The End of Magic

by Ariel Glucklich

Throughout history, magic has been as widely and passionately practiced as religion. But while religion continues to flourish, magic stumbles towards extinction. What is magic? What does it do? Why do people believe in magic? Ariel Glucklich finds the answers to these questions in the streets of Banaras, India's most sacred city, where hundreds of magicians still practice ancient traditions, treating thousands of Hindu and Muslim patients of every caste and sect. Through study and interpretation of the Banarsi magical rites and those who partake in them, the author presents fascinating living examples of magical practice, and contrasts his findings with the major theories that have explained (or explained away) magic over the last century. These theories, he argues, ignore an essential sensory phenomenon which he calls "magical experience": an extraordinary, though perfectly natural, state of awareness through which magicians and their clients perceive the effects of magic
rituals.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Religion

264 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1997

About the author

Ariel Glucklich is a professor of religion at Georgetown University. He specializes in Hinduism and in the psychology and biology of religion. He is particularly interested in what motivates people to become and remain religious and the various ways that religion makes people self-destruct.

Glucklich is the author of several books on Hinduism, including The End of Magic and Climbing Chamundi Hill, which was translated into many languages. His most important book was Sacred Pain (Oxford, 2001), written to explain the voluntary use of pain in religious life.

Currently Glucklich is researching the likelihood that Iran and/or Pakistan will use a nuclear weapon against Israel or India. He is attempting to devise ways of thinking about undermining the culture of collective suicide that makes rogue states so dangerous. November 3 is the due date for his latest book, Dying for Heaven, which explores this topic in detail.

Future projects include a close look at young religious prodigies and perhaps a project on the amazingly eventful annual International Bible Quiz held in Jerusalem.

Reviews

[Brooke · Rating 5 out of 5]

An amazing journey through the history and various 'experiences' of magic. It is a very literally, academic approach to a subject that is extremely elusive and hard to pin down. His analysis of magic considers the whole spectrum of theories, philosophies and approaches, that lead to a conclusion 'proving' magic, like imagination or love or God, can never truly be defined. A must read if you believe...an essential one if you don't.