Synopses & Reviews
Review
Anyone who likes to speculate about the nature of belief and the organization of belief systems, to learn about the development and meanings of ritual, and to explore efforts toward creative self-realization will be intrigued with the results of Luhrmann's immersion in the several strains of modern British magic. Rosemary Dinnage - New York Review of Books
Review
Such is the strength of Tanya Luhrmann's narrative that, by the end of the book, magic becomes a normal and almost routine activity--just another way of channeling that desire for worship and that appetite for symbolic ritual that human beings seem to possess. Since this is an anthropological study the author has many serious points to make about the relationship between practice and theory. Helen A. Berger - Contemporary Sociology
Review
A groundbreaking study that nimbly interweaves Ms. Luhrmann's own magical adventures with anthropological shoptalk, offering a systematic classification and analysis of modern magic, as well as judicious observations on the nature of belief...A formidable challenge that T. M. Luhrmann's book implicitly poses [is] a rigorous examination of the tenets of our own faith, ideas, dearest intellectual castles, to find just where the foundations lie. To accomplish that would be magic enough for anyone. Philip Zaleski
Review
Raises questions about the way we think, believe, imagine, know, in a most fascinating way. New York Times Book Review
Review
Luhrmann has made a major contribution to the study of magic, new religions, and the development of the irrational within a culture that prides itself on rationality. Michele Slung - Washington Post Book World
Review
This brilliant work provides the most wide-ranging sociological or anthropological investigation to date of the interrelated witchcraft, ceremonial magic, and neo-pagan movements that are becoming increasingly important in both Britain and the United States...No one interested in contemporary spirituality or the social scientific study of religion can afford to miss this book. Peter Ackroyd - London Times
Synopsis
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.
Description
Includes bibliographical references (p. [357]-373) and index.
About the Author
Tanya M. Luhrmann is Associate Professor of Anthropology, University of California, San Diego.
Table of Contents
Acknowledgements
PART 1: SPEAKING WITH A DIFFERENT RHYTHM: MAGICIANS IN THE MODREN WORLD
1. What makes Magic Reasonable?
2. Initiation Ritual: My Introduction to the Field
3. Journey to Aquarius: the Sociological Context of Magical Groups
4. The Goat and the Gazelle: Witchcraft
5. Meditations on the Tree of Life: the Western Mysteries
6. Space between the Worlds: ad hoc Ritual Magic
7. The Old Ways: Non-Initiated Paganism
8. The 'child within': a Portrait of the Practitioners
PART 2: LISTENING TO THE GODDESS: NEW WAYS TO PAY ATTENTION TO THE WORLD
9. Introduction: the Magician's Changing Intellectual Habits
10. Drinking from Cerridwen's Cauldron: Learning to See the Evidence
11. Astrology and the Tarot: Acquiring Common Knowledge
12. Seeing Patterns in the Jumbled Whole: Becoming Comfortable with New Assumptions
PART 3: SUMMONING THE POWERS: THE EXPERIENCE OF INVOLVEMENT
13. Introduction: Working Intuitively
14. New Experiences: Meditation and Visualization
15. 'Knowing of': Language and Imaginative Involvement
16. Ritual: Techniques for Altering the Everyday
17. The Varied Uses of Symbolism
PART 4: JUSTIFYING TO THE SCEPTICS
18. Introduction: Coping with the Dissonance
19. The Magical Plane: The Emergence of a Protective Metaphor
20. In Defence of Magic: Philosophical and Theological Rationalization
PART 5: BELIEF AND ACTION
21. Interpretice Drift: The Slow Shift Towards Belief
22. Serious Play: The Fantasy of Truth
23. Final Thoughts
Bibliography
Index