Persuasions of the Witch's Craft: Ritual Magic in Contemporary England
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Book Overview
To find out why reasonable people are drawn to the seemingly bizarre practices of magic and witchcraft, Tanya Luhrmann immersed herself in the secret lives of Londoners who call themselves magicians. She came to know them as friends and equals and was initiated into various covens and magical groups. She explains the process through which once-skeptical individuals--educated, middle-class people, frequently of high intelligence--become committed to the ideas behind witchcraft and find magical ritual so compellingly persuasive. This intriguing book draws some disturbing conclusions about the ambivalence of belief within modern urban society.
Format:Paperback
Language:English
ISBN:0674663241
ISBN13:9780674663244
Release Date:March 1989
Publisher:Harvard University Press
Length:396 Pages
Weight:1.28 lbs.
Dimensions:1.0" x 6.2" x 9.0"
Customer Reviews
1 rating
How can people believe this stuff? -- an inquiry
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 28 years ago
The ethnographic detail (and it is quite rich) of English covens is just the beginning -- the book is fundamentally about belief and the justification of belief. Is there any real difference between marginal practices like drawing pentagrams and casting spells and mainstream practices like taking communion and praying? Are there perhaps commonalities among "altered states" of meditation, prayer, and the like? No definitive answers, but a fascinating exploration.
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