A History of Magic, Witchcraft and the Occult

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Special features on aspects of magic, such as oracle bones of ancient China, the Knights Templar, and magic at the movies, and "plants and potions", such as mandrake and belladonna examine topics in great detail. I have studied the occult and metaphysics for over 30 years, and I don't think I've ever seen such a comprehensive look at the history of magic and the occult. While, of course, this is not a deep dive into any particular topic, the breadth of this work is quite stunning. It is divided into 5 time periods, from prehistory to the modern age. It looks at the beliefs and practices of different cultures and religions (including early paganism, Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism, etc.) over time, occasionally spotlighting a particular person or group of people or some other big moment in the history of magic, witchcraft, and the occult, like the Salem witch trials and or pervasive occultism that hides in plain view, like the spirit of Christmas. While the book is mostly Eurocentric after the prehistory section, it does look at the various practices from the Middle and Far East, the Americas, and Africa to a lesser extent. Some topics cannot be simply proscribed to a religion or particular country, and these are explored as well, like the idea of “cunning folk.”

A History of Magic, Witchcraft and the Occult | DK US A History of Magic, Witchcraft and the Occult | DK US

The Harry Price Library and archive collections are part of the Library’s Special Collections and can be requested for consultation in the Special Collections Reading Room on the 4 th floor. Books on this subject can be found in many parts of the Library’s collections including Psychology, Sociology, Anthropology, Art and Literary Studies as well as in our e-book collections. Books and journals can be searched for in the Library Catalogue and Archive collections in the Archive Catalogue. Often when dealing with ideas that show up in multiple cultures, people might confuse the idea that shares the same word because English is a language built by a specific culture. We translate words to what is similar to one in ours already. That doesn’t necessarily mean it’s the same thing, its just as close as the English language has to that concept. Prof Emily Selove, who leads the course, said: “A recent surge in interest in magic and the occult inside and outside academia lies at the heart of the most urgent questions of our society. Decolonisation, the exploration of alternative epistemologies, feminism, and anti-racism are at the core of this programme.” Web enrolment starts 1 August 2023. Early bird discounts are available from 1 August to 30 September 2023 It took me a while to finish this one because it’s a textbook, more than anything, and on an average person’s shelf, serves more as a reference book or a survey of occultism, witchcraft, or alternative spiritual practices from around the world.All enrolments are provisional until the course is confirmed to run. This will be dependent on the course reaching the minimum number of enrolments. If the hit drama Succession has left you hankering for more of the super-rich in your life, Solent University offers an Msc in superyacht design – although you’ll need at least a 2:1 in engineering or technology to understand the course’s blend of naval architecture and structural design. Students will also work on “real-world” assignments, so there will be ample opportunity to spend time on luxury yachts. Asimismo, nos aporta información extra con un sinfín de imágenes que apoyan el texto y amplían el conocimiento. Y si en algún momento sientes que quieres profundizar más en algún tema del que se habla en el libro, no te preocupes, el propio libro te aporta una gran cantidad de bibliografía a la que puedes acudir para aprender y profundizar más. Nos habla desde la mismísima prehistoria, pasando por costumbres, creencias y prácticas de diferentes culturas y en diferentes países, por la oscura época de quema de brujas y el renacer del ocultismo, hasta la actualidad.

A History of Magic, Witchcraft and the Occult By DK |The Works

There is no compulsory reading required for this course, and there is no set course text, but if you would like to read more on the subject we suggest:

The library’s modern collections, much of which is on open access, are also rich in reprinted primary gothic and supernatural literature, many secondary works on the themes, and also first editions from the latter half of the 19 thcentury onwards. Writers featured include Arthur Machen, Olivia Howard Dunbar and Lord Dunsany. Adam Scovell’s Folk Horror: Hours Dreadful and Things Strange (2017) is a key text, focussing primarily on film but with literary relevance, while collections published by Tartarus Press and Swan River Press provide both reprints and new literary voices. A recent re-igniting of literary small and independent press publishing is represented by zine-like publications Hellebore, Fiddler’s Green, Weird Walk, Ignota Books’s Spells: 21 st-Century Occult Poetry (2018) and Camp Books’s poster Sigils For Queers (2019). Engaging text and lavish illustrations with over 500 full-color images that bring the subject to life.

Magic and Occult Science MA | Postgraduate Taught Magic and Occult Science MA | Postgraduate Taught

There are a lot of excellent photographs and good use is made of box text diving into specific practices and practitioners that needed a bit more coverage. While sigils have existed for centuries, it was the influential British occultist and artist Austin Osman Spare who pioneered a method of creating sigils that is commonly used today. This involves writing out an intention, condensing the letters and arranging the remaining letters into an image. "He came up with this method of taking text and designing the text into this beautiful glyph or symbol that he then would kind of infuse through various magical techniques to try to make things happen," says Grossman. "Ever since then we've seen a lot of other artists get inspiration from him and infuse their artworks with sigils." Interest in tarot and witchcraft has been steadily increasing over the past few years. "I think whenever we are in times where we feel like we don't have control or we feel powerless, we gravitate towards tools and systems that can help us feel like we have agency," says Grossman. "We might not be able to control the pandemic or climate change, but we each do have power in our own selves and we do have the ability to make change in our lives, and to connect to something greater than ourselves." A History of Magic, Witchcraft and the Occult charts the extraordinary narrative of one of the most interesting and often controversial subjects in the world, covering everything from ancient animal worship and shamanism, through alchemy and divination to modern Wicca and the resurgence of the occult in 21st-century literature, cinema, and television. I didn’t expect the modern sections to interest me as much as the ancient and medieval sections, but it was fascinating to see some practices return and others morph over time.Like all DK books this has gorgeous illustrations and tries to cover a broad range of topics. As an introductory work, it is perfectly fine. But I have a number of problems with it as anything other than a rudimentary starting point. A lavishly illustrated history of witchcraft, magic, and the occult, from Paleolithic cave rituals to Wicca and modern paganism.