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Magic and Ritual

Module description

This module provides a social scientific approach to studying magic, witchcraft, and ritual. The focus is on magical practitioners and magical practices in the contemporary period, and methodologically employing empirical methods. We will consider what magic is when examined from a cross-cultural perspective, and then study ethnographic examples of witchcraft and magic from societies around the world, including Melanesia, Europe, and Africa. We will study different forms of magical practitioners, and ask what the difference between a witch, a shaman, or a diviner is. There will also be a focus on contemporary self-identifications such as Wicca, as well as modern permutations of older forms, such as astrology, as well as digital innovations in ritual. This module is available for students on the MA Society and Culture; MA Magic and Occult Science; MA Society and Culture: Meaning, Making Consuming; MA Society, Culture and Media; MRes Social Research; MA Theology and Religion

Module aims - intentions of the module

The aim of this module is to provide a broad overview of magic and witchcraft as forms of ritual in a contemporary, empirically informed perspective. It will support students who want to use social scientific methods in their dissertations, as well as introduce them to anthropological and sociological studies of magic and witchcraft. Seminars will support students in discussing and developing their own understanding of the content, supported by research-informed teaching.

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)

ILO: Module-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 1. Demonstrate extensive knowledge of key issues, critical themes, and concepts in the anthropology and sociology of magic and witchcraft
• 2. Critically assess current research on ritual

ILO: Discipline-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 3. Show an in-depth understanding of how qualitative social scientific approaches can be used to study magic and ritual
• 4. Evaluate the cross-cultural variation of magic and ritual

ILO: Personal and key skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 5. Communicate effectively in written and oral form
• 6. Conduct specialised research on a topic and organize findings in written form in a compelling manner

Syllabus plan

Whilst the module’s precise content may vary from year to year, it is envisaged that the syllabus will cover some or all of the following topics:

• Definitions of magic, ritual, and witchcraft
• Witchcraft in societies cross-culturally
• Shamanism
• Astrology and divination
• Wicca
• Occultism
• New age spirituality
• Online and digital ritual practice

Learning activities and teaching methods (given in hours of study time)

Details of learning activities and teaching methods

Formative assessment

Summative assessment (% of credit)

Details of summative assessment

Details of re-assessment (where required by referral or deferral)

Indicative learning resources - Basic reading

• Adler, M. (1986). Drawing Down the Moon: Witches, Druids, Goddess-Worshippers, and Other Pagans in America Today. Boston, Beacon Books.
• Ashforth, A. (2000). Madumo: a Man Bewitched. Chicago, University of Chicago Press.
• Evans-Pritchard, E. E. (1937). Witchcraft, Oracles and Magic among the Azande. Oxford, Clarendon Press.
• Favret-Saada, J. (1980). Deadly Words: witchcraft in the bocage. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.
• Geschiere, P. and J. Roitman (1997). The modernity of witchcraft: politics and the occult in postcolonial Africa. Charlottesville, University Press of Virginia.
• Howe, L. (2000). "Risk, Ritual and Performance." Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute 6(1): 63-79.
• Luhrmann, T. M. (1991). Persuasions of a Witches’ Craft: Ritual Magic in Contemporary England. Cambridge, Harvard University Press.
• Marwick, M. G. (1965). Sorcery in its social setting: a study of the Northern Rhodesia Cew?a. Manchester England, Manchester University Press.
• Miller, C., (2022). “How modern witches enchant TikTok: Intersections of digital, consumer, and material culture (s) on #WitchTok.” Religions, 13(2).
• Parmigiani, G. (2021). "Magic and Politics: Conspirituality and COVID-19." Journal of the American Academy of Religion 89: 506-529.
• Turner, V. (1969). The Ritual Process: structure and anti-structure. Piscataway, Aldine Transaction.
• Znamenski, A. A. (2007). The Beauty of the Primitive: shamanism and the Western imagination. Oxford, Oxford University Press.

Key words search

Religion; Anthropology; Sociology; Ritual; Magic