[Inner Traditions]
Explores the many forms and abilities of the devil in stories from around the world
• Draws on folk traditions from all over Europe, including Transylvanian Romania, Bulgaria, Albania, Switzerland, Italy, France, Scandinavia, and the Baltic countries
• Traces the devil’s shapeshifting powers back to their Vedic origins in ancient India and looks at his connections with witches and storm magic
• Reveals how many of the qualities and magical powers attributed to the devil were once those belonging to pagan gods
The devil has many more guises than the cliché red boogeyman named Lucifer or Satan who haunts Christianity. In some traditions the devil is sinister and cunning, while others portray him as an oaf who can easily be conned and evaded by anyone with an ounce of cleverness. In other tales and legends, he is the primal shapeshifter, and the Roma, also known as the gypsies, claimed his talents of metamorphosis were so strong he could even assume the a