Richard Cavendish (occult writer)

For other people with the same name, see Richard Cavendish.

Richard Cavendish (12 August 1930 – 21 October 2016)[1] was a British historian who wrote extensively on the subjects of occultism, religion, the tarot, mythology, and English history.

Personal life

Cavendish was born in 1930 at Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, the son of a Church of England clergyman. He lived with his partner in the United States for eight years, in New York City and Los Angeles.

Career

Cavendish was educated at Christ's Hospital and at Brasenose College, Oxford, where he specialized in medieval studies. He wrote both on the political and social history of Great Britain and on the history of folk magic and occultism in the British Isles and Europe. Among his best-known works are The Black Arts,[2] The Tarot, A History of Magic, and the influential 24-volume set Man, Myth & Magic, which he both edited and contributed to. He also writes regularly for the British journal History Today.[3]

Cavendish's work is highly regarded for its depth of research and agnostic stance towards its sometimes controversial subject matter. While written for a lay audience rather than for scholars, books like The Black Arts and The Powers of Evil in Western Religion, Magic and Folk Belief remain accessible, reputable, and insightful reading decades after their original publication. Although in his book 'The Black Arts' on pages 8 and 9 that 'Witches worship the Devil and the hair and nails of a corpse continue to grow after death.' Which makes any other assertions in this book suspect.

Partial bibliography

References

  1. ↑ Richard Cavendish
  2. ↑ Witches reported active in Toledo, Toledo Blade, 3 Dec 1968, p2
  3. ↑ http://www.historytoday.com/author/richard-cavendish


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