Context Of Magic Research Articles

Making It Magical

Making It Magical

From Jerusalem to Rome: The Geographical Aspect of Magic

Just as magic was undermined in the Acts of the Apostles, its spread throughout the whole region of the Greco-Roman Region was also undermined. Although the magic episode occurred six times in the Acts of the Apostles, the demonstration of the geographical aspect of magic in the Acts of the Apostles was undermined. The prominent question regarding the presence of magic in the Greco-Roman reigns is how serious was magic during the Greco-Roman Era for Christianity so that the gospel could be proclaimed to the end of the world? This article will demonstrate the seriousness of magic to impede the spread of the gospel is obvious when analyzing the geographical spread of magic. The aim of this article is to demonstrate the magical context of each Roman city where magic was there. Moreover, this article also demonstrates the significance of the geographical aspect of magic for the spread of the Gospel. This geographical aspect will be argued within the context of the apologetic purpose of the Acts of the Apostles and the spread of the gospel to the end of the world to fulfill Jesus’ command to his disciples. This research will employ a literature method. The analysis will analyze the city of Samaria, the island of Cyprus, the strategic city of Ephesus, Philippi, and Malta. Application regarding the proclamation of the gospel for our contemporary world will be provided in the section of discussion and result before the conclusion.

Middle English Marvels: Magic, Spectacle, and Morality in the Fourteenth Century. Tara Williams. University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press, 2018. Pp. vii+176.

<i>Middle English Marvels: Magic, Spectacle, and Morality in the Fourteenth Century</i>. Tara Williams. University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press, 2018. Pp. vii+176.

The Mythical Context of Magic as an influential power on the plot development in Thomas Malory's Le Morte Darthur

This paper studies the mythical context of magic in Thomas Malory's Le Morte Darthur through a critical lens that focuses the light on plot development and the use of suspense throughout the novel. The study places the emphasis on a major character named "Merlyn" who seems to have a great influence on the plot and actions of the novel through his devilish and mythical prophecies about characters and places. The context of magic is quite essential in understanding the nature and structure of fantasies that all yield a huge amount of suspense, in addition to its historical, social, and traditional significance.

“Quando meus lábios sacerdotais disserem palavras secretas”: 'Abraxas', magia e política nos papiros mágicos gregos

O artigo examina um conjunto de feitiços e fórmulas mágicas contidas nos Papiros Mágicos Gregos, tendo como recorte documental a presença da divindade Abraxas nos textos. Partindo da reconstrução histórica do processo de descoberta e compilação dos papiros que formam a documentação em questão, busca-se refletir sobre o ambiente mágico-religioso mediterrânico dos primeiros três séculos E.C., as características das práticas mágicas evidenciadas nos papiros e as relações de poder estabelecidas num campo social em que tanto a magia quanto seus praticantes eram vistos com desconfiança pelas instituições.

Mollusks of Candomblé: symbolic and ritualistic importance

Human societies utilize mollusks for myriad material and spiritual ends. An example of their use in a religious context is found in Brazil's African-derived belief systems. Candomblé, an Afro-Brazilian religion introduced during the 18th-19th centuries by enslaved Yoruba, includes various magical and liturgical uses of mollusks. This work inventoried the species utilized by adherents and to analyzed their symbolic and magical context. Data were obtained from Candomblé temples in two cities in the northeast of Brazil-Caruaru, in the state of Pernambuco, and Campina Grande, in the state of Paraíba. Questionnaires administered to eleven adepts revealed that at least nineteen mollusk species are being used. Shells from Monetaria moneta, M. annulus and Erosaria caputserpentis were cited by all of the interviewees. Three uses stood out: divination (jogo de búzios); utilization as ritual objects; and employment as sacrificial offerings (Igbin or Boi-de-Oxalá). The jogo de búzios (shell toss), employed in West Africa, Brazil and Cuba, is of fundamental importance to the cult, representing the means by which the faithful enter in contact with the divinities (Orixás) and consult people's futures (Odu). The utilization of mollusks in Candomblé is strongly influenced by ancient Yoruba myths (Itãs) which, having survived enslavement and generations of captive labor, continue to guide the lives of Brazil's African Diaspora.

Magic in the Ancient Greek World

Magic in the Ancient Greek World

Two Syriac Terms Relating to Ophthalmology and Their Cognates

This study treats two Syriac ophtalmological terms, kwīhā and 'agānā. The adjective kwīhā refers to an eye disease (kwīhūtā) which is identified by the native lexicographers with Arabic satra and corresponds to modern ectropion. Cognates occur in Mandaic (kauihta) and Jewish Babylonian Aramaic (kwht') in magical contexts relating to the evil eye. Although kwīhā itself is not attested with reference to the evil eye, the native lexicographers associate the Syriac term with other terms, cognates of which are attested with reference to the evil eye in various Aramaic dialects. The second term, 'agānā, occurs in the Syriac Book of Medicines. It is equivalent to Arabic 'iggāna, which occurs in similar contexts in the writings of mediaeval Arabic ophtalmologists and refers to the tarsus of the eyelid

Another view of the Pergamon divination kit

It is very welcome that A. Mastrocinque (above) has re-opened the dossier relating to the Pergamon Zaubergerät, first published by R. Wünsch almost a century ago. The discovery in 1977 of a very similar ‘triangle’ in the Maison du Cerf at Apamea seemed to confirm Wünsch's account of the kit as the equipment required to perform a type of divination very similar to that described in Hilarius' confession relating to the seance of A.D. 371. My remarks are not directly concerned with the possible theurgic background of the Pergamon kit, though I admit I am rather sceptical of it. I wish rather to take the opportunity to reconsider the kit as a whole, in the light of the find from Apamea.The problem is easily outlined. Rhetorically, Wünsch's commentary leads up to a kind of revelation, the disclosure of the true sense of the kit as whole. In the last major section of his account, Wünsch discussed each object in turn, noting the use of similar objects in diverse magical contexts. For his interpretation the crucial apparatus was the inscribed disc, which has 24 fields in the three outer circles, that is, the number of letters in the Greek alphabet. That implied an alphabet-oracle, and it was then easy to point to Ammianus' already famous report. It is his story of the ‘wizard at work’ that caught the imagination of his readers, the story of the polished stones used as protective amulets, the ring hung from the nail over the circular disc, which was moved by the handle to create words or sentences from the signs inscribed on its surface. But if one looks closely at the disc, it is very difficult (indeed, in my view impossible) to credit that it could have served as an alphabet-oracle or anything similar. If so, does the disc belong to the triangular support at all? Can the other appliances be understood differently from the way Wünsch suggested? My argument is that we might read much of his own commentary as undercutting the final disclosure that depends so heavily on Hilarius, and that we should revert to his own initial conception of an ensemble, a group of instruments with a variety of ritual uses. Indeed, there are reasons for thinking that the individual items were not conceived as a group, but rather assembled over time from various sources as a collection. I incline to understand the ensemble as not so much a ‘kit’ as a rag-bag collection.