Betwixt God and the Devil
Inquiries into Essex Magic from the 16th Century to the Present Day.

By Richard Ward

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Ward's book 'Betwixt God and the Devil' was born of a lifelong interest in the folk magic traditions of his native Essex, an area long known as 'The Witch County,' and, as such, is key to the history and development of modern traditional Witchcraft.

Drawing on a wide variety of source materials, some of which are obscure and difficult to obtain, Ward demonstrates that the history of Essex magic is far more complex than it first appears. In doing so, he shows that attitudes which portrayed witches as purely evil and Cunning folk as entirely good were far from the truth. Even the popular belief that witches were exclusively pagan is shown to have been incorrect, an ambiguity popularly known as the dual observance.

Ward's history concludes with brief accounts of modern Essex-born practitioners, from the likes of witches Stewart Farrar and Paul Huson through to Typhonian magician Kenneth Grant and modern Cunning man Andrew Chumbley.

In the last part of his book, Ward reveals the magical practices traditionally used by witches and Cunning folk in Essex, such as charms and herbal remedies, methods of divination, curses and anti-curses. As he demonstrates that the core practices of Essex magic were longest preserved in remote farming communities, Ward includes a chapter specifically related to agricultural magic. This final section of the book also features accounts of the Horseman’s Word ritual, the related rite of the toad witch and the magical use of other bones and natural talismans within the county.