Magic and the Occult (Anthropology Of Religion)

This 6-week online course - starting on Wednesday 5th May 2021- takes you on a bewitching journey throughout the Bible. It introduces you to a variety of biblical texts in which the female practitioner of divination and magic has been (mis)understood as a malevolent witch with far-reaching consequences, even up to this present day. The topics that will be discussed are, for example, the various types of divinatory and magical practices, the sexualization and demonization of the female witch, the gender-stereotype, and the punishment of the witch. This course further looks at the biblical figure of the witch in the wider context of female divination in the Ancient Near East. The course concludes with an examination of the way in which these biblical passages were (mis)used in the early modern witch-hunts that festered on the British Isles and beyond, both in the literature and in the art of that period. The classes on this course will be recorded. Recordings will be available to those who miss a class.

Carl Albrecht epitomized the findings of his empirical enquiries into the nature of genuine vs. delusory mystical experience in "98 theses" - which are listed here without any further comment. Detailed explanations by the mystic and scientist Albrecht are supplied in his study  "Das Mystische Erkennen" (1958), now for the first time available in English translation: 'Mystical Recognition. Gnoseology and Philosophical Relevance of the Mystical Relation.' New York: Crossroad, 2020.

Excerpt from the OMS LCDV Lectionary by Sâr Cœur de la Croix.

Good Friday commemorates the crucifixion of Christ and his death at Calvary or Golgotha. It is observed during Holy Week as part of the Paschal Triduum on the Friday preceding Easter Sunday and may coincide with the Jewish observance of Passover. It is also known as Holy Friday, Great Friday, and Black Friday. There is no service of the Mass celebrated on Good Friday. The Eucharist, previously blessed on Maundy Thursday, may be distributed in the Service of the Passion of the Lord as a Presanctified Communion.

The Three Hours’ Agony (also known as the Tre Ore, The Great Three Hours, or Three Hours’ Devotion) from noon to 3pm commemorates the three hours of Christ’s hanging at the cross. During the Agony, one meditates on the seven sayings of Christ on the Cross.

The Liturgy consists of three parts: the Liturgy of the Word, the Veneration of the Cross. and Holy Communion.

Modern scholarship has long been making magic as much as observing it, by carving out and labeling particular domains and activities as rational, authentic, and normative, while marginalizing others as primitive, folkloric, and deviant. Magic-talk is never impartial or disinterested. The categories we use to analyze Islamic history are predicated on a set of unstated values and assumptions that can often obscure our understanding of the past. The ability to name, codify, and classify is precisely what generates scholarly authority through specialized knowledge. Yet, categories and the meanings behind them are also in a constant state of flux. This holds true both for the conceptual frameworks that govern western scholarship, as well as for our objects of historical inquiry. Critique does not end by merely abandoning outdated terms and the ideas that animate them or by simply fashioning new ones. Rather, the task at hand demands recognizing that second-order forms of conceptualization invariably foreclose certain possibilities of thinking in other terms. The challenge posed by our taxonomies extends beyond a matter of accounting for the surplus and deficit inherent in all translation; we must also mind how knowledge is generated and how power is exercised. Attention to the conceptual frameworks we have inherited is powerful, as it offers possibilities for thinking otherwise. This chapter reflects on the range of material covered in the present volume, while further exploring the categories we deploy to understand Islamic history, with examples drawn from the circulation and transformation of various practices and beliefs over time and place.

Take a bewitching journey through the Scriptures with this fascinating course on Magic, Divination and Witchcraft in the Bible. This four-week on-line class introduces the mysterious woman of Endor, who has often been (mis)labelled as a witch. What do we know about her? Why did King Saul specifically ask for a female necromancer? How does she come across in the story? We look at this female figure in the wider Ancient Near Eastern context of women’s divination, and we will examine the reception history of 1 Samuel 28 in Judaism and Christianity. The far-reaching influence of the woman of Endor is seen in her demonization in the learned concept of witchcraft as it circulated throughout Europe during the early modern witch-hunts and in depictions of her as a witch in the art of that time.

Monika Rzeczycka, Karolina M. Hess, Slavic Hyperboreans, Vegetarianism, and Occultism: Konstanty Moes-Oskragiełło’s Theories on the Sound State of a Man, w: Vol. (5) Polish Esoteric Traditions 1890-1939, ed. Agata Świerzowska, Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Gdańskiego, Gdańsk 2019, p. 159–175. ISBN 978-83-7865-894-8.

Who can help heal broken hearts in contemporary Syria? The spiritual doctor (ṭabīb rūḥānī), Shaykh Abu Ahmad claimed he could. Abu Ahmad veiled “reality” by restating events and narratives with reference to jinn. Then he charged clients for exorcising the Evil Eye or an evil (magical) deed (‘amla). At least temporarily, he lightened the burden these concealed faults posed. Shaykh Abu Ahmad relieved his clients’ worries with ḥijābs or talismans, for which he used magic number squares. His method of healing involved kashshāf, a diagnostic analysis or revelation, which simultaneously revealed and concealed. Shaykh Abu Ahmad’s magic is an example of Michael Taussig’s definition as “a skilled revealing of skilled concealment”. The shaykh’s intervention had two social functions: It restored Muslim bodies and lives, and it reified normative views of the role of jinn. This chapter examines the role spiritual healers and jinn play in society and how they relate to the sphere of religion. It begins by analyzing the relationship between religion and magic in the setting of Sayyida Zaynab, a suburb south of Damascus, then describes the space of a spiritual doctor, Shaykh Abu Ahmad. Next, it tells two stories: one is about averting divorce and the other about an attempt to make a former lover return. In the first one, Shaykh Abu Ahmad achieved his stated goal; in the second, he did not. Both, however, resulted in healing broken hearts and mending social relations. Spirits are part of the healing process, part of the stories that veil events and problems.

Una storia inedita, tratta da fonti conservate presso il Fondo Savi all'Eresia nell'Archivio di Stato di Venezia. La storia di una guaritrice di campagna, Pasquina Fasola, vissuta alla metà del Seicento a Camposampiero, nel territorio padovano, accusata di stregoneria. Attraverso l'escussione (dichiarazione giurata) di un testimone redatta in due documenti che presentano difformità fra loro. Gli atti del processo, purtroppo, sono andati perduti. E' l'agosto del 1641 e Bernardino, un bambino di soli tre anni, si ammala. Una leggera febbre, un sospetto di "malia" ovvero che il piccolo potesse essere stato stregato, il bambino che si spegne lentamente, portano la madre a ricorrere alle cure di Pasquina, una guaritrice che aveva fama di aver guarito altre persone inferme.

This is my master's thesis that seeks to reincorporate the idea of exorcism and its practice into Protestant theology. As part of this endeavor, I argue for a liturgical framework that would organize, inform, and standardize exorcism for non-Catholics.

Pese a que es bien sabido que la Ġāyat al-ḥakīm o Picatrix es un "manual árabe de magia helenística", como dice Martin Plessner, hasta la fecha no ha sido señalado que en dicho texto aparece el nombre que le dieron algunos autores a este tipo de "magia": teúrgia, palabra que aparece transcrita con el alifato en el texto, como se mostrará aquí.

Michael Psellos’ Chronographia and Historia Syntomos witness hieroscopy in relation with Vardas Phokas and Constantine V Copronymos. Psellos’ testimony concerning hepatoscopy acquires a great value. In fact, temple sacrifices were prohibited since the age of Constantine the Great. Predictive methods founded upon the exam of the entrails seemingly disappeared in the after times. Furthermore, a writing on sacrifice is assigned to the great teacher of middle-Byzantine esotericism (ed. O’ Meara 1989). Generally, interests for divinatory sciences, astrology as well as omoplatomancy, the method by examining the shoulder-blade of a victim, were also credited. Finally, such prophecies represent Medieval heritage of Ancient splanchnomancy.

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Dit onderzoek handelt over het vraagstuk van onttovering. De onttovering van de wereld heeft een verlies aan zin en gemeenschap veroorzaakt. Omdat zowel zingeving als gemeenschapsvorming een noodzakelijk onderdeel vormen van een gezonde maatschappij, hebben verschillende denkers de wenselijkheid van een, al dan niet gedeeltelijke, herbetovering van de wereld gearticuleerd. In deze thesis zoek ik naar een bewustzijn dat opnieuw garant kan staan voor gemeenschapsvorming en zingeving door bepaalde aspecten van het betoverde denken te herontdekken. De onttovering van de wereld wordt in verband gebracht met verschillende kwalen van onze cultuur. Tegenover een onttoverde rede plaats ik een fenomenologisch en ecologisch denken dat verschillende wijsheden uit de betoverde wereld op een alternatieve wijze herontdekt en zo de concrete synthese biedt van een onttoverd en betoverd bewustzijn.

This is the first Volume of a collection of primary and secondary sources, and commentary, which help to show how various Pagan and Gnostic influences are at the root of Western Occultism, particularly the Merkabah, Kabbalah, and Goetia, but also ceremonial magick more generally.  To start with, scholars like Gershom Scholem have argued that Gnosticism had a strong influence on Jewish mysticism, and so this Volume seeks to organize some of the texts on them in an effort to reconstruct their views and rituals, as especially those with references to Paganism.  I have also collected some Pagan texts which explain these Gnostic references, and I interpret them in light of later Western Occultism.  Still, some scholars like Simo Parpola  have argued  a Pagan influence on Judaism right from the start, and that this includes Kabbalistic influence, which can be seen in pre-Gnostic Jewish texts and even the Old Testament itself. While collecting texts and explaining the details of Jewish Kabbalah, Merkabah, and Goetia is largely beyond the scope of this, and some knowledge on this by the reader is assumed, I will shed light on Pagan influences on Judaism, as they indirectly influenced Western Occultism. As part of this, I will provide evidence of ritualistic, or even Shamanistic motifs, utilizing psychoactive drugs for religions purposes, ie "entheogens" and "ethnopharmacology." I have come to find we cannot explain the history of Western Occultism without explaining the history of entheogen use, and showing how these provide a universal context for understanding ritual mechanics and philosophical inspiration, even in very distinct religions.  While some of this is necessarily speculative, I have collected the relevant primary texts so that you can make up your own mind, as it is not so much a matter of IF entheogens were used, but identifying particular plants correctly.  In this I will also focus heavily on the Greek Magical Papyri, and Zoroastrian/Persian traditions of flying Palanquins and Abrahamic like motifs regarding Merkabah "throne mysticism" and how this relates to cosmology and demonology.
Simon Magus is credited with founding Gnosticism, and he was undoubtedly heavily influential in creating the archetypal image of the "Magician" or "Magus."  In this Volume and further ones, I will focus on Simon in particular, as by examining the symbolism he used, we can gain insight into the Pagan practices which he combined to create his form of Gnosticism. By reconstructing the tradition of Simon Magus we can also gain insight into other Gnostics he influenced, and how this comes up in later Western Occultism. As I will show, Simon is the ideal microcosm of ancient syncretism, taking from many sources, and so he forms a conceptual bridge from Paganism to the Abrahamic traditions. So, even if Simon was incorrect about history, by understanding his world view, we can understand the world view of a magician in general. In this way, I will try to reconstruct history as Occultists see it, rather than try to sort out any truly historical theory of diffusionism, I will focus on analyzing practical methods and symbolism and the philosophical implications of how all this developed by drawing upon many myths as well. We can see that while their is incredible diversity in all these sources, as especially in terms of symbolism, there is a coherent, underlying theory of individualistic syncretism and henotheism based on experimentalism, and other Occult/Alchemical ideas. That is the ancients themselves, Abrahamic and otherwise, were trying to reconstruct the  "perennial philosophy" of a "golden age" which some associated with the Adamic language from before the confusion of tongues. To understand this we must know that Christians used NeoPlatonism and other Pagan sources to try and explain the origins of all the worlds religions, but also attempted to reconstruct antediluvian practices. The key to all this involves an understanding cosmology and soul flight, with entheogens or without, for the purposes of "self directed neuro-plasticity" and Theurgic enlightenment, and even a notion similar to Noam Chomsky's theory of "universal grammar." To understand this we must also understand the symbolism of astrotheology, ie  how souls would ascend as comets, or become stars, or how fallen angels and giants refer to meteorites, and reincarnation occurs through meteor showers. All this and more will be introduced in this Volume, and will be greatly elaborated in further Volumes, with a mind to reconstruct the most practical aspects, followed by explanations and texts which show how this inspired Western Occultism and Witchcraft centuries later in Christian Europe. In this first Volume, I will focus especially on incense fumigation rituals and initiation rituals, as it relates to throne mysticism and the Golem, along with the Books of Enoch and related demonology.

In chapter 47 of the Book of Isaiah the fall of Babylon is described in metaphorical language: the arrogant queen Babylon is condemned for having practiced witchcraft since her youth. The evil which she inflicted on her victims will befall herself, and her downfall will be swift and without warning.  Her dire fate follows that of her fellow sorcerers, who have perished in fire and flames. This article compares the portrayal of Babylon and her demise in Isa 47 with the Mesopotamian anti-witchcraft series Maqlû and discusses the shared terminology and the striking similarity of themes, such as the indictment of the witch, the gender-stereotype, the reversal of fate, and the condemnation to death by burning. The thematic, and sometimes lexical, overlap may indicate that Deutero-Isaiah incorporated Mesopotamian ideas about (counter-)witchcraft in his own composition, being exposed to local magico-religious thought whilst maintaining a critical stance towards it.