Partly because of alchemy's dismissal from the Parnassus of rational sciences, the interplay between this esoteric knowledge and the visual arts is still a surprisingly neglected research area. This collection of articles covering the time span from the Late Middle Ages to the 20th century intends, however, to challenge the current neglect. Areas on which its twelve authors cast new light include alchemical gender symbolism in Renaissance, Mannerist, and modernist art; alchemical ideas of transformation in Italian fifteenth-century landscape imagery; Netherlandish seventeenth-century portrayals of alchemists; and alchemy's tortured status as a forerunner of photography. Art and Alchemy indicates that alchemy indeed has several connections with art by examining some of the pictorial and literary books that disseminated alchemical symbols and ideas, delving into images, which in one way or another can be shown to appropriate and interpret alchemical ideas or environments, and expanding t

The ancient Greeks commonly resorted to magic spells to attract and keep lovers--as numerous allusions in Greek literature and recently discovered "voodoo dolls," magical papyri, gemstones, and curse tablets attest. Surveying and analyzing these various texts and artifacts, Christopher Faraone reveals that gender is the crucial factor in understanding love spells. There are, he argues, two distinct types of love magic: the curselike charms used primarily by men to torture unwilling women with fiery and maddening passion until they surrender sexually; and the binding spells and debilitating potions generally used by women to sedate angry or philandering husbands and make them more affectionate.

Faraone's lucid analysis of these spells also yields a number of insights about the construction of gender in antiquity, for example, the "femininity" of socially inferior males and the "maleness" of autonomous prostitutes. Most significantly, his findings challenge the widespread modern view that all Greek men considered women to be naturally lascivious. Faraone reveals the existence of an alternate male understanding of the female as "naturally" moderate and chaste, who uses love magic to pacify and control the "naturally" angry and passionate male. This fascinating study of magical practices and their implications for perceptions of male and female sexuality offers an unusual look at ancient Greek religion and society.

Sexuality and the occult arts have long been associated in the western imagination, but it was not until the nineteenth century that a large and sophisticated body of literature on sexual magic - the use of sex as a source of magical power - emerged. This book, the first history of western sexual magic as a modern spiritual tradition, places these practices in the context of the larger discourse surrounding sexuality in American and European society over the last 150 years to discover how sexual magic was transformed from a terrifying medieval nightmare of heresy and social subversion into a modern ideal of personal empowerment and social liberation. Focusing on a series of key figures including American spiritualist Paschal Beverly Randolph, Aleister Crowley, Julius Evola, Gerald Gardner, and Anton LaVey, Hugh Urban traces the emergence of sexual magic out of older western esoteric traditions including Gnosticism and Kabbalah, which were progressively fused with recently-discovered eastern traditions such as Hindu and Buddhist Tantra. His study gives remarkable new insight into sexuality in the modern era, specifically on issues such as the politics of birth control, the classification of sexual 'deviance', debates over homosexuality and feminism, and the role of sexuality in our own new world of post-modern spirituality, consumer capitalism, and the Internet.

Magic is an ultimate act of presumption. It is tricky, powerful, and often dangerous."

The author of Skin Folk and Brown Girl in the Ring, Nalo Hopkinson is renowned for combining urban literary sensibilities with the rich lore of African-Caribbean cultures. Now, in a powerful anthology of nineteen original stories that explore the perils of personal magic, she brings together some of the most honored voices in modern fantasy and brilliant new talents of African Diaspora fiction. Exploding the myths of zombies and voodoo curses, these narratives range from the ancient rites of the Ibo to the bellies of slave ships, from '20s Jim Crow to '60s Black Power, from unmarked graves at midnight to quiet suburbs at dawn-and prove that where heartache and faith meet, you will find the crossroads for conjuring magic.

Stories included in this collection are:

"Daddy Mention and the Monday Skull," by Andy Duncan
"Rosamojo," by Kiini Ibura Salaam
23 "Lark till Dawn, Princess," by Barth Anderson
"Heartspace," by Steven Barnes
"The Prowl," by Gregory Frost
"Fate," by Jenise Aminoff
"Trial Day," by Tananarive Due
"The Skinned," by Jarla Tangh
"Death's Dreadlocks," by Tobias S. Buckell
"Asuquo, or The Winds of Harmattan," by Nnedima Okorafor
"The Horsemen and the Morning Star," by Barbara Hambly
"She'd Make a Dead Man Crawl," by Gerard Houarner
"Cooking Creole," by A. M. Dellamonica
"White Man’s Trick," by Eliot Fintushel
"The Tawny Bitch," by Nisi Shawl
"Bitter Grounds," by Neil Gaiman
"Shining through 24/7," by devorah major
"Notes from a Writer’s Book of Cures and Spells," by Marcia Douglas
"How Sukie Cross de Big Wata," by Sheree Renee Thomas

With an introduction by Luisah Teish, spiritualist and author of Jambalaya: The Natural Woman's Book of Personal Charms and Practical Rituals

Uncertainty is an everyday aspect of existence for the Maasai of East Africa. They take ritual precautions against mystical misfortune in their small and dispersed villages, and place community life in the hands of elders whose collective wisdom is underpinned by a belief in a moral, supreme and unknowably provident god. This stability is, however, edged with concern for secret malcontents who might seek to create havoc through sorcery and whose elusive magic lies outside the elders' power. "Time, Space and the Unknown" follows on from "The Maasai of Matapato and The Samburu" to show how uncertainty and misfortune influence the social life of the Maasai.

English summary: English summary: Between 900 and 1500 C.E., the knowlegde of Indian alchemy was codified in a group of Sanskrit texts that deal with the ideas and the methods of this scientific tradition. The dictionary explains about 400 technical terms and names of substances that are mentioned in these texts. Apart from translations of central passages of the alchemical treatises the dictionary offers an extensive collection of text references, which makes it possible to examine the intellectual cross-links in the alchemical tradition in detail. The dictionary is supplemented by a thematic introduction in the alchemical terminology and by indices of Sanskrit terms as well as of text references and topics. Dutch description: Zwischen 900 und 1500 n. Chr. wurde das Fachwissen der indischen Alchemie in einer Reihe von Sanskrit-Texten gesammelt, die detaillierte Einblicke in das Ideengebaude und die Methodik dieser wissenschaftlichen Tradition liefern. Das vorliegende Woerterbuch behandelt rund 400 Spezialbegriffe und Substanznamen, die in alchemistischen Sanskrit-Texten erwahnt werden, und umfasst damit einen Grossteil der verfahrenstechnischen und materialwissenschaftlichen Terminologie der altindischen Alchemie. Neben zahlreichen UEbersetzungen und Rekonstruktionszeichnungen liefert das Woerterbuch auch eine umfangreiche Sammlung von Textverweisen, die es erstmals ermoeglicht, die intellektuellen Abhangigkeiten innerhalb der alchemistischen Tradition im Detail zu verfolgen. Abgerundet wird das Woerterbuch durch eine thematisch gegliederte Einleitung in die indische Alchemie und durch ausfuehrliche Indizes, die den schnellen Zugriff auf Sanskrit-Begriffe, Textstellen und Themen erlauben. Dutch description: Zwischen 900 und 1500 n. Chr. wurde das Fachwissen der indischen Alchemie in einer Reihe von Sanskrit-Texten gesammelt, die detaillierte Einblicke in das Ideengebaude und die Methodik dieser wissenschaftlichen Tradition liefern. Das vorliegende Woerterbuch behandelt rund 400 Spezialbegriffe und Substanznamen, die in alchemistischen Sanskrit-Texten erwahnt werden, und umfasst damit einen Grossteil der verfahrenstechnischen und materialwissenschaftlichen Terminologie der altindischen Alchemie. Neben zahlreichen UEbersetzungen und Rekonstruktionszeichnungen liefert das Woerterbuch auch eine umfangreiche Sammlung von Textverweisen, die es erstmals ermoeglicht, die intellektuellen Abhangigkeiten innerhalb der alchemistischen Tradition im Detail zu verfolgen. Abgerundet wird das Woerterbuch durch eine thematisch gegliederte Einleitung in die indische Alchemie und durch ausfuehrliche Indizes, die den schnellen Zugriff auf Sanskrit-Begriffe, Textstellen und Themen erlauben.