New Antiquities - Transformations of Ancient Religion in the New Age and Beyond - Dylan Michael Burns
Binding Images: The Contemporary Use and Efficacy of Late Antique Ritual Sigils, Spirit-Beings, and Design Elements
New Antiquities - Transformations of Ancient Religion in the New Age and Beyond - Dylan Michael Burns
Jay Johnston [+]
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; Routledge, 2013) and Stag and Stone: Religion, Archaeology and Esoteric Aesthetics (Equinox, forthcoming 2017).
Description
This chapter 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.