Magic
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Recent papers in Magic
Further important sources of the empiricism of the Scientific Revolution were to be found in the magical tradition, and these influences can be seen at work in a number of areas. They deserve separate consideration here, however, because... more
Chapter in: Forging Communities: Food and Representation in Medieval and Early Modern Southwestern Europe. Edited by Monserrat Pierra, Fayetteville: The University of Arkansas Press. Food and Foodways. 2018. 69-81.
The Bible is full of references to magic and divination, but we rarely find attestations of witches and witchcraft, i.e. women performing acts of black magic. However, there is a mysterious passage in the Book of Ezekiel which seems to... more
More than any other object of historical and anthropological study, Islamicate occult science cuts to the quick of what it means to be modern, to be Western, to be scientific. Yet nowhere else are 19th-century colonialist metaphysics and... more
Historiographical paper on use of African magical practice among slaves in the Americas.
Rabbi Kalonymus Kalmish Shapira (1889-1943), Rebbe of the Polish Hasidic group of Piaseczna, was one of the outstanding Jewish mystics of the Twentieth Century. In an undated entry in his personal spiritual diary Tsav ve-ziruz, R.... more
“The Elven Way” by The Silver Elves describes the Mystical, Magical, Spiritual Path of the Elf folk and their connection to the Shining Ones, those supra-dimensional beings who are our guides, guardians, ancient kindred and the source of... more
Conjuring Science is a study of how magic and science (mechanics, physics, chemistry) coexisted between the mid-eighteenth century and the early twentieth in the theatrical performances of conjurers and magicians.
Переводчик с фр. / translator from fr. Ленен Л. Божественная каббала. — СПб.: Издательство «Академия исследования культуры», 2019. — 288 с. — (Серия Code Grimoire). ISBN 978-5-94396-218-9 «Божественная каббала» — это неизвестная до... more
"One of the central questions in the study of modern Western Esotericism concerns the continued appeal of magic; how did magic survive “the disenchantment of the world”? An appealing explanation has been that the emergence of “occultist... more
Trotz zahlreicher und fundierter Einblicke in die Gattung und den theologischen Inhalt der Nag-Hammadi-Apokalypse des Paulus (NHC V,2) bleibt die genaue Valenz des Textes umstritten: Ist der Text valentinianisch, wie oft behauptet,... more
This chapter offers an overview of the magical papyri from Roman Egypt, preserved in both Greek and Demotic.
The color blue is thought to protect against the evil eye in Mediterranean cultures. This article unfolds the yet-unstudied role played by kabbalistic theology, symbolism, and myth in the construction of the color blue as a protective... more
ТОЛЬКО ОЗНАКОМИТЕЛЬНЫЙ ФРАГМЕНТ, электронная версия не распространяется. Роджер Бэкон: алхимия, астрология, магия и медицина (сборник) / М. М. Пэттисон Мьюр, Г. С. Редгроув, Л. Торндайк, Э. Т. Уитингтон, Г. У. Л. Хайм / Пер. с англ. и... more
This article is a biography that charts the history and significance of an important magical artifact that has hitherto gone unnoticed because its existence was unknown to all but a few. The artifact in question is the oldest extant... more
Contained within the twenty-two picture cards of the Visconti-Sforza Tarot is a sacred open secret. 2 The Major Arcana is a visual representation of an ancient mnemonic system the formation of which is the central operation of the seminal... more
For the past forty years shamanism has drawn increasing attention among the general public and academics. There is an enormous literature on shamanism, but no one has tried to understand why and how Western intellectual and popular... more
Powerful historical artefacts vitalize their potential agencies in specific historical moments and cause fractures in our perspectives. In this thesis, I argue that objects' power can be examined by looking at their supernatural,... more
This unfunded translation of the 1903 treatise by Ólafur Davíðsson, written and published in the German annual journal: Zeitschrift des Vereins für Volkskunde under the title “Isländische Zauberzeichen und Zauberbücher”. This important... more
This paper investigates the relationship between psychoactive substances and so-called paranormal phenomena falling within the study of parapsychology. It is primarily concerned with extrasensory perception (ESP)—telepathy, precognition,... more
Jewish-Aramaic Incantation Bowls from the The Antiquities Department of the Civil Administration Confiscated Items
A deep study of the magical aspects of ritual, both anthropological, social as wel a psychological. Various models about how rituals works, how the mind deals with magic, how rituals help to overcome time and space limitations, can help... more
Objective The project aims to explore Ottoman notions and belief systems concerning the supernatural. Its major objectives will be to explore the meaning and content of the perceptions of the "supernatural" , to localize such beliefs in... more
The Seven Seals of medieval Islamic magic, which are believed to constitute the Greatest Name of God, also feature in Jewish Kabbalah from the same period. While many Seal symbols make sporadic appearances in early Islamic amulets bearing... more
Uncorrected proofs of chapter on "Contemporary Ritual Magic" for The Occult World (Routledge, 2014), edited by Christopher Partridge.
This work critically examines every one of the spells and rites translated in Hans Dieter Betz's "Greek Magical Papyri in Translation" and Daniel & Maltomini's "Supplementum Magicum" (plus texts drawn from a number of other lamellae,... more
This article traces the radical devaluation of the phantasm throughout Western civilization. With the help of Nietzsche's critical perspective, I develop a notion of hystery as the series of collective traumas repeated in each... more
This is an extract from the book, showing the table of contents, the introduction and Chapter 1. Published September 2015 by Avalonia. In this unprecedented work, Christopher A. Smith has meticulously studied no less than 6 original... more