Includes bibliographical references (pages 665-770) and index.
Contents:
Introduction / David J. Collins -- Antiquity. The ancient Near East / Daniel Schwemer -- Ancient Egypt / Friedhelm Hoffmann -- Early Greco-Roman antiquity / Kimberly B. Stratton -- The early Latin West. Roman antiquity: the imperial period / Kyle A. Fraser -- The early Church / Maijastina Kahlos -- The early medieval West / Yitzhak Hen -- Parallel traditions. Magic in medieval Byzantium / Alicia Walker -- Magic, marvel, and miracle in early Islamic thought / Travis Zadeh -- Jewish magic in the Middle Ages / Gideon Bohak -- Old Europe. Common magic / Catherine Rider -- Learned magic / David J. Collins -- Diabolic magic / Michael D. Bailey -- Magic and priestcraft: reformers and reformation / Helen Parish -- Colonial encounters. Spain and Mexico / Louise M. Burkhart -- Folk magic in British North America / Richard Godbeer -- Colonial magic: the Dutch East Indies / Margaret J. Wiener -- The modern West. Magic in common and legal perspectives / Owen Davies -- Elite magic in the nineteenth century / David Allen Harvey -- Magic in the postcolonial Americas / Raquel Romberg -- New Age and neopagan magic / Sabina Magliocco.
Summary:
This book provides a thorough and interdisciplinary overview of the theory and practice of magic in the West in twenty chapters by expert in their fields. Its chronological scope extends from the Ancient Near East to twenty-first-century North America; its objects of analysis range from Persian curse tablets to U.S. Neopaganism. For comparative purposes, the volume includes chapters on developments in the Jewish and Muslim worlds, which are evaluated not simply for what they contributed at various points to European notions of magic but also as models of alternative development in the Mediterranean world. Similarly, the volume highlights the transformative and challenging encounters of Europeans with non-Europeans regarding the practice of magic in both early modern colonization and more recent decolonization. -- from dust jacket.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.