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Popular Magic: Then and Now
Date And Time
Tue, 17 November 2020
18:00 – 19:30 GMT
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/popular-magic-then-and-now-tickets-122826516417
About this Event
What kind of things do you do ‘just for luck’? Writing a wish on a piece of paper, burning it and drinking the ash with your New Year’s champagne, tying a ribbon on a special tree for good fortune, wearing a ‘lucky’ necklace to a job interview – these small rituals permeate our daily lives. They are difficult to categorise, belonging neither to any mainstream religion, nor aligning strictly with pagan revivals like Wicca or Druidry. Instead, these little rites exist on the fringes of other faiths and beliefs, often combining elements from different religions. What does unite them is a belief in magic.
Join Crystal and Anna in a conversation that will take you through medieval churches and pagan sacred sites in search of popular magic. The two speakers will explain the symbolism behind common popular magic traditions and uncover the unexpected ways in which they still persevere today.
The conversation will take place via Zoom. It is free to attend, but please register using the link below to give the organisers a sense of numbers. The conversation is 40 minutes long with 20 minutes for questions and discussion – you are welcome and encouraged to bring your own magical items for the discussion portion of the programme.
The Sorcerer’s Handbook: Medieval Arabic Magic in Context
A Leverhulme-funded research project, University of Exeter, 2019-2022.
This project focuses on a collection of magical texts attributed to an influential medieval scholar of the Arabic language, Sirāj al-Dīn al-Sakkākī (d. 1229 CE). We are producing an edition and translation of his grimoire, accompanied by a co-authored volume of essays.
http://blogs.exeter.ac.uk/thesorcerershandbook/
Arcane: The History of Magic
A new podcast by Magic and Esotericism Group member Samuel P. Gillis Hogan. Check out the introductory episode here!:
“Magic has been practiced throughout our history, yet many people do not know that it was an ever-present part of our past. While the significance of magic in history has been established by scholars, Arcane attempts to bring this fascinating knowledge beyond academic circles to be enjoyed by everyone. This brief episode introduces: the podcast, its aims, and me – Samuel Gillis Hogan, a PhD researcher specializing in the history of magic.”
OGOM Conference 2021
‘Ill met by moonlight’: Gothic encounters with enchantment and the Faerie realm in literature and culture
University of Hertfordshire, 8‒10 April 2021
http://www.opengravesopenminds.com/ill-met-by-moonlight-2021/
Ashburton Arts Centre Events
Magic: Who Cares?
Truth and Deception Belief and Incredulity
Secrecy and Revelation Regard and Distraction
Cooperation and Conflict Hope and Gloom
Join Prof Brian Rappert in this highly interactive, online event that uses magic as a method for exploring how we act toward one another in everyday life, the workplace, politics and beyond. We will ask how we can care for each other in these demanding times through the power of illusion. Some of the bewitching will take place through your very hands! The effects are all new, so feel free to join in the fun if you have been to one of Brian’s previous sessions at the Centre.
Date/Time
Sunday 9 August 2020
8:00 pm – 9:30 pm
http://ashburtonarts.org.uk/events/magic-who-cares/
Also on Sunday 16 August 2020
8:00 pm – 9:30 pm
Plath and Witchcraft
Magic and Esotericism research group member Dorka Tamas discusses the work of Sylvia Plath, focusing on witchcraft, witch imagery, and different cultural and literary influences in Plath’s poetry.
Listen here on the Plath & Co Podcast!
https://soundcloud.com/user-611388248/episode-six-plath-witchcraft
‘Mystery, Science and the Divine’
University College London
Summer School in Ancient Philosophy
Monday 13 July to Friday 17 July 2020
The UCL Ancient Philosophy Summer School is offering exceptional one-week intensive courses this summer at opportunity-cost prices (£120) .
- The one-week intensive courses will be available online for the first time and accessible from any part of the world.
- There will be video lectures as well as discussion time with excellent tutors
- Participants will be provided with all materials and have the opportunity to talk about the ideas with other participants as well as the tutors
- The course on ‘Mystery, Science and the Divine’ is being developed and will be actively guided by two tutors specialised in Ancient Philosophy, Late Antiquity and Medieval Philosophy
Some of the questions that will be tackled include:
- What are the origins of rationality?
- Why were the deeper teachings of philosophical schools (e.g. Plato and Stoics) made accessible only to the ‘initiated’?
- Why is the divine so important for the ancients?
- Why did specific philosophical schools deal with magic, alchemy and astrology?
- How is the notion of ‘divine’ associated with philosophy and the occult arts?
- What kind of impetus was given to philosophy and science by the occult arts?
- Was magic and astrology really irrational during ancient times?
https://www.ucl.ac.uk/classics/outreach/summer-schools/ucl-summer-school-ancient-philosophy-2020
For further information on the ‘Mystery, Science and the Divine’ course please contact: robert.heller@kcl.ac.uk or athanasios.rinotas@kuleuven.be
Visions as practice in practice-based research
A presentation by Sarah Scaife given to the Exeter University Magic & Esotericism Research Group on 27 May 2020. This work was catalysed by Dr Emily Selove’s presentation, Dangerous Books, to the same research group on 3 April 2020. Scaife was intrigued by Selove’s reference to a spell involving “a slave girl”, which relied on the intimate interior of a woman’s body as a site of magic. This brought to mind Bernini’s sculpture of a woman who began to experience religious ecstasy during almost a year of ill-health, The Ecstasy of St Teresa, and links to Scaife’s own practice-based research. The PDF shared here is the Notes view of her 30 minute presentation:
Visions_as_practice_in_practice-based_re
Sarah Scaife’s Academia.edu profile can be found here:
MAGIC IN AN AGE OF PRETENCE
Truths and lies
Concealment and revelation
Chaos and oder
Why not?
These are challenging times. How we communicate, how we look at one another, and how we perceive our everyday surroundings are radically shifting from day to day. Join in with Professor Brian Rappert in using magic as a method for reflecting on our altered experiences. In this highly interactive, on-line event, some of the magic will take place in your very hands! And who doesn’t need a bit more magic in their lives these days…
Magic in an Age of Pretence isn’t an ordinary magic show! Instead of a magician set apart from the audience, this show consists of using the play of secrecy, disclosure and deception in magic to generate discuss the role of secrecy, disclosure and deception in art, science, war, and daily life. Find out more about Brian Rappert here: hhttps://brianrappert.net/