The Nature of Magic: An Anthropology of Consciousness

Description

This book examines how and why practitioners of nature religion - Western witches, druids, shamans - seek to relate spiritually with nature through 'magical consciousness'. 'Magic' and 'consciousness' are concepts that are often fraught with prejudice and ambiguity respectively. Greenwood develops a new theory of magical consciousness by arguing that magic ultimately has more to do with the workings of the human mind in terms of an expanded awareness than with socio-cultural explanations. She combines her own subjective insights gained from magical practice with practitioners' in-depth accounts and sustained academic theory on the process of magic. She also tracks magical consciousness in philosophy, myth, folklore, story-telling, and the hi-tech discourse of postmodernity, and asks important questions concerning nature religion's environmental credentials, such as whether it as inherently ecological as many of its practitioners claim.

Susan Greenwood is Visiting Senior Research Fellow at the University of Sussex.

"The Nature of Magic 'reflects increased confidence, maturation of thought, and the ongoing development of sophisticated and nuanced theoretical frameworks that enable [Greenwood] to successfully tackle the challenge of writing academically about magic without simply dismissing, ridiculing, or explaining it away as so many other scholars have done" The Pomegranate review by Nikki Bado-Frelick, Iowa State University 'This is a timely and original contribution to our understanding of magical thought in post-modern Western civilization. Greenwood's in-depth study of her subject, combined with thorough field research, has enabled her to perceive connections not previously made, and to construct a comprehensive and ambitious theory of magic.' Roy Willis, Emeritus Research Fellow, University of Edinburgh. 'Most work on contemporary Western shamans and magicians is either uncomprehending dismissal or uncritical celebration. In this work, Greenwood shows again that she is one of the very few authors who can take us further and provide real insight.' Geoffrey Samuel, Professorial Fellow in the School of Religious and Theological Studies, Cardiff University.