Binding Images

The Contemporary Use and Efficacy of Late Antique Ritual Sigils, Spirit-Beings, and Design Elements

Authors

  • Jay Johnston The University of Sydney

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1558/ijsnr.37616

Keywords:

Late Antique magic, images, ritual, design, embodiment, spirit-beings, contemporary magic, grimoire

Abstract

This article investigates the legacy and "re-use" of image and design elements from Late-Antique ritual texts in contemporary magical practice. Examples are drawn from "The Theban Magical Library" and The Books of Jeu (Codex Brucianus). The analysis includes consideration of epistemology, concepts of embodiment, and relation between image and text.

Author Biography

  • Jay Johnston, The University of Sydney

    Jay Johnston is an interdisciplinary scholar (religion, art history, philosophy, gender, and cultural studies) who investigates ritual and its use in identity formation, healing practice, and cultural exchange. She is particularly interested in Late Antiquity; pre-1400 Scottish and Norse cultures, complementary and alternative medicine and its historical precedents, and human-animal-environment relations. Her publications include Religion and the Subtle Body in Asia and the West (ed. with G. Samuel; London: Routledge, 2013) and Stag and Stone: Religion, Archaeology and Esoteric Aesthetics (Sheffield: Equinox, forthcoming 2019).

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Published

2018-12-07

How to Cite

Johnston, J. (2018). Binding Images: The Contemporary Use and Efficacy of Late Antique Ritual Sigils, Spirit-Beings, and Design Elements. International Journal for the Study of New Religions, 9(1), 113-133. https://doi.org/10.1558/ijsnr.37616