Liber III · Black & White Magic
Liber III · Black & White Magic
Chapter VIII
Theories of Magic
8 min readAugustine's City of God on Magic, Demons and TheurgyAugustine's City of God on magic explained: his attack on theurgy, Porphyry and the Hermetic Asclepius, demons and signs, and how it shaped medieval views.8 min readSpeculum Astronomiae: Astrology, Images and Forbidden BooksThe Speculum astronomiae (c. 1260), attributed to Albertus Magnus: how it defended astrology, classed astrological images and named Solomonic necromancy.8 min readThe Paris Condemnation of 1277: Tempier, Philosophy and MagicThe Paris condemnation of 1277: Bishop Tempier's 219 propositions, the banned books of necromancy and geomancy, astrology, and medieval fears of magic.7 min readTheories of Magic: From Frazer and Mauss to Modern ScholarshipHow scholars explain magic: Tylor and Frazer's sympathetic magic, Mauss, Malinowski, Evans-Pritchard, Tambiah, and magic as a contested modern category.