In 1665 an anonymous treatise was added to a book skeptical of witchcraft. That book, "The Discoverie of Witchcraft", compiled by Reginald Scot and published in 1584, defended those accused of witchcraft. It also included so many examples of rituals and charms that it became popular with magical practitioners themselves. Although the"Discoverie" has since been reprinted several times, the anonymous material has not been available for over a hundred years. This material features a combination of ceremonial magic, Paracelsian thought, pagan folk rituals, and spirits from John Dee's "A True & Faithful Relation", all mixed into a synthetic whole. "The Magitians Discovered" Volume I is an analysis of who the authors of the anonymous material were, what their worldview was, and what their motivations may have been in assembling and inserting the anonymous material.
In 1665 an anonymous treatise was added to a book skeptical of witchcraft. That book, "The Discoverie of Witchcraft", compiled by Reginald Scot and published in 1584, defended those accused of witchcraft. It also included so many examples of rituals and charms that it became popular with magical practitioners themselves. "The Magitians Discovered" Volume 2 consists of the anonymous material, along with sections from Scot's original "Discoverie" dealing with ritual magic. talismans. and amulets. This is supplemented by excerpts from two works believed to be written and translated by one of the authors of the anonymous material
In 1665 an anonymous treatise on magic, by magicians, was added to a book skeptical of witchcraft, "The Discoverie of Witchcraft". The "Magitians Discovered" series examines that anonymous material. This volume contains texts that are foundational for understanding that material, plus texts that are related to the arguments about the material made in the first volume. These texts include selections from Henry Cornelius Agrippa's "Three Books of Occult Philosophy", about the theory and practice of magic; selections from his "Fourth Book"; selections from Olaus Magnus' "Description of the Northern Peoples" about pagan customs, giants, standing stones, witches, and related topics; selections from Robert Burton's "Anatomy of Melancholy" that deal with magic; selections from Isaac La Peyrère's "Prae-Adamitae" which deal with magic and hermeticism; selections from John Dee's writings from "A True and Faithful Relation" that deal with the nature of the aerial spirits; selections from Robert Kirk's "Secret Commonwealth of Elves, Fauns, and Fairies", and more.
Lev Grossman’s new novel THE BRIGHT SWORD will be on sale July 2024 The stunning #1 New York Times bestselling conclusion to the Magicians trilogy A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK OF THE YEAR ONE OF THE YEAR’S BEST BOOKS • The San Francisco Chronicle • Salon • The Christian Science Monitor • AV Club • Buzzfeed • Kirkus • NY 1 • Bustle • The Globe and Mail Quentin Coldwater has been cast out of Fillory, the secret magical land of his childhood dreams. With nothing left to lose he returns to where his story began, the Brakebills Preparatory College of Magic. But he can’t hide from his past, and it’s not long before it comes looking for him. Along with Plum, a brilliant young undergraduate with a dark secret of her own, Quentin sets out on a crooked path through a magical demimonde of gray magic and desperate characters. But all roads lead back to Fillory, and his new life takes him to old haunts, like Antarctica, and to buried secrets and old friends he thought were lost forever. He uncovers the key to a sorcery masterwork, a spell that could create magical utopia, a new Fillory—but casting it will set in motion a chain of events that will bring Earth and Fillory crashing together. To save them he will have to risk sacrificing everything. The Magician’s Land is an intricate thriller, a fantastical epic, and an epic of love and redemption that brings the Magicians trilogy to a magnificent conclusion, confirming it as one of the great achievements in modern fantasy. It’s the story of a boy becoming a man, an apprentice becoming a master, and a broken land finally becoming whole.
Lev Grossman’s new novel THE BRIGHT SWORD will be on sale July 2024 Return to Fillory in the riveting sequel to the New York Times bestseller and literary phenomenon, The Magicians, now an original series on SYFY, from the author of the #1 bestselling The Magician’s Land. Quentin Coldwater should be happy. He escaped a miserable Brooklyn childhood, matriculated at a secret college for magic, and graduated to discover that Fillory—a fictional utopia—was actually real. But even as a Fillorian king, Quentin finds little peace. His old restlessness returns, and he longs for the thrills a heroic quest can bring. Accompanied by his oldest friend, Julia, Quentin sets off—only to somehow wind up back in the real world and not in Fillory, as they’d hoped. As the pair struggle to find their way back to their lost kingdom, Quentin is forced to rely on Julia’s illicitly learned sorcery as they face a sinister threat in a world very far from the beloved fantasy novels of their youth.
There are no clear demarcation lines between magic, astrology, necromancy, medicine, and even sciences in the pre-modern world. Under the umbrella term 'magic,' the contributors to this volume examine a wide range of texts, both literary and religious, both medical and philosophical, in which the topic is discussed from many different perspectives. The fundamental concerns address issue such as how people perceived magic, whether they accepted it and utilized it for their own purposes, and what impact magic might have had on the mental structures of that time. While some papers examine the specific appearance of magicians in literary texts, others analyze the practical application of magic in medical contexts. In addition, this volume includes studies that deal with the rise of the witch craze in the late fifteenth century and then also investigate whether the Weberian notion of disenchantment pertaining to the modern world can be maintained. Magic is, oddly but significantly, still around us and exerts its influence. Focusing on magic in the medieval world thus helps us to shed light on human culture at large.
The spellbinding stories of the scientists whose eureka! breakthroughs in modern physics reveal science's astonishing predictive power. 'An excellent popular science book.' DARA Ó BRIAIN 'A thoroughly informative and entertaining read.' ANNA BURNS, Booker Prize-winning author of Milkman 'One of the best-written books about phsyics I have ever come across.' POPULAR SCIENCE 'Highly entertaining and accessible.' IRISH TIMES 'Fascinating, life enhancing entertainment.' PROSPECT 'Thoroughly enjoyable . . . Chown has down it again.' BBC SKY AT NIGHT The Magicians takes us on a breathtaking, mind-altering tour of the eureka! moments of modern physics. Charting the spellbinding stories of the scientists who predicted and discovered the existence of unknown planets, black holes, invisible force fields, ripples in the fabric of space-time, unsuspected subatomic particles and even antimatter, Marcus Chown reveals science's greatest mystery: its astonishing predictive power.
Discovering Cyrus: The Persian Conqueror Astride the Ancient World Some of the most fascinating human epochs lie in the borderlands between history and mystery. So it is with the life of Cyrus the Great, founder of the Persian Empire in the sixth century B.C. By conquest or gentler means, he brought under his rule a dominion stretching from the Aegean Sea to the Hindu Kush and encompassing some tens of millions of people. All across this immense imperium, he earned support and stability by respecting local customs and religions, avoiding the brutal ways of tyranny, and efficiently administering the realm through provincial governors. The empire would last another two centuries, leaving an indelible Persian imprint on much of the ancient world. The Greek chronicler Xenophon, looking back from a distance of several generations, wrote: “Cyrus did indeed eclipse all other monarchs, before or since.” The biblical prophet Second Isaiah anticipated Cyrus’ repatriation of the Jews living in exile in Babylon by having the Lord say, “He is my shepherd and will accomplish all that I please.” Despite what he achieved and bequeathed, much about Cyrus remains uncertain. Persians of his era had no great respect for the written word and kept no annals. The most complete accounts of his life were composed by Greeks. More fragmentary or tangential evidence takes many forms – among them, archaeological remains, administrative records in subject lands, and the always tricky stuff of legend. Given these challenges, Discovering Cyrus: The Persian Conqueror Astride the Ancient World is a remarkable feat of portraiture. In his vast sweep, Reza S. Zarghamee draws on sources of every kind, painstakingly assembling detail, and always weighing evidence carefully where contradictions arise. He describes the background of the Persian people, the turbulence of the times, and the roots of Cyrus’ policies. His account of the imperial era itself delves into religion, military methods, commerce, court life, and much else besides. The result is a living, breathing Cyrus standing atop a distant world that played a key role in shaping our own.
