Spellbound
Subtitle: magic, ritual and witchcraft
By: Sophie Page, Marina Wallace, Owen Davies, Malcolm Gaskill, Ceri Houlbrook
Contributors: Wallace, Marina, author; Davies, Owen, 1969- author; Gaskill, Malcolm, author; Houlbrook, Ceri, author; Ashmolean Museum
Publisher: Ashmolean
Published: 2018
Place of publication: Oxford
Language: eng
Number of pages: 176
ISBN-13: 9781910807248
Subjects: Magic; Exhibitions; History; Witchcraft; Ritual
Description: Spellbound' explores the concept of  'magical thinking', which describes how people in all ages and cultures have sought to connect with an unseen world of perceived power. This concept of magical thinking is used here to explore the history of medicine and the mind, focusing in particular on magic's secular expressions. Spells, magical objects and rituals are engines of hope, and hope is essential to physical and mental health, indeed to survival. These ideas are explored and conveyed through the extraordinary visual culture of magic, offering an introduction to diverse magical objects, from the exquisite, such as engraved rings and illuminated manuscripts, to the unsettling - a shoe embedded in a wall or a bull's heart pierced with nails.
Notes: Catalog of an exhibition held at the Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford, August 31, 2018-January 6, 2019.

Includes bibliographical references.