The incantations of Daniel Johnston

Manuals that have survived from Graeco-Roman Egypt, such as the ‘Theban Magical Library’, are one of the main sources of information about customary ways of formulating incantation...

The Introduction explains the motivation for the book and introduces the questions it addresses. It describes the manuals and incantations that have survived from the Graeco-Roman ...

This chapter surveys the normative stance of Christian authorities against the use of incantations and amulets, conveyed in treatises, sermons, saints’ lives, and ecclesiastical ca...

This chapter investigates how Christian rituals or ritualizing behaviour supplied resources used by scribes in formulating incantations. On the one hand, elements derived from Chri...