- Sexuality in the Natural and Demonic Magic of the Middle Ages – lengthy abstract with link to the full article. Short version: natural magic enacted through physical objects, demonic magic through ritual – and the latter was worse because it used humans.
- How Witchcraft Is Empowering Queer and Trans Young People – religions are always adapting to the times, and the practitioners described in this article discard the traditional (? I’m not a witch or pagan, so I can’t speak to accuracy) male-female binary to create beliefs and rituals meaningful to their queer identities.
- Tudor controversialists and the Catholic faith – Propaganda and counter-propaganda between the Elizabethan government and English Catholics. Relevant to my WIP as I’m writing Edward Kelley as a recusant. The review suggests a “crunchy” academic book, but in the best possible way.
- Following Isaac Newton’s Recipe for the Philosopher’s Stone Cost $199.23 – Roejen over at Project Archivist put me onto this story last week, and I mused wouldn’t it be great if someone tried this out? Behold, a tidy how-to in modern English! Let me know if you give this a whirl – I’d end up burning my house down.
Tag: witchcraft
biweekly links 3-23-2016
Early modern English Muslims, 20th century occult collections, and fin-de-siècle French Satanists for you:
- The first Muslims in England – article in BBC Magazine by Jerry Brotton, author of new book This Orient Isle: Elizabethan England and the Islamic World. In the Guardian, Brotton also suggests that the Moroccan ambassador to Elizabeth’s court might have been the inspiration for Othello. I’ve read lamentably little about what non-white, non-Christians were doing in London in the sixteenth century so I’m looking forward to this book, and hope to find something similar for Prague. Speaking of Prague:
- Nazi occult books found in Czech National Library depot – Himmler’s private collection of books on witchcraft have evidently been in storage since the 1950s. Initially reported in a tabloid, this story seems to be getting more reputable coverage as the days go on.
- Occult collection of “mother of modern witchcraft” Doreen Valiente to go on display, in a haunted house, no less. I’m overly familiar with 20th century occultism but she seems to be the place to start. Or you could go earlier:
- Satanism and Magic in the Age of the Moulin Rouge – French literary figures threaten to duel over accusations of assassination by sorcery. And it’s all true – this is from JStor’s blog.