![]() ![]() The book also turns out to be an excellent follow-up to The Golden Bough as a study of how magic is practiced in the real world. Religion and the Decline of Magic: Studies in Popular Beliefs in Sixteenth and Seventeenth-Century England (Penguin History). This does not prevent it from functioning as a system of explanation, a source of moral injunctions, a symbol of social order, or a route to immortality but it does mean that it also offers the prospect of a supernatural means of control over man's earthly environment. ![]() NEARLY every primitive religion is regarded by its adherents as a medium for obtaining supernatural power. ![]() It turns out that about half of the length of this book is notes and index, however, so it’s not as intimidating as the file size makes it look. However, this was not one that inspired teeth-grinding, despite being almost the longest of the bunch. ![]() Earlier this year I was grinding my teeth over trying to read too many extremely long non-fiction books. Its original purpose was to explain some of the belief systems that were current in sixteenth and seventeenth-century England but which are mostly no longer believed today – things like astrology, witchcraft, magical healing, ghosts, and fairies. Religion and the Decline of Magic is a very long book of non-fiction. ![]()
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