the interview f95zone

Spellcraft, the art of using magic to bring about desired outcomes, has long been associated with the use of wands. However, it is important to recognize that wands are not the only tools available for practicing spellcraft. In fact, there is a rich tradition of spellcraft that is performed without the aid of wands in the realm of magic. The use of wands in spellcraft can be traced back to ancient civilizations such as the Egyptians and the Greeks. These cultures believed that wands acted as conduits, channeling magical energy from the practitioner into the spell. Wands were often made from materials such as wood, bone, or precious metals, and were adorned with symbols or inscriptions that held special significance.

Book Synopsis

Thomsen s book on Zauberdiagnose und Schwarze Magie in Mesopotamien Copenhagen, 1987 broke new ground in discussing many aspects of Mesopotamian witchcraft, with numerous examples from previously untranslated texts, both from the magic and medical corpus, and with technical discussions of the system of witchcraft. Despite these criticisms, the book is useful for readers who have no prior knowledge of ancient Near Eastern magic, and they will find the book an easy and pleasant read.

Wands were often made from materials such as wood, bone, or precious metals, and were adorned with symbols or inscriptions that held special significance. However, not all practitioners of spellcraft use wands. In fact, there are many different approaches to spellcraft that do not rely on this particular tool.

Book Review

Marie-Louise Thomsen and Frederick H Cryer.
Witchcraft and magic in Europe: biblical and pagan societies, The Athlone History of Witchcraft and Magic in Europe series, vol. 1, London: Athlone Press. 2001, pp. xvii, 168, illus., £50.00 (hardback 0-485-89001-1), £17.99 (paperback 0-485-89101-8).

The concept of a series on witchcraft and magic in Europe beginning with a treatment of Mesopotamia and the Bible has much to commend it. The cultural impact of Mesopotamia and the Bible on Europe was crucial, and incidentally much greater than that of Egypt, although systems of magic were roughly contemporary. The present book is a useful starting point, providing a general survey of witchcraft and magic with good examples of magical texts in translation. Although not actually stated per se, the implicit assumption of the book is that Mesopotamian magic and witchcraft influenced biblical literature, reflecting a wider cultural Near Eastern context of the Bible, and the Bible later influenced European culture after the spread of Christianity (and to a lesser extent Judaism) to Europe.

The book covers a wide range of relevant topics, with particular attention being paid to the art of witchcraft, followed by examples of protective magic, amulets, exorcisms, and use of figurines, and other ritual forms of magic from Mesopotamia. Biblical evidence is less well attested, with relatively few examples from the Old Testament for healing or exorcism, but these are treated comparatively with the Mesopotamian material. So far so good.

There is a general problem with this work, which arises from the particular expertise of the two authors, both of whom have previously written intelligent books on related subjects. Thomsen's book on Zauberdiagnose und Schwarze Magie in Mesopotamien (Copenhagen, 1987) broke new ground in discussing many aspects of Mesopotamian witchcraft, with numerous examples from previously untranslated texts, both from the magic and medical corpus, and with technical discussions of the system of witchcraft. Cryer's book on Divination in ancient Israel and its Near Eastern environment (Sheffield, 1994) was a sensible treatment of the subject in both Mesopotamia and the Bible, which is somewhat unusual these days. Unfortunately, the present book is an attempt to cover the larger field of “magic” by presenting a less technical and more general discussion for a popular audience, but depending predominantly upon their previous respective works in related fields. The result is predictable. Thomsen's bibliography, for instance, hardly includes any work published after 1987, although the present book was published in 2001, and she gives too much prominence to witchcraft within the context of magic; witchcraft was only a sub-category of ancient magic, and not even the most important component. Cryer, on the other hand, confuses divination and magic and assumes divination to be part of magic, without considering the possibility that divination in antiquity was treated as a separate discipline and endeavour. Divination was the responsibility of the barû priest in Mesopotamia, while magic was conducted by the āšipu or exorcist. Magic was used to counteract a bad omen (in so-called Namburbî incantations). Otherwise, there was no magic in divination or prophecy; the processes and theory and practices of divination and magic had little in common.

The title of the book includes the words “witchcraft” and “magic”, but there is no attempt to distinguish between these two activities, which causes some difficulties in interpretation. As Thomsen herself points out (p. 32), the Babylonian Diagnostic Handbook was used theoretically by the exorcist as a means of prognosis by examining symptoms derived from observing the patient's body, and witchcraft only features in less than five per cent of the assigned “causes” of illness. Although Thomsen herself was puzzled by her own statistics, it probably reflects the true relationship between magic and witchcraft, which is only a small part of the large and complex field of Mesopotamian magic. Of the many causes of illness and misfortune, witchcraft and evil eye represent only one possible source within the sphere of magic; much more common are divine displeasure, the activities of a plethora of demons and supernatural adversaries, or violation of an oath or taboo. Furthermore, Thomsen (p. 23) assumes that someone using an anti-witchcraft incantation suspected who the witch might have been, which is a completely unsupported hypothesis. Witchcraft can exist without witches, simply as a function of paranoia; we have no Salem witch trials in Mesopotamia.

Finally, Cryer's discussion also never takes on board the biblical phrase, “do not allow a witch to live” (Ex. 22:17), which has been interpreted as a general attack on the use of magic in ancient Israel. The point is that witchcraft was universally feared in antiquity as black magic, comparable to an attack of malevolent demons, and one of the key roles of magic was to protect a client against witchcraft, or to make the client believe that he was being protected against some hostile force which he conceived to be a witch. The rest of magic, however, was mostly benevolent, designed to offer protection and even healing, and was not proscribed by the Bible. This point needed to be made.

Despite these criticisms, the book is useful for readers who have no prior knowledge of ancient Near Eastern magic, and they will find the book an easy and pleasant read.

Some may prefer to use their hands and gestures to direct energy, while others may use crystals, herbs, or other sacred objects as focal points for their spells. One of the key principles underlying the practice of spellcraft without wands is the belief that magic is an inherent part of the practitioner, rather than something external that needs to be channeled or controlled. This perspective sees the practitioner as a co-creator with the universe, working in harmony with natural energies to bring about their desired outcome. By bypassing the use of wands, practitioners of wandless spellcraft are able to access their own personal power more directly. They can draw upon their own intuition, visualization skills, and energy manipulation abilities to cast spells. This can result in a more immediate and intimate connection with the magic being worked. Furthermore, spellcraft without wands allows for a greater level of adaptability and creativity in spellcasting. Without the constraints of a physical tool, practitioners are free to explore different ways of working with magic. They can experiment with different hand gestures, manipulate energy directly, or even incorporate dance or movement into their spellwork. While the use of wands in spellcraft certainly has its merits and historical significance, it is important to recognize that it is not the only approach to magic. Spellcraft performed without the aid of wands offers a unique and powerful way of working with magic. It allows practitioners to tap into their own personal power and creativity, forging a deeper connection with the magic that flows through them..

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the interview f95zone