Cunning-Folk: Popular Magic in English History

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Summary: English Folk Magic Revealed
Review: In CUNNING-FOLK: POPULAR MAGIC IN ENGLISH HISTORY Owen Davies gives a detailed picture of the English folk magic practitioner in detail. Although the cunning folk were often referred to as white witches, their way of life was not just black and white. It was complicated and colorful. The cunning folk (from the Anglo-Saxon cunnan meaning to know, the author tells us) were both men and women. They claimed to be able to find lost goods, locate hidden treasure, tell fortunes, heal, do love magic, give charms, find evil witches and unbewitch the alleged victim of malefic witchcraft. Yet they were often thought of as witches or worse than witches. Davies fully explores the culture of the cunning-folk from around the 15th century to the early 20th century in a clear and logical presentation.
There are eight chapters: Cunning-Folk and the Law, For Good or Evil?, Who and Why, Services, Books, Written Charms, European Comparisons, Cunning-Folk in the Twentieth Century. There are 246 pages with Notes, Bibliography and Index. For those interested in folk magic or in the general environment of witchcraft, this book is highly recommended.