Contextualizing Ancient Magic

Even though the concept of “magic” has sufffered severe criticism in academic discourse, the category continues to be used in many disciplines. During the last two decades, classicists in particular have engaged in a lively discussion over “magic” and have produced an impressive amount of written output. Given the impossibility of defijining “magic” in a consistent and widely accepted manner, one cannot help but wonder what these scholars are actually talking about. Hence this paper purports (a) to critically review the recent debate on “magic” in Classical Studies, (b) to advocate for abandoning an abstract category of “magic” in favour of a proper analysis of ancient sources and (c) to historicize the term “magic” in Antiquity, that is, to muse on its ancient semantics, functions, and contexts. This methodological approach does not only overcome the major problems inherent in modern definitions of “magic,” but will also yield new insights into terminologies, modes of thought and speech strategies that underlie ancient religious discourses.

PGM XII.270-350, a text prescribing rituals for the creation and use of a magical ring, provides a particularly useful example through which to explore the phenomenon
of miniaturized ritual in the magical papyri of late Graeco-Roman Egypt (as elucidated by Smith 1995). The ritual for creating and consecrating the ring’s gemstone makes it clear that the stone is considered a miniature cult statue. The subsequent “Ouphor” invocation to be performed whenever the ring is used corresponds
in name and function to the Egyptian wp.t-r3 or Opening the Mouth ritual as used in daily temple liturgy. The nature of these ritual miniatures reveals the sophisticated discursive and conceptual level at which the traditional forms of temple
ritual were adapted and redeployed for use in other contexts by members of the Egyptian priestly class in late antiquity.

For know the controversial history of the Druids in the Celtic world, will investigate the sources of its origin, through stories of classic texts and medieval legends of Gaul, Britain and Ireland. His role in Celtic society surpassed the religious sphere, covering war, politics, medicine and the law. Almost unknown is the participation of women in this institution.

This article traverses the disciplines of ancient magic and early Jewish–Christian relations by focusing on and offering a new approach to Christian amulets and spells that utilize elements, which scholars have identified as “Jewish.” This paper challenges the contemporary scholarly practice of dividing the language on a given amulet or spell into the categories “Christian” and “Jewish” based solely on origins or idealized conceptions of Christianity and Judaism. Instead, it draws on insights from recent scholarship on exoticism, indigenization, and syncretism in order to demonstrate the various ways Christian practitioners approached divine names (e.g., Iaô, Sabaôth, or Adônai) and other elements that scholars have labeled “Jewish.” While some Christian practitioners treated elements, which were originally “Jewish,” as completely Christian, others seem to have capitalized on the “Jewish” exoticism of such elements. Moreover, this paper highlights Christian amulets and spells that include ostensibly “Jewish” idioms, but which also reflect language of religious differentiation between Christians and Jews. These cases acutely demonstrate that the very same practical conditions that promoted symbolic exchange across communal boundaries could also support religious differentiation. What is more, these artifacts reveal a disjunction between prevailing scholarly taxonomies of “Jewish” and “Christian” elements and ancient categories of religious difference in so-called “lived” contexts. This manifest disparity creates a hermeneutical barrier between scholar and ancient artifact. The article thus calls for greater attention to how – if at all – each artifact reflects the symbolic boundaries between Christians and Jews. We conclude that the burden of proof ought to fall on the shoulders of scholars who think that a given Christian practitioner utilized putatively “Jewish” elements as such.

Although many magical papyri contain figures, scholarly attention has thus far mostly focused on the texts that are frequently found side by side with them. When we approach magical papyri as artefacts, it becomes clear that these figures deserve as much attention as the texts and that they should be studied in conjunction. In this article, I will concentrate on six magical papyri with drawings which occur in a corpus of Greek magical texts with Christian elements from Late Antique Egypt and demonstrate the essential role that the images play in connection with the texts. As such, like the texts found in the same corpus, they reflect the syncretistic environment of Late Antique Egypt.

PGM VII is a Greek magical handbook which was composed by its principal scribe very carefully. The disposition and selection of prescriptions speak about the composition of the formulary with a plan in mind. In this article, the spells attributed to an author of prestige will be analyzed in order to put in question the belief that the magical handbooks written only in Greek demand a familiarity with international authors while the Demotic handbooks demand only for national authorities. PGM VII shows a preferred use of Hellenistic recognized authorities to " sale " better the prescriptions of the formulary, a marketing strategy that speaks of the " taste " of the potential readers.

The archival bequest of Auguste Audollent, one of the most distinguished students of ancient defixiones, includes numerous drawings of North African curse tablets. His drawings are the only reliable sources for the shape and appearance of inscriptions that have been lost or have become illegible. Defixiones once owned by Audollent are now in the Musée Bargoin in Clermont-Ferrand. This study presents both groups of sources with one characteristic example from each.

In this section, I propose a paradigm for ministering to those with an animistic worldview seen throughout the Majority World. Here, I propose that we need to have ministries that include power encounters, truth encounters and love encounters that challenge our listeners to have an allegiance encounter with Jesus Christ. I further contend that these ministries and should be done within the context of the local church.

This book is an investigation into the sphere of production and use of two related bilingual magical handbooks found as part of a larger collection of magical and alchemical manuscripts around 1828 in the hills surrounding Luxor, Egypt. Both handbooks, dating to the Roman period, contain an assortment of recipes for magical rites in the Demotic and Greek language. The library which comprises these two handbooks is nowadays better known as the Theban Magical Library. The book traces the social and cultural milieu of the composers, compilers and users of the extant spells through a combination of philology, sociolinguistics and cultural analysis. To anybody working on Greco-Roman Egypt, ancient magic, and bilingualism this study is of significant importance.

... José Manuel Pedrosa Bartolomé. págs. 12-45. Adminístrese por via oral: el ensalmo y otros símbolos terapéuticos. Sergio Callau Gonzalvo. págs. 46-70. ... Cristina Sánchez-Carretero. págs. 246-259. El mago Potter: magia y literatura infantil. Eva Lara Alberola. págs. 260-284. Epílogo ...

... José Manuel Pedrosa Bartolomé. págs. 12-45. Adminístrese por via oral: el ensalmo y otros símbolos terapéuticos. Sergio Callau Gonzalvo. págs. 46-70. ... Cristina Sánchez-Carretero. págs. 246-259. El mago Potter: magia y literatura infantil. Eva Lara Alberola. págs. 260-284. Epílogo ...

In this article, I examine PGM V. 70-95, demonstrating that in addition to the one readily apparent persuasive analogy, there are three other distinct, yet complementary analogies (which I will refer to as supplemental persuasive analogies) present, which collectively serve to reinforce the aims of the spell as a whole. These three unnoticed supplemental analogies are expressed through the voces magicae, the carmina figurata and the magical ingredients (materia magica). Through the explication of this spell, I provide frameworks for use in the identification and analysis of supplemental persuasive analogies in other spells, and I demonstrate how multiple persuasive analogies interacting with one another may indicate the erudite character of the magician, thereby providing another method by which scholars may evaluate the aptitude of specific magicians.