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Building Magic

Ritual and Re-enchantment in Post-Medieval Structures

  • Book
  • © 2021

Overview

Authors:
  1. Owen Davies

    1. School of Humanities, University of Hertfordshire, Hatfield, UK

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  2. Ceri Houlbrook

    1. School of Humanities, University of Hertfordshire, Hatfield, UK

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    You can also search for this author in PubMed   Google Scholar

  • Explores the invention and reinvention of traditions regarding building magic
  • Redresses popular interpretations of concealed objects, discovered within the fabric of post-medieval buildings
  • Examines the variety of objects that have been found concealed, including old shoes, mummified cats and pierced hearts

Part of the book series: Palgrave Historical Studies in Witchcraft and Magic (PHSWM)

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Table of contents (9 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-vii
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  2. Introduction

    • Owen Davies, Ceri Houlbrook
    Pages 1-19

  3. Foundation Sacrifice: The Survival of a Problem in Archaeology, Folklore, and History

    • Owen Davies, Ceri Houlbrook
    Pages 21-33

  4. Bodies: Mummified But Not Ancient

    • Owen Davies, Ceri Houlbrook
    Pages 35-50

  5. Folk Science Meets Folk Memory: Acoustics and Illumination

    • Owen Davies, Ceri Houlbrook
    Pages 51-72

  6. Sealing Memories

    • Owen Davies, Ceri Houlbrook
    Pages 73-93

  7. Seeking Protection: Objects of Power

    • Owen Davies, Ceri Houlbrook
    Pages 95-119

  8. Luck and Wellbeing in the Home

    • Owen Davies, Ceri Houlbrook
    Pages 121-138

  9. Curators and Custodians of the Revealed Concealed

    • Owen Davies, Ceri Houlbrook
    Pages 139-157

  10. Conclusion

    • Owen Davies, Ceri Houlbrook
    Pages 159-163

  11. Back Matter

    Pages 165-179
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Keywords

About this book

This book redresses popular interpretations of concealed objects, enigmatically discovered within the fabric of post-medieval buildings. A wide variety of objects have been found up chimneybreasts, bricked up in walls, and concealed within recesses: old shoes, mummified cats, horse skulls, pierced hearts, to name only some. The most common approach to these finds is to apply a one-size-fits-all analysis and label them survivals and apotropaic (evil-averting) devices. This book reconsiders such interpretations, exploring the invention and reinvention of traditions regarding building magic. The title Building Magic therefore refers to more than practices that alter the fabric of buildings, but also to processes of building magic into our interpretations of the enigmatic material evidence and into our engagements with the buildings we inhabit and frequent.

Reviews

“There is a lot to take away from this volume, which covers a broad selection of issues in a comparatively short space. Building Magic is a book that probably warrants repeated reading, and many of the topics it covers deserve further investigation in greater depth, either by the authors themselves or others following their example. … An important work, Building Magic comes highly recommended.” (Ethan Doyle White, Folklore, June 13, 2023)

Authors and Affiliations

  • School of Humanities, University of Hertfordshire, Hatfield, UK

    Owen Davies, Ceri Houlbrook

About the authors

Owen Davies Is Professor of Social History at the University of Hertfordshire, UK. He has published widely on the history of witchcraft, magic, ghosts, and popular medicine, including most recently, A Supernatural War:  Magic, Divination, and Faith During the First World War (2018).


 


Ceri Houlbrook is a Folklore and History Lecturer at the University of Hertfordshire, UK. Her primary research interests are the material culture of ritual practices and popular beliefs, and contemporary folklore. She has previously published on the modern-day customs of coin-trees and love-locks. 

Bibliographic Information

  • Book Title: Building Magic

  • Book Subtitle: Ritual and Re-enchantment in Post-Medieval Structures

  • Authors: Owen Davies, Ceri Houlbrook

  • Series Title: Palgrave Historical Studies in Witchcraft and Magic

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-76765-5

  • Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan Cham

  • eBook Packages: History, History (R0)

  • Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021

  • Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-030-76764-8Published: 11 September 2021

  • Softcover ISBN: 978-3-030-76767-9Published: 11 September 2022

  • eBook ISBN: 978-3-030-76765-5Published: 10 September 2021

  • Series ISSN: 2731-5630

  • Series E-ISSN: 2731-5649

  • Edition Number: 1

  • Number of Pages: VII, 179

  • Topics: Social History, Cultural History, History of Britain and Ireland

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