13 h 14 minAudiobook6 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What turns a shadow into a spirit, or a strange dream into a warning?
In Demonologia, J. S. Forsyth explores beliefs in spirits, omens, witchcraft and haunting. Sickness, storms and sudden death become reasons to fear unseen powers. Behind these beliefs lies a human need to explain what feels mysterious, threatening or beyond control.
Strange tales meet plain explanations as Forsyth considers fear, fever, poor light, memory and imagination. The book traces ancient ideas into later folk custom and asks why they endure. What makes a vision feel real, and why does an omen keep its hold even when reason offers another answer?
What you’ll discover
- The roots of fear Explore how sickness, storms and bad luck become signs of unseen beings at work.
- Ancient beliefs that linger Trace spirits of the dead, guardian powers and unlucky days into later folk custom.
- Mysteries in ordinary light Consider how poor light, fever and memory can turn ordinary experiences into apparent visions.
- The force of imagination Look at the habits of mind that make strange sights feel convincing and immediate.
- Wonder meets reason Explore why omens and hauntings retain their hold even when natural explanations are available.
Who will love it
Readers who enjoy curious history, strange old anecdotes, ghost and witch lore, the origins of everyday omens, and the debates between believers and skeptics in earlier centuries.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Superstition is older than reason
- Ordeals were crude justice
- Astrology flourished among the learned
- Charms, cures and the force of imagination
- Alchemy, magic and the arts of prediction
- Dreams, faces and ghost stories
- Witches, trials and the argument over belief
- Devils, haunted houses and the world of saints
- How the book's case has aged
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- Large print hardcover
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Demonología in 25 languages, side by side, paragraph by paragraph, once the book texts are online: the way to learn a language with a book you love.
Demonología
by J. S. Forsyth · 1827
A London astrologer scribbles epitaphs, and a drum beats in a family's house.
Challenging10–20 hours to read25 languages
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In short
Why did Roman commanders consult augurs before they marched? Demonologia gathers the beliefs that once ruled daily life, from omens and amulets to ghosts, witches and devils.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
Superstition is older than reason
The book opens with a bold claim. The human mind is drawn to the marvelous, and old superstitions survive even where learning has spread. Greek and Roman heroes and statesmen obeyed augurs, oracles and soothsayers. Kings and commanders would not march without reading entrails, birds and chickens.
Then the author turns the mirror on his own time. A hare on the road, spilled salt and a stumble are old omens, many inherited from Greece and Rome. People of sound judgment still turn pale at them.
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What is Demonologia about?
It is a collection of essays and dictionary-style entries on superstition. Topics include omens, astrology, amulets, alchemy, oracles, ghosts, witches, devils, saints and relics, with many anecdotes from ancient and early modern writers.
Who wrote Demonologia and when?
It is credited to J. S. Forsyth. It leans heavily on older authors, quoting and summarizing many of them, so it works as a compiled survey rather than a single argument.
Is Demonologia a true account of witches and ghosts?
It reports many old stories of witch trials, hauntings and apparitions, but the author usually offers natural explanations such as dreams, illness, fear and fraud. It records what people believed rather than proving it.
The author
J. S. Forsyth
Writer
J. S. Forsyth is the name given to the compiler of this book, which appeared in the early nineteenth century. He gathered entries and essays from many older authors, quoting writers such as Reginald Scot, Henry More, Grose and Gibbon. Little else about his life is certain; the book shows an educated Protestant writer of the age of reason.
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