Ceremonial Magic: A Guide to the Mechanisms of Ritual

Product Information

Carrasco, David; Warmind, Morten; Hawley, John Stratton; Reynolds, Frank; Giarardot, Norman; Neusner, Jacob; Pelikan, Jaroslav; Campo, Juan; Penner, Hans; etal. (Authors) (1999). Merriam-Webster's Encyclopedia of World Religions. Edited by Wendy Doniger. United States: Merriam-Webster. p.1064. ISBN 9780877790440. Bogdan, Henrik (2012). "Introduction: Modern Western Magic". Aries. 12 (1): 1–16. doi: 10.1163/147783512X614812. Styers, Randall (2004). Making Magic: Religion, Magic, and Science in the Modern World. London: Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780195169416.

The perception of magic as a form of self-development is central to the way that magical practices have been adopted into forms of modern Paganism and the New Age phenomenon. [156] By the nineteenth century, European intellectuals no longer saw the practice of magic through the framework of sin and instead regarded magical practices and beliefs as "an aberrational mode of thought antithetical to the dominant cultural logic – a sign of psychological impairment and marker of racial or cultural inferiority". [142] Meyer, Marvin W.; Smith, Richard (1994). Ancient Christian Magic: Coptic Texts of Ritual Power. HarperSanFrancisco. ISBN 9780060655846. OCLC 28549170. Person, Hara E. The Mitzvah of Healing: An Anthology of Jewish Texts, Meditations, Essays, Personal Stories, and Rituals, pp. 4–6. Union for Reform Judaism, 2003. ISBN 0-8074-0856-5 The historian Ronald Hutton notes the presence of four distinct meanings of the term witchcraft in the English language. Historically, the term primarily referred to the practice of causing harm to others through supernatural or magical means. This remains, according to Hutton, "the most widespread and frequent" understanding of the term. [241] Moreover, Hutton also notes three other definitions in current usage; to refer to anyone who conducts magical acts, for benevolent or malevolent intent; for practitioners of the modern Pagan religion of Wicca; or as a symbol of women resisting male authority and asserting an independent female authority. [242] Belief in witchcraft is often present within societies and groups whose cultural framework includes a magical world view. [243]

Abstract

In the Medieval Jewish view, the separation of the mystical and magical elements of Kabbalah, dividing it into speculative theological Kabbalah ( Kabbalah Iyyunit) with its meditative traditions, and theurgic practical Kabbalah ( Kabbalah Ma'asit), had occurred by the beginning of the 14th century. [114]

Hasidism: Between Ecstasy and Magic, Moshe Idel, SUNY Press 1995, pp. 72–74. The term magic, used here to denote divine theurgy affecting material blessing, rather than directly talismanic practical Kabbalah magic a b Elber, Mark. The Everything Kabbalah Book: Explore This Mystical Tradition--From Ancient Rituals to Modern Day Practices, p. 137. Adams Media, 2006. ISBN 1-59337-546-8 A Dictionary of biblical tradition in English literature p. 454, David L. Jeffrey. 1992 "Aramaic incantation bowls of the 6th cent, show her with disheveled hair and tell how"One societal force in the Middle Ages more powerful than the singular commoner, the Christian Church, rejected magic as a whole because it was viewed as a means of tampering with the natural world in a supernatural manner associated with the biblical verses of Deuteronomy 18:9–12. [ further explanation needed] Despite the many negative connotations which surround the term magic, there exist many elements that are seen in a divine or holy light. [115] Halakha (Jewish religious law) forbids divination and other forms of soothsaying, and the Talmud lists many persistent yet condemned divining practices. [66] Practical Kabbalah in historical Judaism, is a branch of the Jewish mystical tradition that concerns the use of magic. It was considered permitted white magic by its practitioners, reserved for the elite, who could separate its spiritual source from Qliphoth realms of evil if performed under circumstances that were holy ( Q-D-Š) and pure (טומאה וטהרה, tvmh vthrh [67]). The concern of overstepping Judaism's strong prohibitions of impure magic ensured it remained a minor tradition in Jewish history. Its teachings include the use of Divine and angelic names for amulets and incantations. [68] These magical practices of Judaic folk religion which became part of practical Kabbalah date from Talmudic times. [68] The Talmud mentions the use of charms for healing, and a wide range of magical cures were sanctioned by rabbis. It was ruled that any practice actually producing a cure was not to be regarded superstitiously and there has been the widespread practice of medicinal amulets, and folk remedies (segullot) in Jewish societies across time and geography. [69] Hanegraaff, Wouter J. (2006b). "Magic V: 18th-20th Century". In Wouter J. Hanegraaff (ed.). Dictionary of Gnosis and Western Esotericism. Brill. pp.738–744. ISBN 978-9004152311.