Pros(e) and Cons: Anti-Magic Polemic II

Sponsoring Organization(s)

Societas Magica

Organizer Name

David Porreca

Organizer Affiliation

Univ. of Waterloo

Presider Name

Frank Klaassen

Presider Affiliation

Univ. of Saskatchewan

Paper Title 1

Lived Magic and the Uses of Anti-Magical Rhetoric: John of Morigny and Milarepa

Presenter 1 Name

Claire Fanger

Presenter 1 Affiliation

Rice Univ.

Paper Title 2

Portrayal of the Magician in the Polemics of Emperor Zärʾa Yaʿəqob of Ethiopia

Presenter 2 Name

Augustine Dickinson

Presenter 2 Affiliation

Univ. of Waterloo

Paper Title 3

Sed Contra: Arguments in Favor of Magic in the Picatrix

Presenter 3 Name

David Porreca

Start Date

14-5-2016 3:30 PM

Session Location

Schneider 1160

Description

Magic in the Western tradition has been used as a foil for other socially acceptable endeavours, such as science and public religion, to define themselves in contrast. Thus, anti-magical polemical texts have played a key role in the self-definition of key realms of human endeavour since antiquity. At the same time, practitioners of magic and their intellectual backers have also mounted spirited defences of these activities. This session will examine polemical texts surrounding magic, both for and against, and how these arguments influenced the wider perception of magic during the Middle Ages. This session focuses on Latin France, Arab Spain and Ethiopia. -David Porreca