Product details
This collection of essays has been written by magicians who really care about magic. Having discovered magic at a young age, they have allowed it to mature alongside their intellectual and practical formation. They contemplate different dimensions of magic and how they relate to it. Their stories and reflections reveal remarkable similarities in the themes that they Magic as power. Magic as escape. Magic as protection. Magic as play. Magic as medium. Magic as unknowable. Magic as symbol. Magic as language. Magic as incomplete. The book will touch anyone who has imagined a magical world and who has a sense of wonder, either as a child or as an adult. Broad in its approach, specific in its intent, 'The Magiculum' offers much to contemplate.
Available from EyeCorner Press, Amazon and other channels in Spring 2014
'I invite readers to consider getting a hold of this volume for their own pleasure and edification. We all carry within us the marvellous and unexpected. All we need to do is shuffle and turnover the cards. Voilà! Magic!'
Paul Nagy ~ Tarot Hermeneutics
'Each essay is a lovely story unto itself ... speaking from childhood memories on through present day reality. We are allowed to enter into the minds of some fabulous thinkers ... to see how they create their reality, and how they deal with other people's reality. They are all true magicians ... yet for each of them there is a "9-5" that allows them to follow their magical dreams, and to work with magic in a very real way.'
Bonnie Cehovet ~ Amazon Vine Voice Reviewer
'I have been reading this book, The Magiculum (ed. Todd Landman) in bits and pieces for awhile now. It's a collection of essays, primarily by performance magicians, that in many ways looks at the intersection of performance magic, 'magic', and Magick-with-a-k. I think it's a very good book, and is doing what good books do- opening my mind/eyes to other perspectives. '
Aidan Wachter ~ Tveir Hrafnar
'If your interest is in the field of Magic, whether it be in the form of performing, studying, practicing...sleight of hand, illusions, or various oracles, you will most probably enjoy this book immensely. Intelligent, well written essays from a wide range of people approach the subject of Magic, in all its forms, with revelatory examination.
Very underpriced. It's one of those books you will want to reread about once a year to get your bearings and to keep grounded.
Get it while you can. It and its contents will be a nice addition to your life.'
T. Jorgenson, Amazon.com
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This collection of essays has been written by magicians who really care about magic, but as it reveals no secrets it is appropriate for anyone, particularly for those interested in what magic means in the contemporary world. The collection is built on a network of lifelong magicians who discovered magic at a young age and who allowed it to mature alongside their intellectual and practical formation.
They are academics (epistemologists, political scientists, anthropologists, cultural theorists, professors of literature, teachers, martial artists, actors, readers, pastors, and thinkers).
They have been drawn together to contemplate different dimensions of magic and how they relate to it through their own life experiences as magicians.
Drawn from Australia, Brazil, Denmark, Italy, Norway, United States, and the United Kingdom, they were asked a broad set of questions and allowed to interpret them as they so wished:
- What in your upbringing and formation led you to magic?
- What does magic mean for you?
- In what ways does magic affect your day to day living?
- In what ways do you elicit magic in your work, performance and social relationships?
- Why does magic matter to you?
Though commissioned independently, their stories and reflections reveal remarkable similarities in the themes that they address. Magic as power. Magic as escape. Magic as protection. Magic as play. Magic as medium. Magic as unknowable. Magic as symbol. Magic as gendered. Magic as language. Magic as incomplete. Magic as a quest.
The essays will touch anyone who has imagined a magical world and who has a sense of wonder, either as a child or an adult. Broad in its approach, specific in its intent, the Magiculum offers much to contemplate.
Contents
- Prologue - Todd Landman
- A Palindromic Wand - Andy Fisher
- Birds and Fish - Stuart Nolan
- Magic: A Smoke Alarm for the Soul - Andy Fisher
- Magus: Dangerous Kids and the Seduction of Power - Daniele Nigris
- Feminine Magic - Lynne Kelly
- The Re-Enchantment of Self - Todd Landman
- Monsters, Lies and Family Ties - Ashton Carter
- Out of Tricks - Nik Taylor
- Roots of the Plumbers - Christopher Faria
- The Arts of the Night - Circumventing the Sign - Camelia Elias
- Antiquarian Magic - Brian Corrigan
- Word Magic - Enrique Enriquez
- The Restoration of Magic ~ Christopher Gould
- Confessions of a Catholic Witch ~ Nicholaj de Mattos Frisvold
- Epilogue: Rue Ballet (du) EE- Todd Landman
- Notes on the Contributors