Buddhist Wizards and Magic

Dear Colleagues,

Sorcerers and shamans, witches and wizards, magicians and mages, con artists and quacks—these are just some of the names used by scholars of Buddhism and Buddhists themselves to refer to groups of specialists who are understood to manipulate the natural and supernatural worlds using magic, or perhaps more accurately put as “ritual arts of efficacy” (White 2016). Such arts include, but are not limited to: alchemy, ritual incantations, yantra, astrology, divination, numerology, healing, potions, and amulets. Although the topic has traditionally received little scholarly attention in Buddhist Studies, the past decade has seen an increase in the number of studies touching upon Buddhist magic and those individuals who wield such powers (Van Schaik 2020, Patton 2018, Davidson 2017, White 2016, Berounsky 2015, Copp 2014, Terwiel  2012, McDaniel 2011, Cuevas 2010, among others). This Special Issue aims to bring together diverse research on this topic from different Buddhist cultures and historical periods and invites empirical and theoretical studies to assemble a collection of multidisciplinary papers. Potential topics might include: biographies of seminal Buddhist wizards; translations of spell books; lived religious experiences related to healing and magic; uses of yantra; roles of women as Buddhist wizards; discussions of visual and material culture; theoretical discussions of the usefulness (or lack thereof) of such concepts as “magic”, “wizards”, etc.

To be considered for publication in this Special Issue, please email the guest editor Dr. Tom Patton with the abstract of your article. The submission deadline for full manuscripts is 15 June, 2022.

References:

Berounsky, Daniel. 2015. “Tibetan ‘Magical Rituals’ (las sna tshogs) from the Power of Tsongkhapa.” Revue d’Etudes Tibétaines 31: 95–111.

Copp, Paul. 2014. The Body Incantatory: Spells and the Ritual Imagination in Medieval Chinese Buddhism. New York: Columbia University Press.

Cuevas, Bryan. 2010. “The ‘Calf’s Nipple’ (Be’u bum) of Ju Mipam (’Ju Mi pham): A Handbook of Tibetan Ritual Magic.” In Tibetan Ritual, edited by José Cabezón, 165–86. New York: Oxford University Press.

Davidson, Ronald. 2017. “Magicians, Sorcerers and Witches: Considering Pretantric, Non-sectarian Sources of Tantric Practices.” Religions 8 (9): 188.

McDaniel, Justin. 2011. The Lovelorn Ghost and the Magical Monk: Practicing Buddhism in Modern Thailand. New York: Columbia University Press.

Patton, Thomas. 2018. The Buddha’s Wizards: Magic, Protection, and Healing in Burmese Buddhism. New York: Columbia University Press.

Terwiel, Barend. 2012. Monks and Magic: Revisiting a Classic Study of Religious Ceremonies in Thailand. 4th rev ed. Copenhagen: NIAS Press.

Van Schaik, Sam. 2020. Buddhist Magic: Divination, Healing, and Enchantment through the Ages. Boulder, Colorado: Shambhala Publications.

White, Erick. 2016. “Contemporary Buddhism and Magic.” In The Oxford Handbook of Contemporary Buddhism, edited by Michael Jerryson, 591–605. New York: Oxford University Press.

Dr. Thomas Patton
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.

• Buddhism
• magic
• comparative religion
• wizards
• shamans
• sorcerers
• material and visual culture
• ritual
• hagiography