Double Face Janus: Sorcery and Magic Practices in Byzantium

Authors:

Pages: 226-241

Abstract:

The present article cast a view inside the theory and practice of magic in the Byzantine world. The occult science and practices are considered in the context of tradition and sources, development and changes, terminology and political reality. There is an attempt from my side to define, as far as it is possible, the boundary between God-inspired miracles and ungodly magical acts, the no man’s land between Christian faith and magic underground. The division is not as clear for us as it used to be for the people in the Middle Ages. A special attention is given to the presence of occult in the Byzantine literature as well as to the political reaction against it. The latter seems to be quite different in Byzantium when compared to the contemporary medieval West. Magic views and practices in the Byzantine world were compared to a two-sided Janus, the thin door dividing, but also connecting, the Christian cult in all its aspects and the dark chambers of occult and exotic which seem not to be as antagonistic as we are often inclined to consider them.

Keywords:

magic, occult, sorcery, Byzantine, spells, gems, amulets, demons, divination

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