Jan. 16

Dear Nick and Dave,

When, for example, Malinowski wrote about magic, he was using native categories.   Many other academics--e.g., Tambiah--do the same.

And the debate over magic even among Western scholars has always been intense.   There is no uniform Western position.   Western scholars, who have the advantage of professional training, are not some brainwashed group indoctrinated with a single viewpoint.

Why not show some gumption and ask just what is being left out?   The burden should be on critics.

Robert Segal
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From: Society for The Academic Study of Magic [[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Nicholas Campion [[log in to unmask]]

Sent: Wednesday, January 16, 2013 1:35 PM

To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [ACADEMIC-STUDY-MAGIC] Defining magic

Dave,

A good thought, and I would agree. I am always careful to include the word western:

Campion, Nicholas, A History of Western Astrology, Vol 1. The Ancient World, London: Continuum, 2009, London: Continuum, 2008, Vol. 2, The Medieval and Modern Worlds, London: Continuum, 2009.
http://www.continuumbooks.com/authors/details.aspx?AuthorId=150670&BookId=133908

Campion, Nicholas, Astrology and Popular Religion in the Modern West: Prophecy, Cosmology and the New Age Movement (Abingdon: Ashgate, 2012).

http://www.ashgate.com/isbn/9781409435143

In another book I was painfully constrained by the absence of available published sources by authors outside a western context. I discuss such source problems throughout.

Campion, Nicholas, Astrology and Cosmology in the World’s Religions (New York: New York University Press, 2012).
http://nyupress.org/books/book-details.aspx?bookId=4779

Cheers,

Nick

Dr Nicholas Campion
Programme Director, MA Cultural Astronomy and Astrology
Senior Lecturer, School of Archaeology, History and Anthropology,
University of Wales Trinity Saint David,
Lampeter, Ceredigion, Wales, SA48 7ED, UK.
http://www.trinitysaintdavid.ac.uk/en/sophia/




From: Society for The Academic Study of Magic [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of David Green
Sent: 16 January 2013 12:51
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [ACADEMIC-STUDY-MAGIC] Defining magic

I can see this N.W. and it is a problem, but it is a text about Western magic, perhaps that should have been in the title.

Dr Dave Green

Senior Lecturer in Sociology, University of the West of England, Bristol, UK

Society for the Academic Study of Magic (SASM): https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/cgi-bin/webadmin?A0=ACADEMIC-STUDY-MAGIC

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/#!/profile.php?id=653230719

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From: Society for The Academic Study of Magic [[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of N.W. Azal [[log in to unmask]]
Sent: 16 January 2013 12:42
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [ACADEMIC-STUDY-MAGIC] Defining magic
Yet another Anglo-European academic text perpetuating an exclusively hegemonic Eurocentric narrative about magic. The colonialist is alive and well in the knowledge industries of the Western Ivory Tower.

http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2013/01/2013114142638797542.html

On Wed, Jan 16, 2013 at 11:58 AM, David Green <[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>> wrote:
Bernd,

This looks great. Thanks for posting.

Dave

Dr Dave Green

Senior Lecturer in Sociology, University of the West of England, Bristol, UK

Society for the Academic Study of Magic (SASM): https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/cgi-bin/webadmin?A0=ACADEMIC-STUDY-MAGIC

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/#!/profile.php?id=653230719
________________________________________

From: Society for The Academic Study of Magic [[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>] On Behalf Of Bernd-Christian Otto [[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>]

Sent: 15 January 2013 12:56

To: [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>

Subject: [ACADEMIC-STUDY-MAGIC] Defining magic

Hello everyone!

I would like to announce the publication of a volume which might be of interest to some readers of this list, namely Michael Stausberg’s and my Defining Magic: A Reader. It was just recently published in the series "Critical Categories in the Study of Religion" at Equinox Publishing/Acumen. Those of you who teach courses on magic might find the genre of a reader particularly useful as it includes a range of important definitions and theories all in one place. Apart from the usual suspects, i.e. excerpts of classical authors (Tylor, Frazer, Mauss/Hubert, Durkheim, van der Leeuw, Malinowski, Evans-Pritchard, Horton, Tambiah, Leach), we also included a section covering pre-academic sources (from Plato to Blavatsky) and a section with original texts by five contemporary authors (Greenwood, Lehrich, Sørensen, Stratton, Styers). Have a look at the TOC: http://www.acumenpublishing.co.uk/display.asp?K=e2012121911335322&sf1=subj_code&st1=RS&sort=sort_date/d&ds=Reference&m=18&dc=50.

All texts are seperately introduced for student readers. There is also an introduction devoted to sorting out the definition riddle, and sectional introductions which aim at embedding the selected sources in the wider discourse of the respective time.

But now enough of advertising! Best wishes from
Bernd-Christian Otto & Michael Stausberg

The University of Aberdeen is a charity registered in Scotland, No SC013683.