ENGLISH

The Cambridge Dictionary of Magic and Witchcraft in the West

By David J. Collins , S. J. (ed.)

Book information

Publisher
Cambridge University Press
Year
2015
ISBN
9781139043021
Language
english
Format
PDF
Filesize
15 MB (15429954 bytes)
Pages
xiii+798\810
Topic
History
Orientation
no
Scanned
portrait
Time added
2017-01-11 19:02:58

Description

This book presents twenty chapters by experts in their fields, providing a thorough and interdisciplinary overview of the theory and practice of magic in the West. Its chronological scope extends from the Ancient Near East to twenty-first-century North America; its objects of analysis range from Persian curse tablets to US neo-paganism. For comparative purposes, the volume includes chapters on developments in the Jewish and Muslim worlds, evaluated not simply for what they contributed at various points to European notions of magic, but also as models of alternative development in ancient Mediterranean legacy. Similarly, the volume highlights the transformative and challenging encounters of Europeans with non-Europeans, regarding the practice of magic in both early modern colonization and more recent decolonization.

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