About this title:

Far from being a religion defined by rituals of peace, and love and salvation, Christianity has a dark side which historically embraced the imprecatory arts—rituals of cursing and malediction. Beginning with God’s curse upon Adam, Eve, the Serpent, and their descendants, the religion of Jesus Christ embraces a rich tradition of cursing and casting evil upon others, even if largely unacknowledged. The magic of hate and harm had a special place amongst the learned clergy, whose traffic with angels and demons is also known through the historical genre of grimoires, the so-called ‘Black Books’ of European necromancy. Drawing upon the Bible, as well as non-canonical scriptures and folk traditions, Anathema Maranatha examines the rich history of Christian malediction, from curses to blight farmland to magical operations meant to cause a building to collapse, to invoking the saints for the destruction of one’s enemies.