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This is the first in-depth study of Apuleius' Metamorphoses to look at the different attitudes characters adopt towards magic as a key to deciphering the complex dynamics of the entire work. The variety of responses to magic is unveiled in the narrative as the protagonist Lucius encounters an assortment of characters, either in embedded tales or in the main plot. A contextualized approach illuminates Lucius' relatively good fortune when compared to other characters in the novel ‒ this results from his involvement with the magic of a sorcerer's apprentice, rather than that of a real witch, and signals the possibility of eventual salvation. A careful investigation of Lucius' attitude towards Isis in book 11 and his relationship with the witch-slave girl Photis earlier on suggests that the novel's final book may be read as a second "Metamorphoses", consciously rewritten from a positive perspective. Last but not least, the book also breaks new ground by examining the narrative structure of the Metamorphoses against the background of the typical plotline found in the ideal romance. The comparison shows how Apuleius both follows and alters this plot, exploiting the genre to his own specific ends, in keeping with his central theme of metamorphosis.
Finally, a book about Witches, Pagans, Magic and Witchcraft you can gladly recommend or give to inquiring folks as a gift. ATTENTION !!! - A few lines, paragraphs or pages in this book may be somewhat strong or explicit, therefore Parental Guidance (PG) is suggested. "I'm tempted to say this is the best book by Dr. Isis Day - but not really, because each one of her books has something special and unique about it. However, I'd say that if you've not read any of her books before, this would be the best and first one to start with, then you can go read the others. 'I Am A Witch - I Choose Paganism,' is a very wonderful book worth reading over and over by both Pagans and non-Pagans, whether you're a Witch or not." --- Marie Guillaumes (Editor). "This book -- 'I Am A Witch - I Choose Paganism,' by Dr. Isis Day -- is the long-awaited book that sheds extra light on Paganism and Witchcraft. Every Pagan and every true student of occult wisdom should read this book asap, and everyone sincerely inquiring about Pagans, Witches, Magic and Witchcraft should also read it right away, and share it with friends too, and let the truth speak for itself. Blessed be!" --- The Illuminatista. Adapted from the book -- 'I Am A Witch - I Choose Paganism,' by Dr. Isis Day - Merry meet! Yep, the Witch is back, with more oomph to keep you witchy and pagan, while helping inquirers and seekers know a few things about us... People have formed all sorts of ill notions about Witches, Witchcraft, Magic and Pagans, and act on such preconceptions accordingly. So-called experts claim to know everything about Witches, when all they have is the backwater, storybook, movie, flea-market and superstitious distortions of the true definition of Witches and Pagans. But then, again, Witches, true and real Witches, are everywhere, in plain sight, yet invisible to the un-initiated... and with Paganism considered one of the fastest growing religions of today, the number will surely be forever on the increase. Hooray! People are finally seeing the light! Misinforming the public about Witches and Pagans has since been a strong, silent and invisible fist that some religions and individuals have used successfully to control, push out and pull in who they want, when and where and how they want it. Promise to protect people from Witches and they'll be yours to keep and sway as you please forever. A lot of the materials out there on Pagans and Witches are put out by non-Pagans who for the most part are anti-Pagans. So inquirers are actually more exposed to the wrong information -- data that has been primarily designed to malign Pagans, Witches, Wizards, Magic and Witchcraft - data whose ultimate purpose is to paint Pagans evil. Once in a while people ask me questions about Witches, Pagans, Magic and Witchcraft, and this book is very much in response to such questions.
Rituals, prayers, and songs to bring the wisdom of the gods and goddesses of ancient Egypt to life. Based on Ellen Cannon Reed's twenty-five years of work with deities of ancient Egypt, this book brings an ancient tradition to modern pagan practice. With it, readers will have the tools to continue learning and developing their own methods of honoring the gods and goddesses of ancient Egypt. Over two dozen gods and goddesses are highlighted, including Osiris, Isis, Ra, Bast, Thoth, Sekhmet, and Tefnut. There is also a section devoted to glyphs. Finally, meditations and techniques bring these deities to life, enriching your spiritual path. The book provides a host of tools and techniques: * Songs for the deities * Rituals for ancient gods and goddesses * Instructions for making your own magical tools * Information about hieroglyphs * Guides to making incense and oils * Recipes for an ancient Egyptian feast
The idea of light and darkness is one of the central ideas of the Symbolist movement, since this is a movement of contrasts. It encompasses the major themes of Symbolism, such as good and evil, beauty and ugliness, the visible and the invisible, and the divine and the earthly. This volume brings together a range of studies in order to understand the notion of light and darkness and a variety of its Symbolist interpretations. It also stresses the interdisciplinary nature of the concepts of light and darkness in Symbolism, as well as the cohabitation and symbiosis of both, which are together or separately at the core of this movement.
In a moonlit graveyard somewhere in southern Italy, a soldier removes his clothes in readiness to transform himself into a wolf. He depends upon the clothes to recover his human shape, and so he magically turns them to stone, but his secret is revealed when, back in human form, he is seen to carry a wound identical to that recently dealt to a marauding wolf. In Arcadia a man named Damarchus accidentally tastes the flesh of a human sacrifice and is transformed into a wolf for nine years. At Temesa Polites is stoned to death for raping a local girl, only to return to terrorize the people of the city in the form of a demon in a wolfskin. Tales of the werewolf are by now well established as a rich sub-strand of the popular horror genre; less widely known is just how far back in time their provenance lies. These are just some of the werewolf tales that survive from the Graeco-Roman world, and this is the first book in any language to be devoted to their study. It shows how in antiquity werewolves thrived in a story-world shared by witches, ghosts, demons, and soul-flyers, and argues for the primary role of story-telling-as opposed to rites of passage-in the ancient world's general conceptualization of the werewolf. It also seeks to demonstrate how the comparison of equally intriguing medieval tales can be used to fill in gaps in our knowledge of werewolf stories in the ancient world, thereby shedding new light on the origins of the modern phenomenon. All ancient texts bearing upon the subject have been integrated into the discussion in new English translations, so that the book provides not only an accessible overview for a broad readership of all levels of familiarity with ancient languages, but also a comprehensive sourcebook for the ancient werewolf for the purposes of research and study.
This companion addresses a topic of continuing contemporary relevance, both cultural and literary. Offers both a wide-ranging exploration of the classical novel of antiquity and a wealth of close literary analysis Brings together the most up-to-date international scholarship on the ancient novel, including fresh new academic voices Includes focused chapters on individual classical authors, such as Petronius, Xenophon and Apuleius, as well as a wide-ranging thematic analysis Addresses perplexing questions concerning authorial expression and readership of the ancient novel form Provides an accomplished introduction to a genre with a rising profile
The volume focuses on the various representations of the Beyond in later Antiquity, a period of intense interaction and competition between various religious traditions and ideals of education. The concepts and images clustering around the Beyond form a crucial focal point for understanding the dynamics of religion and education in later Antiquity. Although Christianity gradually supersedes the pagan traditions, the literary representations of the Beyond derived from classical literature and transmitted through the texts read at school show a remarkable persistence: they influence Christian late antique writers and are still alive in medieval literature of the East and West. A specifically Christian Beyond develops only gradually, and coexists subsequently with pagan ideas, which in turn vary according to the respective literary and philosophical contexts. Thus, the various conceptualisations of the great existential unknown, serves here as a point of reference for mirroring the changes and continuities in Imperial and Late Antique religion, education, and culture, and opening up further perspectives into the Medieval world.
This selection of essays by Luther Martin brings together studies from throughout his career--both early as well as more recent--in the various areas of Graeco-Roman religions, including mystery cults, Judaism, Christianity, and Gnosticism. It is hoped that these studies, which represent spatial, communal, and cognitive approaches to the study of ancient religions might be of interest to those concerned with the structures and dynamics of religions past in general, as well as to scholars who might, with more recent historical research, confirm, evaluate, extend, or refute the hypotheses offered here, for that is the way scholars work and by which scholarship proceeds.
This is the first volume dedicated to the topic of characterisation in Apuleius’ Metamorphoses, the Latin novel from the second century CE. The subject has not been ignored in recent scholarship on individual characters in the work, but the lack of an earlier general overview of the topic reflects the general history of scholarship on the Metamorphoses. Literature on Apuleius’ novel until the 1960s centred around the issue of his general literary quality, and some key scholars held distinctly low estimates of Apuleius’ talents. Since 1970, most critics have seen Apuleius as a conscious and effective literary artist, and this is reflected in the emergence of this volume. The volume’s contributors are a distinguished collection of international scholars, many of whom have worked together on the long-established Groningen Commentaries on Apuleius, a project which is currently coming to completion. No ideological line has been imposed, and contributors have been free to offer their thoughts on how the text of the novel presents particular characters, including divine ones. The volume covers the whole of the novel and all the significant characters, and will constitute a substantial contribution to the interpretation of the most important Latin novel to survive complete from the ancient world.
"Nemo Non Metuit": Magic in the Roman World has the ambitious goal of discussing some of the fundamental themes in the development of the idea of magic, in all its facets, in the long chronological span of the Roman world, between the 8th century BCE and the 5th century CE. At the same time, this volume is the result of a team effort that has brought together both accomplished scholars and young researchers at the beginning of their scholarly careers. Altogether, this ample work is the result of a synergy that brought together different approaches to the study of Roman magic. The broad content of this volume includes studies on magical gems of Etruscan, Greek and Phoenician background; curse tablets; amulets targeting malaria; erotic spells; the use of veneficia or poisons for magical purposes; judicial prayers in Roman Britain; witches in the literary tradition; the role of women in the matter of magic and divination; the figure of the "Orphic witch" in the age of Augustus; sorcerers and rivals of Jesus Christ; early-Christian sermons against magic and superstition; the fight of late-antique Church against magical powers. By addressing such a diverse spectrum of topics, this volume aims to challenge traditional views and open new paths of interpretation in the reconstruction of a long-term cultural-historical object such as magic in connection to the Roman civilization.