TY - CHAP
T1 - A Spell to Open All Locks and the Place of Magic in Medieval Jewish Society
AU - Bohak, Gideon
PY - 2021
Y1 - 2021
N2 - The article’s starting point is a recipe from the Cairo Genizah with instructions for opening a locked door by reciting a long adjuration over some dust and throwing it into the lock. This recipe – which is published here for the first time – serves as a case-study for two inter-related analyses. First, we ask whether medieval Jews would have classified such a recipe, and such a ritual, as “magic,” and whether modern scholars should classify it as such. Next, we ask whether we have any evidence that such a recipe was ever used by medieval Jews, and if so, by whom.
AB - The article’s starting point is a recipe from the Cairo Genizah with instructions for opening a locked door by reciting a long adjuration over some dust and throwing it into the lock. This recipe – which is published here for the first time – serves as a case-study for two inter-related analyses. First, we ask whether medieval Jews would have classified such a recipe, and such a ritual, as “magic,” and whether modern scholars should classify it as such. Next, we ask whether we have any evidence that such a recipe was ever used by medieval Jews, and if so, by whom.
U2 - 10.1163/9789004447585_009
DO - 10.1163/9789004447585_009
M3 - فصل
SN - 9789004447578
T3 - Numen Book Series
SP - 178
EP - 204
BT - Theoretical and Empirical Investigations of Divination and Magic
A2 - Sørensen, Jesper
A2 - Petersen, Anders Klostergaard
CY - Leiden, The Netherlands
ER -