1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910511721803321

Autore

Timbers Frances

Titolo

Magic and masculinity : ritual magic and gender in the early modern era / / by Frances Timbers

Pubbl/distr/stampa

London : , : I.B. Tauris, , 2014

ISBN

0-7556-2143-3

0-85773-588-8

Edizione

[First edition.]

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (361 p.)

Collana

International Library of Historical Studies

Disciplina

192.2093874

Soggetti

Magic - England - History - 16th century

Magic - England - History - 17th century

Ritual - England - History - 16th century

Ritual - England - History - 17th century

British & Irish history

Electronic books.

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Description based upon print version of record.

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Nota di contenuto

Introduction -- Chapter 1. For the 'Uninitiated' -- Chapter 2. Magical Masculinities -- Chapter 3. Fraternity and Freemasons -- Chapter 4. Scrying and Subversion: John Dee and Edward Kelley -- Chapter 5. John Pordage and Passivity -- Chapter 6. Swords, Satan and Sex -- Chapter 7. Fairies and Female Magicians -- Chapter 8. Magical Metaphors: Mary Parish and Goodwin Wharton -- Chapter 9. Magic and Honour -- Conclusion: Boundaries and Intersections -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index.

Sommario/riassunto

"In early modern England, the practice of ritual or ceremonial magic - the attempted communication with angels and demons - both reinforced and subverted existing concepts of gender. The majority of male magicians acted from a position of control and command commensurate with their social position in a patriarchal society; other men, however, used the notion of magic to subvert gender ideals while still aiming to attain hegemony. Whilst women who claimed to perform magic were usually more submissive in their attempted dealings with the spirit world, some female practitioners employed magic to



undermine the patriarchal culture and further their own agenda. Frances Timbers studies the practice of ritual magic in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries focusing especially on gender and sexual perspectives. Using the examples of well-known individuals who set themselves up as magicians (including John Dee, Simon Forman and William Lilly), as well as unpublished diaries and journals, literature and legal records, this book provides a unique analysis of early modern ceremonial magic from a gender perspective."--Bloomsbury Publishing.