Ancient Jewish Magic

Ancient Jewish Magic PDF Author: Gideon Bohak
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780521180986
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
Gideon Bohak gives a pioneering account of the broad history of ancient Jewish magic, from the Second Temple to the rabbinic period. It is based both on ancient magicians' own compositions and products in Aramaic, Hebrew and Greek, and on the descriptions and prescriptions of non-magicians, to reconstruct a historical picture that is as balanced and nuanced as possible. The main focus is on the cultural make-up of ancient Jewish magic, and special attention is paid to the processes of cross-cultural contacts and borrowings between Jews and non-Jews, as well as to inner-Jewish creativity. Other major issues explored include the place of magic within Jewish society, contemporary Jewish attitudes to magic, and the identity of its practitioners. Throughout, the book seeks to explain the methodological underpinnings of all sound research in this demanding field, and to highlight areas where further research is likely to prove fruitful.

Ancient Jewish Magic

Ancient Jewish Magic PDF Author: Gideon Bohak
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780521180986
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Get Book

Book Description
Gideon Bohak gives a pioneering account of the broad history of ancient Jewish magic, from the Second Temple to the rabbinic period. It is based both on ancient magicians' own compositions and products in Aramaic, Hebrew and Greek, and on the descriptions and prescriptions of non-magicians, to reconstruct a historical picture that is as balanced and nuanced as possible. The main focus is on the cultural make-up of ancient Jewish magic, and special attention is paid to the processes of cross-cultural contacts and borrowings between Jews and non-Jews, as well as to inner-Jewish creativity. Other major issues explored include the place of magic within Jewish society, contemporary Jewish attitudes to magic, and the identity of its practitioners. Throughout, the book seeks to explain the methodological underpinnings of all sound research in this demanding field, and to highlight areas where further research is likely to prove fruitful.

Jewish Magic and Superstition

Jewish Magic and Superstition PDF Author: Joshua Trachtenberg
Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press
ISBN: 0812208331
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 393

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Book Description
Alongside the formal development of Judaism from the eleventh through the sixteenth centuries, a robust Jewish folk religion flourished—ideas and practices that never met with wholehearted approval by religious leaders yet enjoyed such wide popularity that they could not be altogether excluded from the religion. According to Joshua Trachtenberg, it is not possible truly to understand the experience and history of the Jewish people without attempting to recover their folklife and beliefs from centuries past. Jewish Magic and Superstition is a masterful and utterly fascinating exploration of religious forms that have all but disappeared yet persist in the imagination. The volume begins with legends of Jewish sorcery and proceeds to discuss beliefs about the evil eye, spirits of the dead, powers of good, the famous legend of the golem, procedures for casting spells, the use of gems and amulets, how to battle spirits, the ritual of circumcision, herbal folk remedies, fortune telling, astrology, and the interpretation of dreams. First published more than sixty years ago, Trachtenberg's study remains the foundational scholarship on magical practices in the Jewish world and offers an understanding of folk beliefs that expressed most eloquently the everyday religion of the Jewish people.

Jewish Magic Before the Rise of Kabbalah

Jewish Magic Before the Rise of Kabbalah PDF Author: Author Series Editor Yuval Harari
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780814348819
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 604

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Book Description
A comprehensive study of Jewish magic in the late antiquity and the early Islamic period-the phenomenon, the sources, and method for its research, and the history of scholarly investigation into its nature and origin.

חרבא דמשה

חרבא דמשה PDF Author: Moses Gaster
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Angels
Languages : en
Pages : 100

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Book Description


The Magic of the Sword of Moses

The Magic of the Sword of Moses PDF Author: Harold Roth
Publisher: Red Wheel/Weiser
ISBN: 1578637260
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
Languages : en
Pages : 197

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Book Description
"The Sword of Moses is one of the earliest Jewish magic books, written sometime between 1075-1100 CE. It describes a rite for adjuring angels to assist in controlling and wielding the "Sword of Moses" for magical purposes. The work was first translated by Moses Gaster in 1896, but he removed many of the spells in order to make the Sword unusable for magic. This current work is the first to show in detail exactly how a magician can use the Sword"--

Magic, Mysticism, and Hasidism

Magic, Mysticism, and Hasidism PDF Author: Gedalyah Nigal
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 312

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Book Description
Thoroughly researched and annotated, Professor Gedalyah Nigal's work examines such phenomena as the baalei shem - the individuals who by their knowledge of the "holy names" were able to perform great feats; kefitzat ha-derekh - the ability to traverse great distances in very little time; the transmigration of souls; dybbuks, possession, and exorcism; demons and their marriages to humans; the battles against forces of evil; the power of amulets; and journeys to the Garden of Eden and back.

Jewish Magic before the Rise of Kabbalah

Jewish Magic before the Rise of Kabbalah PDF Author: Yuval Harari
Publisher: Wayne State University Press
ISBN: 0814336310
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 604

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Book Description
“Magic culture is certainly fascinating. But what is it? What, in fact, are magic writings, magic artifacts?” Originally published in Hebrew in 2010, Jewish Magic Before the Rise of Kabbalah is a comprehensive study of early Jewish magic focusing on three major topics: Jewish magic inventiveness, the conflict with the culture it reflects, and the scientific study of both. The first part of the book analyzes the essence of magic in general and Jewish magic in particular. The book begins with theories addressing the relationship of magic and religion in fields like comparative study of religion, sociology of religion, history, and cultural anthropology, and considers the implications of the paradigm shift in the interdisciplinary understanding of magic for the study of Jewish magic. The second part of the book focuses on Jewish magic culture in late antiquity and in the early Islamic period. This section highlights the artifacts left behind by the magic practitioners—amulets, bowls, precious stones, and human skulls—as well as manuals that include hundreds of recipes. Jewish Magic before the Rise of Kabbalah also reports on the culture that is reflected in the magic evidence from the perspective of external non-magic contemporary Jewish sources. Issues of magic and religion, magical mysticism, and magic and social power are dealt with in length in this thorough investigation. Scholars interested in early Jewish history and comparative religions will find great value in this text.

Jewish Love Magic

Jewish Love Magic PDF Author: Ortal-Paz Saar
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9004347895
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 313

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Book Description
In Jewish Love Magic: From Late Antiquity to the Middle Ages Ortal-Paz Saar explores the supernatural methods employed by Jews in order to generate love, grace or hate, comparing them to contemporaneous Graeco-Roman and Christian love magic.

The Mechanics of Providence

The Mechanics of Providence PDF Author: Michael D. Swartz
Publisher: Mohr Siebeck
ISBN: 3161550021
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 349

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Book Description
The phenomena we call magic and mysticism had a profound effect on the shaping of Judaism in late antiquity. In this volume, Michael D. Swartz offers a wide-ranging study of the purposes, world-views, ritual dynamics, literary forms, and social settings of ancient Jewish magic and mysticism and their function in religion and history. Based on the author's studies over the past few decades, he proposes innovative methods for the study of these two phenomena. The author focuses especially on the rituals of early Jewish magic and mysticism, their social contexts, and the textual dimension of this complex literature. He also offers introductions to these phenomena. Michael D. Swartz argues that the authors of these texts employed intricate technologies, literary and artistic forms, and physical practices to negotiate between the values and world-views of their cultures and the texture of everyday life.

Three Works of Ancient Jewish Magic

Three Works of Ancient Jewish Magic PDF Author: Gaster Moses
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780948366017
Category : Cabala
Languages : en
Pages : 156

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Book Description