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Summary: A Dark, yet Enlightening Piece of History
Review: .
Why are modern day Catholics defending their faith in low ratings of this book and rationalizations?This book, intelligently written, is of course a frightening revelation of the human logic to rationalize what is most certainly imaginative and invented information, under the guise of factual finds, all based on biblical literalism. Quotes from St. Augustine (also a neurotic) and Aristotle, to name a few are found. Amazing how brilliant minds can get caught up in fantasy and fear. Wiccan can be the most beautiful religion in many circles, this is not the point. The point is the intellect and logic of man, using deductive analysis that is written in pure falacy, which in turn brought forth the rotten fruitage of the most horrendous torture and murders. Do we not read many such books of the same today? Everytime we literalize the bible or get lost in the "how" over the "why," we loose perpective. One just has to look at "McCarthyism," the "War on Drugs," and now the "Patriots Act." So many laws give detailed logic but rationalization is the escape from the courage to be. This book is excellent on human history. There is no need to defend the church, the governments, the logic of it all, rather there is the need to recognize the difference between the letter of laws and the spirit, the motives and the psychology. Detailed structured manuals and formulated laws do not equate truth, nor justice, but rather justice is found in incommunicable laws of being.
Rating: 
Summary: An excellent historical resource
Review: As a student of archaeology and history, this book is an amazing resource into the materials used during the inquisition. I must point out however that the ideas and opinions in this book were not originally held by the church or pope. The permission to print this book was forged at the time of writing, way back when, which was not found out until hundreds of years later. The unfortunate result is recorded in history as one of mankinds darkest hours.
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Summary: to the reviewer of "Their Mother's Sons and Daughters"
Review: I find this book a difficult one to actually evaluate, but decided to give it five stars on the basis that it is a historical text that accurately documents the beliefs of the Catholic Church during the witch hunt era. (It is important to note, however, that not all Catholics at this time subcribed to these beliefs). This book is very significant in explaining the origin of witch hunts and persecutions of witches throughout history. The text was written originally by two Catholic priests, in which they fabricated evil practices of witches and ways to identify them and eradicate them. On the contrary, in the Pre-Christian era a witch was originally the doctor, spiritual healer, counselor-"everything woman" of her village. She was highly respected as the village's "wise woman," which is the original meaning of the word "witch." When the Catholic Church developed and began to gain more power, its higher members recognized the political power of these women and feared their pagan influence, and so the Malleus Maleficarum was born. Most of the accusations it makes are highly off base and ridiculous. I myself, do not practice Wicca, but am a born-again Christian. Therefore, I was very offended and upset by the comments made in the review entitled "Their Mother's Sons and Daughters," if this was even a sincere review. The reason neo-paganists are so offended by this book is not because it rings true to their beliefs, but because it was used for centuries as the justification for the death and torture of thousands of their predecessors and other innocents. Those who practice Wicca, in particular, do not even believe that Satan exists, therefore would never worship him or use him as a channel for evil purposes. Their religion, although I do not accept it as truth, is fundamentally peace-loving just as Christianity is. The comments that were made in this particular review I speak of and similar prejudices are ignorant, narrow-minded, and no doubt, are part of the reason for the widespread misunderstanding of Christianity in our modern society.
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Summary: Personal opinion aside, it's still primary source material
Review: I really must admit that I'm amazed at the people who either are horrified that this book exists or think it's the absolute truth. This book was written nearly 400 years ago, and needs to be viewed in context, which too many of the reviewers are incapable of doing. But enough of the soapbox, on to the book... First off,... ignore the introduction. Rev. Summers has some truly bizarre and unsupportable beliefs about the prevalence and organization of witchcraft in the middle ages. Fifth column working to overthrow the whole of Christendom? ... Once you get past the oddly humourous intro, the book begins to bog. It's a slow, dull read. However, the material is vital in getting an understanding of the Church's then-current philosophy on dealing with witchcraft. You're not going to get a better picture unless you read the original Latin, which I doubt few of us are prepared for anymore. How much of this is necessary to the casual reader is debatable. There are multitudes of general histories written with a slant towards any position you favor that cover the same ground. They also don't get into as much detail as this, but then, how much do you need? It's primary source material for the truly dedicated. Taken for what it is, a historical document, it gets 5 stars. Take off a half-star for the sometime ...[bad] printing you get from Dover. Take off another half-star for lingering doubts about the translation. Anybody with as much of an axe to grind as the Rev. Montague Summers may have 'aided' the translation a bit, but that is simply speculation on my part.
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Summary: Historical Insight
Review: It is rather hard to comment on a book that reveals more about the original authors, the institution which commissioned the book, and the "translator" Montague Summers.
The best way to understand, and perhaps "use" this book is with a History of the period. There is so much that surrounded this period, by way of historical ,contextual "bracketing" that reading this book on it's own is basically unreading of the historical understand that can be gleaned.
The text itself is on one level, self evident, however, the motivatations are not, IMO, immediately, evident in a straight reading.
If you can find a book studying the Book, and the period, then the understanding revealed is invaluable.
I do suspect that a similar book could and would be produced by certain groups if they had the chance... come to think of it, many books of this kind have been produced by extremists of various kinds.
Bottom line... history repeats itself... its about time Humanity started learning from its mistakes.
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Summary: An Unflinching Look at the Past
Review: It is somewhat ironic that of all Summer's works, his translation of the Malleus Maleficarum would become what he is most famous for. Most people who would call themselves occultists in our time would, also ironically, like to see every last copy burned. What fascinates me is not only the fact that the book's survival is now ensured, but that Summers goes to great lengths to actually defend the book and the Inquisition in his 1948 introduction. It is possible that he chooses his translation's second printing for this because that by 1948, the Malleus was no longer history's most infamous book. As to the actual content set down by Kramer and Sprenger, it provides a most interesting look into the minds of fifteenth-century biblical scholars-- and at the time these were considered two of the best. The text, though fascinating, often seems to be endless, but one must understand that this was the style of the time. Though it is doubtful that an actual witch (a better word would be "malefactor") was ever punished with this book's help, it remains a wonderful look into history and I for one am glad it will be around for future generations.
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Summary: From a realistic Catholic
Review: The Inquisition. Although none of us alive today were really there, we don't have to travel back in time to figure out the atrocities commited during those dark days. There are documents and sources still around today that account the events. The Malleus Maleficarnum (Wicth Hammer in Latin), was the absolute Inquisitor's handbook. Through the superstitious ignorance of most people in those days, blaming the Devil and witches on every misfortune, it was not easy for the Pope and the Inquisitors, the most infamous being Tomas De Torquemada, to capture people they believed were witches. Sadly, this was an excuse to erradicate Muslims and Jews who were living in Spain, as well as homosexuals, lesbians, bisexuals, Gypsies and anyone considered "different" from the Church-oriented society. The Malleus is a perfect source of reference for us to learn today that superstition and false accusations SHOULD be verified. Obviously, witchcraft has been around since primitive society, and the Bible specifically condemns such practices if their purposes are for evil...
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Summary: People don't seem to understand this book or its counterpart
Review: This book and Compendium Maleficarum is not written by modern authors. These are reprints of books used in witch hunts in europe, lies created by the pope, and the church, to hunt down many pagans. This was done to help win a religious battle with pagans because many people became pagans instead of christians, due to the celebrations. I myself am not christian, nor am I wiccan, or any other religion for that matter, I am atheist. It doesn't bother me that people give this book 1 star, but their reason isn't the best reason. They say it's filled with hate, which it is, but when a book is written to hunt down and kill people it is going to be filled with hate. This was created by a paranoid church, and it seems some people think it was written for modern times. This book should only be bought for those interested in the witch hunts of europe, and not those looking for a history, or to understand wicca. This book should be read to educate people of probably the most horrific time in the christian church(though there have been many). Not to be taken as a modern work, in how to deal with witches.
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Summary: For Anyone Interested in History, Not in Truth
Review: This book and its counterpart are not to be taken as modern fact. At all. By anyone. Three hundred years ago though they were the handbooks of the overly-pious and the religiously fanatical and for this reason I have always kept copies of them in my personal library. This was the excuse used for thousands of murders over many decades and it IS interesting to see what sort of drivel the Catholic Church sancitoned, but nothing more. The Wicca who look at this book as a slight to themselves have to realise that it was written before their religion as it exists today was even thought of. The Christians who look at this book as a reason to hate and mistrust those who believe in a poly-theo creed need to realise that these writings are - in effect - akin to Nazi pamphlet propeganda. They were written with the express purpose of breeding hate and fear. I personally have always kept copies of both this handbook and its mate in my personal collection because they are an amazing historical snapshot. The engravings in these books are also some of the MOST famous depictions of "witchcraft" and the pantheon of demons known today. Look at these books as a history lesson and a way to weed out the false beliefs relating to witches, demons, the devil, spell casting etc as MANY of the modern misconceptions of these things actually CAME from these books! If you're looking at the history of Europe during the witch hunts, or the history of poly-theo religions from a scolarly perspective, then these books are a MUST have. They do give you a true and vivid feeling of the way in which panic and hysteria were wielded as lethal weapons against the healers, midwives and non-Christians of Europe AND were the birthplace of many misconceptions still popularly held today. However, I would put just as much faith in their validity as I would in the works of Montaque Summers.
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Summary: The Most Important Book For Wiccans/Pagans
Review: This notorious handbook stood in the way of those who practice witchcraft. Further reading can see the pure ignorance of what they thought of as a "true witch" . There is a lot of reading that the wiccan today can use for history research. Some of the chapters are hard to swallow, but, you can truly see how the study of mass hysteria brewed. Worth the money and worth looking into.
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