Covering a timespan from the 17th century until the late 1920s, this work contains an unprecedented amount of Portuguese Cyprian-related material. From the records of the Inquisition to anonymous prayers, from elusive and previously unpublished manuscripts to printed books, and from pamphlets to periodicals, José takes us through a history of Portuguese sorcery and its various books, all of which, in one way or another, are branded with the name of the sorcerer Saint.Throughout its 968 pages, one can identify the mechanisms of folk composition of prayers and incantations, and identify the cultural, social and political forces which have stood as either opposers or instigators of Portuguese written magical culture. Through this the concreteness of José's original work can be seen to gradually dissolve into a restless sea of melding titles and compositions, whose only determining factors are the circumstance of their immediate present.The Opuscula Cypriani is composed of three parts. The first, reaching the farthest into the past, analyzes variations of the magical and religious composition known as the Prayer of St. Cyprian, presenting several instances of this complex prayer, as well as other smaller compositions which call on Cyprian in his quality of healer, diviner, and dominator.The second part focuses on variations of the very Book itself, offering the translated contents of five different Books of St. Cyprian, presenting various arrangements echoing their own times and circumstances, from French to Afro-Brazilian cross-pollenizations. Here, for the first time, an 18th century Portuguese manuscript Book of St. Cyprian is presented, and the shadows of many others are followed throughout 19th century scholarship and ethnography. Finally, the third part offers the largely unknown underground children of these same books -- small pamphlets and almanacs, which constantly circle around the contents of their larger fathers, but ultimately blossom into uniquely local expressions of magical conceptualization. Love and domination sorcery, harmful and demonic malefica, constant variations and new systems of cartomancy and Cyprian divinations are here presented among hundreds of prayers, sorceries and incantations, until it all fades into the dark shadow of the Portuguese dictatorship of the Estado Novo.The Opuscula Cypriani stands not only as a tour of the past of the book currently known as The Book of St. Cyprian, but it is, much more importantly, an invitation towards the future of a centennial and unregulated magic tradition. Along its many pages a clear image of the Portuguese Books of St. Cyprian is created: that of a continuous and ever changing tradition, constantly revolving around itself, interacting with its environment and its temporal preoccupations, taking in and apart both local and external expressions of magic and religion, and where only the recognition of the imminently pressing present matters.

From the recovery of ancient ritual magic at the height of the Renaissance to the ignominious demise of alchemy at the dawn of the Enlightenment, Mark A. Waddell explores the rich and complex ways that premodern people made sense of their world. He describes a time when witches flew through the dark of night to feast on the flesh of unbaptized infants, magicians conversed with angels or struck pacts with demons, and astrologers cast the horoscopes of royalty. Ground-breaking discoveries changed the way that people understood the universe while, in laboratories and coffee houses, philosophers discussed how to reconcile the scientific method with the veneration of God. This engaging, illustrated new study introduces readers to the vibrant history behind the emergence of the modern world.
‘An enchanting, yet eminently accessible, tour of the magical and mysterious in European thought from the Renaissance to the Enlightenment. The real wizardry is how Waddell masterfully explains the uniqueness of early modern views of magic, religion and nature, while emphasizing the profound links between this past and our present.'
Matthew James Crawford - Kent State University
‘Waddell provides a superb review of the intersections among belief systems and underlines the great extent to which they determined early modern lived experience. Magic, Science, and Religion in Early Modern Europe is deftly written and invites the reader to imagine as well as learn, to engage curiosity and passion as well as intellect. It is a triumph in the genre.'
Allison Kavey - CUNY John Jay College and CUNY Graduate Center
‘Waddell’s book is a brilliant work of synthesis and, in effect, he performs his own kind of alchemy, transforming heavyweight theories in the history and philosophy of science into crystal clear, accessible prose, creating a rich summary of his topic in just over 200 pages. Magic, Science, and Religion in Early Modern Europe will be a staple on student reading lists for years to come.’
Ross MacFarlane Source: Fortean Times

In the midst of academic debates about the utility of the term “magic” and the cultural meaning of ancient words like mageia or khesheph, this Guide to the Study of Ancient Magic seeks to advance the discussion by separating out three topics essential to the very idea of magic. The three major sections of this volume address (1) indigenous terminologies for ambiguous or illicit ritual in antiquity; (2) the ancient texts, manuals, and artifacts commonly designated “magical” or used to represent ancient magic; and (3) a series of contexts, from the written word to materiality itself, to which the term “magic” might usefully pertain.
The individual essays in this volume cover most of Mediterranean and Near Eastern antiquity, with essays by both established and emergent scholars of ancient religions.
In a burgeoning field of “magic studies” trying both to preserve and to justify critically the category itself, this volume brings new clarity and provocative insights. This will be an indispensable resource to all interested in magic in the Bible and the Ancient Near East, ancient Greece and Rome, Early Christianity and Judaism, Egypt through the Christian period, and also comparative and critical theory.

Persecuted as evil during colonial times, considered charlatans during the nation-building era, Puerto Rican brujos (witch-healers) today have become spiritual entrepreneurs who advise their clients not only in consultation with the spirits but also in compliance with state laws and new economic opportunities. Combining trance, dance, magic, and healing practices with expertise in the workings of the modern welfare state, they help lawyers win custody suits, sick employees resolve labor disability claims, single mothers apply for government housing, or corporation managers maximize their commercial skills.Drawing on extensive fieldwork among practicing brujos, this book presents a masterful history and ethnography of Puerto Rican brujeria (witch-healing). Raquel Romberg explores how brujeria emerged from a blending of popular Catholicism, Afro-Latin religions, French Spiritism, and folk Protestantism and also looks at how it has adapted to changes in state policies and responded to global flows of ideas and commodities. She demonstrates that, far from being an exotic or marginal practice in the modern world, brujeria has become an invisible yet active partner of consumerism and welfare capitalism.

The Book of Genesis depicts them as doing strange things--mating with the daughters of men to spawn giants, for example, and wrestling with Jacob for no apparent reason. In It's a Wonderful Life, Frank Capra spun a tale of one as a bumbling helper of humans; in Wings of Desire, Wim Wenders told of one who wished to be human. They are angels, of course, and they have fascinated us since recorded history began. In Angels, David Albert Jones provides a crisp, broad-ranging survey of angels in theology, philosophy, and popular culture. Focusing on Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, he examines how angels have been imagined and explained, and why they continue to captivate us. Jones explores the classical discussion--what they are made of, when they came to be, how many there are, and whether anyone ever did ask how many could dance on the head of a pin. He names the archangels, surveys the different hierarchies, and examines how they have changed over time. Jones explains, for example, how cherubim became cherubs, and why angels in the Hebrew Bible are typically male, but in later art became androgynous, or even female by the twentieth century. The book explores the idea that Satan was a fallen angel (a belief not shared by Islam), and looks at demons and exorcism. But Jones concentrates on good angels, in their roles as messengers, guardians, or helpers. He looks at why the idea of angels remains so attractive, and so potent in modern culture--even among nonbelievers. From scripture to cinema, Jones offers a sweeping, accessible introduction to this remarkable phenomenon. Whether we believe in angels or not, he argues, the study of their role in cultures past and present can teach us much about humanity.

The fall of the angels is one of the biblical narratives which, above all in the history of the bible's reception, have developed an extraordinary effect: In the biblical canon they appear just as hints (Gen. 6; Isaiah 14; Apocalypse 12). Little concern for the text as well as a tradition and reception not covered by the canon makes the narrative grow and change considerably, as well as freely negotiate in the popular media of iconography, liturgy and theatre. As a completed narrative the fall of the angels appears only in the literature of the apocalyptic movement. The so-called Henoch tradition provides revelations about the cosmos and the secrets of Heaven and Earth. Through this mystery our present world is coded as a battle between good and evil.