of her disciples, the easier I find the role. And blood magic is as frightening as it is powerful. Thomas and the others are here – so close, yet so far. I can’t risk letting them know it’s me. One wrong move and we’re all dead. The clock is ticking, but I haven’t figured out how to make my move. Then, disaster strikes and we find ourselves in the middle of a bloodbath. I have to stop Alaria now, before she slips away and all of this ends up being for nothing. The only question… do I destroy the source of her terrible power or will I need it to save everyone I love? Magic Sacrificed is the ninth and final book in the Urban Fantasy series, More than Magic, featuring dark witches, vampires, elementals, and more. If you like your paranormal with a dash of thriller and characters you'll fall in love with, you'll want to grab the edge-of-your-seat conclusion today!




Picatrix


Book Description

A manual for constructing talismans, mixing magical compounds, summoning planetary spirits, and determining astrological conditions, Picatrix is a cornerstone of Western esotericism. It offers important insights not only into occult practices and beliefs but also into the transmission of magical ideas from antiquity to the present. Dan Attrell and David Porreca’s English translation opens the world of this vital medieval treatise to modern-day scholars and lay readers. The original text, Ghāyat al-Ḥakīm, was compiled in Arabic from over two hundred sources in the latter half of the tenth century. It was translated into Castilian Spanish in the mid-thirteenth century, and shortly thereafter into Latin. Based on David Pingree’s edition of the Latin text, this translation captures the spirit of Picatrix’s role in the European tradition. In the world of Picatrix, we see a seamless integration of practical magic, earnest piety, and traditional philosophy. The detailed introduction considers the text’s reception through multiple iterations and includes an enlightening statistical breakdown of the rituals described in the book. Framed by extensive research on the ancient and medieval context that gave rise to the Latin version of the text, this translation of Picatrix will be an indispensable volume for students and scholars of the history of science, magic, and religion and will fascinate anyone interested in the occult.




Understanding Religious Sacrifice


Book Description

This volume provides a thorough introduction to the major classic and modern writings dealing with religious sacrifice. Collected here are twenty five influential selections, each with a brief introduction addressing the overall framework and assumptions of its author. As they present different theories and examples of sacrifice, these selections also discuss important concepts in religious studies such as the origin of religion, totemism, magic, symbolism, violence, structuralism and ritual performance. Students of comparative religion, ritual studies, the history of religions, the anthropology of religion and theories of religion will particularly value the historical organization and thematic analyses presented in this collection.




Human Sacrifice


Book Description

Welcome to the terrifying world of ritual sacrifice. Around the world, humans are being trafficked, kidnapped, sold, and enslaved for the specific purpose of sacrifice. Mass-scale migration has seen these gruesome techniques exported from the land of the Aztecs and finding their way to the United States, Britain, and many other locations worldwide. Voodoo priests in London have been linked to ritual murders, and not long ago a Palo Mayombe priestess’s New York City apartment yielded its grisly secrets. One New Jersey investigator says that sacrificial rites are not only going on today, but can be traced back ninety years in the States alone. Jimmy Lee Shreeve takes us on a nightmare journey, following the initial investigations of Scotland Yard into the murder of a five-year-old boy whose torso was found floating in the Thames in 2001, and traveling to Africa to unveil a grim trade of exporting humans for sacrifice. He uncovers the dark side of voodoo and muti magic, linked with a score of sacrifices and murders, and in Mexico, finds a devotee of Palo Mayombe responsible for torturing his victims and boiling them in a cauldron. Along the way, Shreeve brings his own brand of offbeat detective skills to the fore, providing startling conclusions to some of the world’s most horrific murders. Brutal and disturbing, Human Sacrifice takes us into the dark world of twenty-first-century ritual murder.




Sacrificed To Her King


Book Description

He needed to break his curse, she needed an escape. Once magic was the heart that made the Mortal Realm thrive. Nowadays humans with magical powers only exist in stories. For Noelle magic and adventures only live in her dreams. But that is all about to change because she is about to turn 18. When she is 18 she can finally explore the world and have adventures of her own! However, things do not go as planned on her birthday. She gets selected to be sacrificed to the King of the Sea. He is rumored to be a giant man with no kindness in his heart. Every year, the King of the Sea picks an 18-year-old virgin to bring to his kingdom. He hopes to find the long-lost heir to the witches to break his curse. Noelle has no idea why she got chosen and what will happen. However, she sure as hell knows that no one can put out the fire in her heart. She gets sucked into a world of magic, temptation, and desires. Will she find her destiny or get lost along the way?




The Encyclopedia of Magic and Alchemy


Book Description

A comprehensive illustrated reference guide with more than 400 entries on the subjects of magic and alchemy.




Sacred Sacrifice


Book Description

'Sacred Sacrifice' examines how analogous mythological ideas and the experience of sacred presence during the ritual act created similar ritual paradigms in two non-contiguous cultures. Vedic fire sacrifice, the Horse sacrifice in ancient India and the sacrificial development of the Christian Eucharist serve as examples. This book takes to task theories on sacrifice and ritual that emphasize the psycho-social and functionalist interpretation to the exclusion of the religious. The relationship between myth and ritual, and conscious and unconscious human behavior emerges from this analysis of universal religious structures.




The Soul Sacrifice


Book Description

Fire and Water make the ultimate sacrifice. Sophia The final battle has arrived. We’re prepared to face the Elders, but we can’t do it without the Azaimperiai. The ancient artifact will summon the ancestors to fight beside us. It’s our only hope at winning this war. But first, we must find the Familiars the Elders stole— before they can slaughter them and kill our people. We’ve finally discovered the true meaning of the prophecy, but it’s nothing like we expected. The prophecy says I’ll lose my life to save the tribe. Nothing could ever prepare me for leaving my daughter behind. Liam At the end of the world, things have never looked better just as they’re falling apart. My daughter gives me hope for the future, but there won’t be a future for her if the Elders continue to rule. To defeat them, we have to make a last stand. The fate of the Hawkei will be determined in the greatest battle of our time. If the rebellion falls, our people will be lost forever— as well as our magical creatures. Yet the prophecy is clear. To prevent the Elementai from going extinct, a sacrifice must be made. Sophia and I have to choose between saving our tribe... or saving our family. *** The Academy of Magical Creatures series comes to a breathtaking conclusion in the final book of this magical fantasy saga. This series takes place in the Hidden Legends Universe, along with the University of Sorcery series, the College of Witchcraft series, and the Prison for Supernatural Offenders series. The Hidden Legends universe features college-aged protagonists attending magical academies, dual points-of-view, disabled and diverse main characters, and steamy, empowering romances. Each series stands on its own and can be read in any order. This is a full-length novel over 400 pages. Recommended reading age 18+ Experience the fantastic finale and order today!




Sacrifices


Book Description

Everly’s the oldest, and that means she needs to take care of business—and her sisters—now that their mother is dead. Now that her sister Carissa is finally seeing that their mother’s death is suspicious, all she needs to do is prove it. And find out where the darkness that is threatening her family is coming from. It doesn’t help matters that a mysterious, hot ex from the U.K. shows up. Out of the blue. An ex who ghosted her. No, really. Ghosted. Not as in Casper, but as in poof! Now, she’s got to figure out a mystery and a man.




Child Sacrifice in Ancient Israel


Book Description

Among the many religious acts condemned in the Hebrew Bible, child sacrifice stands out as particularly horrifying. The idea that any group of people would willingly sacrifice their own children to their god(s) is so contrary to modern moral sensibilities that it is difficult to imagine that such a practice could have ever existed. Nonetheless, the existence of biblical condemnation of these rites attests to the fact that some ancient Israelites in fact did sacrifice their children. Indeed, a close reading of the evidence—biblical, archaeological, epigraphic, etc.—indicates that there are at least three different types of Israelite child sacrifice, each with its own history, purpose, and function. In addition to examining the historical reality of Israelite child sacrifice, Dewrell’s study also explores the biblical rhetoric condemning the practice. While nearly every tradition preserved in the Hebrew Bible rejects child sacrifice as abominable to Yahweh, the rhetorical strategies employed by the biblical writers vary to a surprising degree. Thus, even in arguing against the practice of child sacrifice, the biblical writers themselves often disagreed concerning why Yahweh condemned the rites and why they came to exist in the first place.