Physical Evidence for Ritual Acts, Sorcery and Witchcraft in Christian Britain

Physical Evidence for Ritual Acts, Sorcery and Witchcraft in Christian Britain PDF Author: Ronald Hutton
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 1137444827
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 276

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Book Description
This volume investigates the physical evidence for magic in medieval and modern Britain, including ritual mark, concealed objects, amulets, and magical equipment. The contributors are the current experts in each area of the subject, and show between them how ample the evidence is and how important it is for an understanding of history.

Physical Evidence for Ritual Acts, Sorcery and Witchcraft in Christian Britain

Physical Evidence for Ritual Acts, Sorcery and Witchcraft in Christian Britain PDF Author: Ronald Hutton
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 1137444827
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 276

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Book Description
This volume investigates the physical evidence for magic in medieval and modern Britain, including ritual mark, concealed objects, amulets, and magical equipment. The contributors are the current experts in each area of the subject, and show between them how ample the evidence is and how important it is for an understanding of history.

Satanism, Magic and Mysticism in Fin-de-siècle France

Satanism, Magic and Mysticism in Fin-de-siècle France PDF Author: Robert Ziegler
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781403995667
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 229

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Book Description


Physical Evidence for Ritual Acts, Sorcery and Witchcraft in Christian Britain

Physical Evidence for Ritual Acts, Sorcery and Witchcraft in Christian Britain PDF Author: Ronald Hutton
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 1137444827
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 276

Get Book Here

Book Description
This volume investigates the physical evidence for magic in medieval and modern Britain, including ritual mark, concealed objects, amulets, and magical equipment. The contributors are the current experts in each area of the subject, and show between them how ample the evidence is and how important it is for an understanding of history.

Amulets in Magical Practice

Amulets in Magical Practice PDF Author: Jay Johnston
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1108956769
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 144

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Book Description
This Element takes as its remit the production and use of amulets. The focus will be on amulets with no, or minimal, textual content like those comprising found stone, semi-precious gem and/or animal body parts. That is a material form that is unaccompanied by directive textual inscription. The analysis considers this materiality to understand its context of use including ritual and metaphysical operations. Through discussion of selected case studies from British, Celtic, and Scandinavian cultures, it demonstrates the associative range of meaning that enabled the attribution of power/agency to the amuletic object Uniquely, it will consider this material culture from an interdisciplinary perspective, drawing together insights from the disciplines of cultural studies, religious studies, 'folk' studies, archaeology and Scandinavian studies. It develops the concept of 'trans-aniconism' to encapsulates an amulet's temporal relations and develops the proposition of 'landscape amulets.'

The Oxford Handbook of Later Medieval Archaeology in Britain

The Oxford Handbook of Later Medieval Archaeology in Britain PDF Author: Christopher Gerrard
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0191062111
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 1105

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Book Description
The Middle Ages are all around us in Britain. The Tower of London and the castles of Scotland and Wales are mainstays of cultural tourism and an inspiring cross-section of later medieval finds can now be seen on display in museums across England, Scotland, and Wales. Medieval institutions from Parliament and monarchy to universities are familiar to us and we come into contact with the later Middle Ages every day when we drive through a village or town, look up at the castle on the hill, visit a local church or wonder about the earthworks in the fields we see from the window of a train. The Oxford Handbook of Later Medieval Archaeology in Britain provides an overview of the archaeology of the later Middle Ages in Britain between AD 1066 and 1550. 61 entries, divided into 10 thematic sections, cover topics ranging from later medieval objects, human remains, archaeological science, standing buildings, and sites such as castles and monasteries, to the well-preserved relict landscapes which still survive. This is a rich and exciting period of the past and most of what we have learnt about the material culture of our medieval past has been discovered in the past two generations. This volume provides comprehensive coverage of the latest research and describes the major projects and concepts that are changing our understanding of our medieval heritage.

Magic: A History

Magic: A History PDF Author: Chris Gosden
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
ISBN: 0374717907
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 512

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Book Description
An Oxford professor of archaeology explores the unique history of magic—the oldest and most neglected strand of human behavior and its resurgence today Three great strands of belief run through human history: Religion is the relationship with one god or many gods, masters of our lives and destinies. Science distances us from the world, turning us into observers and collectors of knowledge. And magic is direct human participation in the universe: we have influence on the world around us, and the world has influence on us. Over the last few centuries, magic has developed a bad reputation—thanks to the unsavory tactics of shady practitioners, and to a successful propaganda campaign on the part of religion and science, which denigrated magic as backward, irrational, and "primitive." In Magic, however, the Oxford professor of archaeology Chris Gosden restores magic to its essential place in the history of the world—revealing it to be an enduring element of human behavior that plays an important role for individuals and cultures. From the curses and charms of ancient Greek, Roman, and Jewish magic, to the shamanistic traditions of Eurasia, indigenous America, and Africa; from the alchemy of the Renaissance to the condemnation of magic in the colonial period and the mysteries of modern quantum physics—Gosden's startling, fun, and colorful history supplies a missing chapter of the story of our civilization. Drawing on decades of research around the world—touching on the first known horoscope, a statue ordered into exile, and the mystical power of tattoos—Gosden shows what magic can offer us today, and how we might use it to rethink our relationship with the world. Magic is an original, singular, and sweeping work of scholarship, and its revelations will leave a spell on the reader.

Betwixt and Between Liminality and Marginality

Betwixt and Between Liminality and Marginality PDF Author: Zohar Hadromi-Allouche
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 179364490X
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 327

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Book Description
Betwixt and Between Liminality and Marginality: Mind the Gap offers an interdisciplinary thinking on “the marginal” within society. Using the framework of Victor Turner’s earlier notions of liminality, the book both challenges Turner’s symbolic anthropology, and celebrates its continued influence across disciplines, and under new theoretical constraints. Liminality in its simplest forms provides language for meaningful approaches to articulate transition and change. It also represents complex social theories beyond Turner’s classical symbolic approach. While demonstrating the enduring relevance of Turner’s language for expressing transition, this volume keeps an eye toward the validity of critiques against him. It thus theorizes with Turner’s work while updating, even abandoning, some of his primary ideas, when applying it to contemporary social issues. A central focus of this volume is marginality. Turner recognized that marginals, like liminars, are betwixt and between; however, they lack assurance that their ambiguity will be resolved. This volume explores the dialogic relationship of space and agency, to recognize marginal groups and people, and inquire, without a harmonious resolution, what happens to the marginals? Have race, class, gender, and sexual orientation become the space for thinking about reintegration and communitas? Each chapter examines how marginal groups, or liminal spaces and ideas, destabilize, shape, and affect the dominant culture.

Public Archaeology: Arts of Engagement

Public Archaeology: Arts of Engagement PDF Author: Howard Williams
Publisher: Archaeopress Publishing Ltd
ISBN: 1789693748
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 290

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Book Description
This collection, stemming from the 2nd University of Chester Archaeology Student Conference 'Archaeo-Engage: Engaging Communities in Archaeology' (April 2017), provides original perspectives on public archaeology’s current practices and future potentials focusing on art/archaeological media, strategies and subjects.

Field Manual for the Archaeology of Ritual, Religion, and Magic

Field Manual for the Archaeology of Ritual, Religion, and Magic PDF Author: C. Riley Augé
Publisher: Berghahn Books
ISBN: 1800735049
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 284

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Book Description
By bringing together in one place specific objects, materials, and features indicating ritual, religious, or magical belief used by people around the world and through time, this tool will assist archaeologists in identifying evidence of belief-related behaviors and broadening their understanding of how those behaviors may also be seen through less obvious evidential lines. Instruction and templates for recording, typologizing, classifying, and analyzing ritual or magico-religious material culture are also provided to guide researchers in the survey, collection, and cataloging processes. The bulleted formatting and topical range make this a highly accessible work, while providing an incredible wealth of information in a single volume.

Cursed Britain

Cursed Britain PDF Author: Thomas Waters
Publisher: Yale University Press
ISBN: 0300249454
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 375

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Book Description
The definitive history of how witchcraft and black magic have survived, through the modern era and into the present dayCursed Britain unveils the enduring power of witchcraft, curses and black magic in modern times. Few topics are so secretive or controversial. Yet, whether in the 1800s or the early 2000s, when disasters struck or personal misfortunes mounted, many Britons found themselves believing in things they had previously dismissed – dark supernatural forces.Historian Thomas Waters here explores the lives of cursed or bewitched people, along with the witches and witch-busters who helped and harmed them. Waters takes us on a fascinating journey from Scottish islands to the folklore-rich West Country, from the immense territories of the British Empire to metropolitan London. We learn why magic caters to deep-seated human needs but see how it can also be abused, and discover how witchcraft survives by evolving and changing. Along the way, we examine an array of remarkable beliefs and rituals, from traditional folk magic to diverse spiritualities originating in Africa and Asia.This is a tale of cynical quacks and sincere magical healers, depressed people and furious vigilantes, innocent victims and rogues who claimed to possess evil abilities. Their spellbinding stories raise important questions about the state’s role in regulating radical spiritualities, the fragility of secularism and the true nature of magic.