Hi Hannah.. your research sounds fascinating...
>>... I'm very interested in different conceptions of spirit worlds, and the
relationship between the living and the dead, and how, perhaps, magic is
involved in such relations, and what kind of properties the dead are thought
to have, e.g. whether they are benevolent or malevolent in such
relations (ah, that's not very well worded!). Would be very interested to
hear from anyone who could reocmmend good references or has looked at this
subject in their research.<<
There's an interesting book, coming form a Classics angle which may or may
not be of use to you, called "Restless Dead: Encounters Between the Living
and the Dead in Ancient Greece" by Sarah Iles Johnston. Uni of California
Press, 1999. It covers magical pracitioners who interact with the dead -
this sort of practitioner is called a 'Goes" (Goetia comes from this word),
rituals addressed to the dead, the angry malevolent dead (and how they came
to be that way), general ghosts, divinities and the dead. Great book.
~Caroline.
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