Magic, Religion, and Mysticism: Occult Traditions in Europe from Late Antiquity Through the Early Modern Period

Dear Colleagues,

Magic, religion, and mysticism have captivated the imaginations of enthusiasts and scholars since the late nineteenth century. Yet over a hundred years later, there is little consensus as to the fundamental definitions of magic, mysticism, and religion, or the interconnectedness of the three. By the mid-twentieth century, sweeping anthropological schematizations of magic, science, and religion had given way to more nuanced studies of the occult, but even given this recalibration of magic and its relationship to mysticism, both suffered from a prejudice in the scholarly community. Social scientists have associated the terms with all those things moderns remotely connect with the occult, the weird, or the unscientific, dismissing magical mysticism as primitive hocus-pocus and mental rubbish. However, contemporary scholars have taken up the history of magic and magical mysticism because of their importance to the study of theology, heresy, medicine, rural culture, marginal populations, gender, and juridical processes. We are pleased to invite contributions to the on-going conversation about the occult in this Special Issue of Religions.

The aim of Occult Traditions is to serve the interests of a wide range of thoughtful readers and academics interested in the multidisciplinary study of magic and magical mysticism and to promote critical, hermeneutical, and innovative conversations. The scope of articles and methodologies appropriate to this Special Issue is broad. We call for contributions that approach magic and occultism from the vantage point of their cultural and societal roles, theology, material culture, medicine, gender, ritual studies, microhistory, anthropology, and the history of religion. We welcome original research, review articles, and comprehensive book reviews that explore themes on any aspect of magic, magical mysticism, and occultism from Late Antiquity through the early modern era. However, essays should avoid overarching, summary generalizations and focus instead on concrete and distinct incidents, actors, regions, source collections, texts, theories, or points in time.

Please note that for our project, mysticism is not a reference to the spiritual practice of ascetic contemplation for the purpose of transcending terrestrial experience in order to achieve deep spiritual insights or a union with God. Rather we are interested in the exploration of magical mysticism, which refers to rituals aimed to bring about ecstatic states of mind and control over paranormal forces, often based on real or supposed esoteric knowledge handed down from the ancient and classical worlds.

We request that, prior to submitting a manuscript, interested authors submit a proposed title and an abstract of 200-300 words summarizing their intended contribution. Please send it to the Guest Editor or to the Assistant Editor of Religions. Abstracts will be reviewed by the Guest Editor for the purposes of ensuring proper fit within the scope of the Special Issue. Full manuscripts will undergo double-blind peer review.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Prof. Dr. Martha Rampton
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Religions is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• magic
• magical mysticism
• occultism
• late antique magic
• early medieval magic
• high medieval magic
• late medieval magic
• early modern magic
• Renassaince magic