Ancient Magic A Practitioner S Guide To The Supernatural In Greece And Rome

Author : Philip Matyszak
Publisher : Thames & Hudson
Page : 279 pages
File Size : 45,7 Mb
Release : 2019-08-20
Category : History
ISBN : 9780500774618

Get Book

Ancient Magic: A Practitioner's Guide to the Supernatural in Greece and Rome by Philip Matyszak Pdf

An accessible historical exploration of the methods and motivations behind using magic in ancient Greece and Rome. In the ancient world, magic was everywhere. The supernatural abounded, turning flowers into fruit and caterpillars into butterflies. In a time before scientists studied weather patterns and figured out what caused the Earth’s most mysterious phenomena, it was magic that packed a cloud full of energy until it exploded with thunderbolts. It was everyday magic, but it was still magical. In Ancient Magic, author Philip Matyszak ushers readers into that world, showing how ancient Greeks and Romans concocted love potions and cast curses, how they talked to the dead and protected themselves from evil spirits. He takes readers to a world where gods interacted with humans and where people could not only talk to spirits and deities, but could themselves become divine. Ancient Magic presents us with a new understanding of the role of magic, combining a classical historiography with a practical how-to guide. Using a wide array of sources and lavish illustrations, this book offers an engaging and accessible way into the supernatural for all.

Author : Valerie Irene Jane Flint
Publisher : A&C Black
Page : 432 pages
File Size : 51,6 Mb
Release : 1999
Category : Magic
ISBN : 048589002X

Get Book

Witchcraft and Magic in Europe by Valerie Irene Jane Flint Pdf

Author : Philip Matyszak
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 0 pages
File Size : 55,5 Mb
Release : 2023-07-06
Category : Electronic
ISBN : 0500026416

Get Book

Ancient Magic by Philip Matyszak Pdf

Author : Daniel Ogden
Publisher : Oxford University Press, USA
Page : 380 pages
File Size : 50,5 Mb
Release : 2002
Category : History
ISBN : 0195151232

Get Book

Magic, Witchcraft, and Ghosts in the Greek and Roman Worlds by Daniel Ogden Pdf

In a culture where the supernatural possessed an immediacy now strange to us, magic was of great importance both in the literary mythic tradition and in ritual practice. In this book, Daniel Ogden presents 300 texts in new translations, along with brief but explicit commentaries. Authors include the well known (Sophocles, Herodotus, Plato, Aristotle, Virgil, Pliny) and the less familiar, and extend across the whole of Graeco-Roman antiquity.

Author : David Frankfurter
Publisher : BRILL
Page : 817 pages
File Size : 53,6 Mb
Release : 2019-03-19
Category : History
ISBN : 9789004390751

Get Book

Guide to the Study of Ancient Magic by David Frankfurter Pdf

This volume seeks to advance the study of ancient magic through separate discussions of ancient terms for ambiguous or illicit ritual, the ancient texts commonly designated magical, and contexts in which the term magic may be used descriptively.

Author : Jamie Waggoner
Publisher : Llewellyn Worldwide
Page : 163 pages
File Size : 55,5 Mb
Release : 2024-02-08
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
ISBN : 9780738775814

Get Book

Hades by Jamie Waggoner Pdf

Build a Life-Affirming Relationship with the Lord of the Dead My name is more often spoken with revile than gratitude or adoration. If only the living could see the power of their veneration....Why would they not want to see the home of their ancestors thrive? Aides. Aidoneus. The Unseen One. Known by many monikers, Hades is one of the most recognizable yet misunderstood Greek gods. Through myth, storytelling, and practical exercises, Jamie Waggoner shows you how Hades is more than the keeper of souls and the land of the dead. She reveals his true nature and provides everything you need to develop your unique devotional practice. Discover Hades' real story with passages written in his own words, excerpts from historical texts, and Jamie's personal experiences. Cultivate sacred interactions with him through rituals, trance journeys, altar tending, and other magical activities. With Hades' wisdom, you will develop a deep appreciation for the glorious spectrum of experience we can have in this mortal lifetime. Includes a foreword by Morpheus Ravenna, author of The Magic of the Otherworld

Author : Derek Collins
Publisher : John Wiley & Sons
Page : 224 pages
File Size : 42,9 Mb
Release : 2008-04-30
Category : History
ISBN : 9780470695722

Get Book

Magic in the Ancient Greek World by Derek Collins Pdf

Original and comprehensive, Magic in the Ancient Greek World takes the reader inside both the social imagination and the ritual reality that made magic possible in ancient Greece. Explores the widespread use of spells, drugs, curse tablets, and figurines, and the practitioners of magic in the ancient world Uncovers how magic worked. Was it down to mere superstition? Did the subject need to believe in order for it to have an effect? Focuses on detailed case studies of individual types of magic Examines the central role of magic in Greek life

Author : Lindsay C. Watson
Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing
Page : 265 pages
File Size : 48,5 Mb
Release : 2019-05-02
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
ISBN : 9781350108950

Get Book

Magic in Ancient Greece and Rome by Lindsay C. Watson Pdf

Parting company with the trend in recent scholarship to treat the subject in abstract, highly theoretical terms, Magic in Ancient Greece and Rome proposes that the magic-working of antiquity was in reality a highly pragmatic business, with very clearly formulated aims - often of an exceedingly malignant kind. In seven chapters, each addressed to an important arm of Greco-Roman magic, the volume discusses the history of the rediscovery and publication of the so-called Greek Magical Papyri, a key source for our understanding of ancient magic; the startling violence of ancient erotic spells and the use of these by women as well as men; the alteration in the landscape of defixio (curse tablet) studies by major new finds and the confirmation these provide that the frequently lethal intent of such tablets must not be downplayed; the use of herbs in magic, considered from numerous perspectives but with an especial focus on the bizarre-seeming rituals and protocols attendant upon their collection; the employment of animals in magic, the factors determining the choice of animal, the uses to which they were put, and the procuring and storage of animal parts, conceivably in a sorcerer's workshop; the witch as a literary construct, the clear homologies between the magical procedures of fictional witches and those documented for real spells, the gendering of the witch-figure and the reductive presentation of sorceresses as old, risible and ineffectual; the issue of whether ancient magicians practised human sacrifice and the illuminating parallels between such accusations and late 20th century accounts of child-murder in the context of perverted Satanic rituals. By challenging a number of orthodoxies and opening up some underexamined aspects of the subject, this wide-ranging study stakes out important new territory in the field of magical studies.

Author : Georg Luck
Publisher : JHU Press
Page : 576 pages
File Size : 53,6 Mb
Release : 2006-05-06
Category : History
ISBN : 0801883458

Get Book

Arcana Mundi by Georg Luck Pdf

Magic, miracles, daemonology, divination, astrology, and alchemy were the arcana mundi, the "secrets of the universe," of the ancient Greeks and Romans. In this path-breaking collection of Greek and Roman writings on magic and the occult, Georg Luck provides a comprehensive sourcebook and introduction to magic as it was practiced by witches and sorcerers, magi and astrologers, in the Greek and Roman worlds. In this new edition, Luck has gathered and translated 130 ancient texts dating from the eighth century BCE through the fourth century CE. Thoroughly revised, this volume offers several new elements: a comprehensive general introduction, an epilogue discussing the persistence of ancient magic into the early Christian and Byzantine eras, and an appendix on the use of mind-altering substances in occult practices. Also added is an extensive glossary of Greek and Latin magical terms. In Arcana Mundi Georg Luck presents a fascinating—and at times startling—alternative vision of the ancient world. "For a long time it was fashionable to ignore the darker and, to us, perhaps, uncomfortable aspects of everyday life in Greece and Rome," Luck has written. "But we can no longer idealize the Greeks with their 'artistic genius' and the Romans with their 'sober realism.' Magic and witchcraft, the fear of daemons and ghosts, the wish to manipulate invisible powers—all of this was very much a part of their lives."

Author : Jason Mankey,Astrea Taylor
Publisher : Llewellyn Worldwide
Page : 444 pages
File Size : 55,6 Mb
Release : 2022-12-08
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
ISBN : 9780738769240

Get Book

Modern Witchcraft with the Greek Gods by Jason Mankey,Astrea Taylor Pdf

A Witch's 21-Century Guide to Making Magick with the Greek Gods The ancient Greek gods surround us even now in our modern world. From Aphrodite to Zeus, this book reveals the origins of more than sixty deities and other mythological figures, including the Olympians, Titans, and Primordial Forces. Explore how they've been worshipped across the centuries and how you can work with them in your own practice. You'll meet the gods one by one, exploring their history, unique correspondences, and personal insights from contributing authors who work with them magickally. This book also provides rituals and spells to connect with each deity. Draw down the moon with Selene, cast a courage spell with Ares, and reclaim lost parts of yourself with a ritual for Persephone. By inviting these divine beings into your practice, you can cultivate a magickal life that satisfies your soul to its very core.

Author : Fritz Graf
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 328 pages
File Size : 43,8 Mb
Release : 1997
Category : History
ISBN : PSU:000043917785

Get Book

Magic in the Ancient World by Fritz Graf Pdf

Ancient Greeks and Romans often turned to magic to achieve personal goals. Magical rites were seen as a route for direct access to the gods, for material gains as well as spiritual satisfaction. In this survey of magical beliefs and practices from the sixth century B.C.E. through late antiquity, Fritz Graf sheds new light on ancient religion. Graf explores the important types of magic in Greco-Roman antiquity, describing rites and explaining the theory behind them. And he characterizes the ancient magician: his training and initiation, social status, and presumed connections with the divine world. With trenchant analysis of underlying conceptions and vivid account of illustrative cases, Graf gives a full picture of the practice of magic and its implications. He concludes with an evaluation of the relation of magic to religion.

Author : Britta K. Ager
Publisher : University of Michigan Press
Page : 239 pages
File Size : 50,8 Mb
Release : 2022-04-27
Category : History
ISBN : 9780472220076

Get Book

The Scent of Ancient Magic by Britta K. Ager Pdf

Magic was a fundamental part of the Greco-Roman world. Curses, erotic spells, healing charms, divination, and other supernatural methods of trying to change the universe were everyday methods of coping with the difficulties of life in antiquity. While ancient magic is most often studied through texts like surviving Greco-Egyptian spellbooks and artifacts like lead curse tablets, for a Greek or Roman magician a ritual was a rich sensual experience full of unusual tastes, smells, textures, and sounds, bright colors, and sensations like fasting and sleeplessness. Greco-Roman magical rituals were particularly dominated by the sense of smell, both fragrant smells and foul odors. Ritual practitioners surrounded themselves with clouds of fragrant incense and perfume to create a sweet and inviting atmosphere for contact with the divine and to alter their own perceptions; they also used odors as an instrumental weapon to attack enemies and command the gods. Elsewhere, odiferous herbs were used equally as medical cures and magical ingredients. In literature, scent and magic became intertwined as metaphors, with fragrant spells representing the dangers of sensual perfumes and conversely, smells acting as a visceral way of envisioning the mysterious action of magic. The Scent of Ancient Magic explores the complex interconnection of scent and magic in the Greco-Roman world between 800 BCE and CE 600, drawing on ancient literature and the modern study of the senses to examine the sensory depth and richness of ancient magic. Author Britta K. Ager looks at how ancient magicians used scents as part of their spells, to put themselves in the right mindset for an encounter with a god or to attack their enemies through scent. Ager also examines the magicians who appear in ancient fiction, like Medea and Circe, and the more metaphorical ways in which their spells are confused with perfumes and herbs. This book brings together recent scholarship on ancient magic from classical studies and on scent from the interdisciplinary field of sensory studies in order to examine how practicing ancient magicians used scents for ritual purposes, how scent and magic were conceptually related in ancient literature and culture, and how the assumption that strong scents convey powerful effects of various sorts was also found in related areas like ancient medical practices and normative religious ritual.

Author : Paul Mirecki,Meyer
Publisher : BRILL
Page : 496 pages
File Size : 40,7 Mb
Release : 2015-08-24
Category : History
ISBN : 9789004283817

Get Book

Ancient Magic and Ritual Power by Paul Mirecki,Meyer Pdf

This volume contains a series of provocative essays that explore expressions of magic and ritual power in the ancient world. The essays are authored by leading scholars in the fields of Egyptology, ancient Near Eastern studies, the Hebrew Bible, Judaica, classical Greek and Roman studies, early Christianity and patristics, and Coptology. Throughout the book the essays examine the terms employed in descriptions of ancient magic. From this examination comes a clarification of magic as a polemical term of exclusion but also an understanding of the classical Egyptian and early Greek conceptions of magic as a more neutral category of inclusion. This book should prove to be foundational for future scholarly studies of ancient magic and ritual power. This publication has also been published in paperback, please click here for details.

Author : Bengt Ankarloo,Stuart Clark
Publisher : University of Pennsylvania Press
Page : 426 pages
File Size : 48,9 Mb
Release : 1999-10-14
Category : History
ISBN : 0812217055

Get Book

Witchcraft and Magic in Europe, Volume 2 by Bengt Ankarloo,Stuart Clark Pdf

Topics include binding spells, curse tablets, and the demonization of magic and sorcery by Christianity.

Author : Georg Luck
Publisher : JHU Press
Page : 859 pages
File Size : 55,9 Mb
Release : 2006-05-06
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
ISBN : 9780801888977

Get Book

Arcana Mundi: A Collection of Ancient Texts by Georg Luck Pdf

Discover a different way to see classical civilization in this collection of ancient Greek and Roman texts on magic and the occult. Magic, miracles, daemonology, divination, astrology, and alchemy were the arcana mundi, the “secrets of the universe,” of the ancient Greeks and Romans. In this path-breaking collection of Greek and Roman writings on magic and the occult, Georg Luck provides a comprehensive sourcebook and introduction to magic as it was practiced by witches and sorcerers, magi and astrologers, in the Greek and Roman worlds. In this new edition, Luck has gathered and translated 130 ancient texts dating from the eighth century BCE through the fourth century CE. Thoroughly revised, this volume offers several new elements: a comprehensive general introduction, an epilogue discussing the persistence of ancient magic into the early Christian and Byzantine eras, and an appendix on the use of mind-altering substances in occult practices. Also added is an extensive glossary of Greek and Latin magical terms. In Arcana Mundi Georg Luck presents a fascinating?and at times startling?alternative vision of the ancient world. “For a long time it was fashionable to ignore the darker and, to us, perhaps, uncomfortable aspects of everyday life in Greece and Rome,” Luck has written. “But we can no longer idealize the Greeks with their “artistic genius” and the Romans with their “sober realism.” Magic and witchcraft, the fear of daemons and ghosts, the wish to manipulate invisible powers?all of this was very much a part of their lives.” “An excellent translation of ancient texts on the subject, but it’s a lot more than that. It’s a glimpse into the minds of the everyday people of the times and what made them turn, what made them stop, what made them look over their shoulders.” —Courier-Gazette,(Rockland, Maine) “No one currently at work in ancient magic or related fields can remotely compare with Luck for the breadth and profundity of his knowledge of the literary texts . . . or for the humility and lightness of touch with which he conveys his scholarship.” —Daniel Ogden, author of Magic, Witchcraft, and Ghosts in the Greek and Roman Worlds