Bücher der Reihe Demons, Spirits, Witches

Publishes 14 studies and the transcription of a round-table discussion on Carlo Ginzburg's "Ecstasies".

The authors¿recognized historians, ethnologists, folklorists coming from four continents¿present the latest research findings on the relationship, coexistence and conflicts of popular belief systems, Judeo-Christian mythology and demonology in medieval and modern Europe.The present volume focuses on the divergence between Western and Eastern evolution, on the different relationship of learned demonology to popular belief systems in the two parts of Europe. It discusses the conflict of saints, healers, seers, shamans with the representatives of evil; the special function of escorting, protecting, possessing, harming and healing spirits; the role of the dead, the ghosts, of pre-Christian, Jewish and Christian spirit-world, the antagonism of the devil and the saint.

This is the first volume of a series of three, containing 11 essays of altogether 43 articles based on the topics of the interdisciplinary conference held in Budapest in 1999.