Miracles in the MiddleAges and Today // Miracle Healing, Miracle Visions, and Miracle Narratives in the Premodern and Modern World

Abstract

As much as we live today in a world that is seemingly mostly determined by rationality and technology, we are actually far away from such a status, fortunately so, at least depending on one’s perspective. Hidden behind much scientific research and a mechanistic world determined by machines, for instance, we can easily discover countless examples of superstition, faith, irrationality, wishful thinking, dreams, speculation, and imagination. This is fortunately so, indeed, because it respects the indigenous human nature irrespective of many faults and problems resulting from it. Contrary to Max Weber’s famous formulation, the modern experience of the disenchantment of this world was actually accompanied by a profound rediscovery of or return to magic, spirituality, and fantasy, whether we think of the Romantics, the high popularity of the genre of fairy tales, the ever-growing body of video games and related media today all predicated on science fiction and hence fantasy, or the world of movies. This paper, however, does not intend to develop a large concept about the history of science, the emergence of modernity and individuality, and the steady rise of rationality at the latest since the eighteenth century, all of which have been discussed already at length by historians, anthropologists, philosophers, literary scholars, art historians, and sociologists. Instead, the focus will rest on the belief in miracles and miracle healings and trace the vast discourse on charms and miracles from the early Middle Ages to the modern times as a constant, consistent, and impactful aspect of all human culture we cannot and should not deny if we want to subscribe to a realistic assessment of human culture and mentality. The argument focuses on the curious phenomenon that the belief in miracles continues to run strongly until today both among religious individuals and ordinary individuals who face, for instance, a desperate health situation, a personal crisis, or dangers of all kinds. Popular culture appears to be highly influenced by the belief in miracles, in divine agents who come to people’s rescue in critical moments, and hence the belief in the power of prayer. Each individual aspect would require an extensive scholarly discussion, which this paper cannot offer. Instead, I will trace primarily the discourse on charms and miracles from the early Middle Ages to the present, whereby we can determine the continuity of pre-modern ideas, values, and concepts as valuable aspects for all people throughout time. To make good sense, the concept of the charm as a verbal statement for a magical and religious transformation is widened to include all word magic in medicine, athletics, politics, friendship, and family relationships whenever there is a perceived need to draw from other powers for the well-being of a human being.