Scholastic Magic [Hardcover]

Michael D. Swartz (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 14, 1996

In exploring the social background of early Jewish mysticism, "Scholastic magic" tells the story of how imagination and magic were made to serve memory and scolasticism. In the visionary literature that circulated between the fifth and ninth centuries, there are strange tales of ancient rabbis conjuring the angel known as Sar-Torah, the "Prince of the Torah". This angel endowed the rabbis themselves with spectacular memory and skill in learning, and then taught them the formulas for giving others these gifts. This literature according to Michael Swartz, gives us rare glimpses of how ancient and medieval Jews who stood outside the mainstream of Rabbinic leadership viewed Torah and ritual. Through close readings of the texts, he uncovered unfamiliar dimensions of the classical Judaic idea of Torah and the Rabbinic civilization that forged them. Swartz sets the stage for his final analysis with a discussion of the place of memory and orality in ancient and medieval Judaism and how early educational and physiological theories were marshalled for the cultivation of memory. He then examines the unusual magical rituals for conjuring angels and ascending to heaven as well as the author's attitudes to authority and tradition, showing them to have subverted essential Rabbinic values even as they remained beholden to them. The result is a ground-breaking analysis of the social and conceptual background of Rabbinic Judaism and ancient mediterranean religions. Offering complete translations of the principal Sar-Torah texts, "Scholastic magic" will become essential reading for those interested in religion in the ancient and medieval world, ritual studies, and popular religion.

Editorial Reviews

Review

[Swartz's] translation. . . and commentary on the main texts of the `Prince of the Torah' tradition. . . are especially valuable and provide nonexperts with access to the important mystical-magical material under analysis. Especially significant is his emphasis on the ritual and ritual procedures outlined in these texts. -- Review

Product Details

• Hardcover: 260 pages
• Publisher: Princeton University Press (October 14, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0691010986
• ISBN-13: 978-0691010984
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 6.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,456,312 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Essential sourcebook for early Jewish magic, December 20, 2010

By 

Dominus Liminis "Metatron" (Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Scholastic Magic (Hardcover)

Scholastic magic contains a detailed overview of early Jewish revelatory magic, focusing on the evocation of angels for revelation. The book centers around the Hekhalot and Sar Torah literature. The Sar Torah ("Prince of the Torah") literature, closely related to the Hekhalot-Merkabah texts, taught an early form of practical Qabalah, whereby angels (especially archangels such as Metatron) are summoned to reveal wisdom and the secret meanings of the Torah to the mystic. Aside from a detailed analysis of this literature, Scholastic Magic, more importantly, contains many translations from those particular texts, a good part of which are not found anywhere else. A particularly valuable one (pg. 136) is the magnificent Sar ha-Panim ritual, a ritual to evoke the Angel of the Presence. A translation was already published in M. Gaster's edition of the Sword of Moses, but the one in Scholastic Magic has copious footnotes and includes magical names missing from Gaster's translation.

To sum it up, Scholastic Magic is a magnificent book, and essential for anyone interested in Jewish magic, angelology, and practical Qabalah.