Helpful Performances: The Uses of Ritual
Euan Cameron
Oxford University Press eBooks March 18, 2010 DOI: 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199257829.003.0004 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Historical analysis Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Key points | Argues that medieval theological writers on superstition were more concerned with beneficial ritual magic than with harmful magic, because good magic was more seductive to ordinary people. Suggests that many medieval Europeans routinely used rituals to cure illness, protect against misfortune, and remedy hostile sorcery, and that the line between approved ecclesiastical ritual and forbidden ceremonial magic was broad and shifting. |
Abstract
This chapter shows that literature on superstitions manifested constant concern with ritual performances intended to achieve beneficial effects. Good magic, like good spirits, was a much more fearsome adversary for the theological writers than evil magic or evil spirits, because it was so much more obviously seductive to ordinary, well-intentioned people. If we are to take even some of the claims of the superstition-writers at face value, it appears that many people in medieval Europe routinely expected to make use of various ritual means to cure their illnesses, protect themselves from misfortune, and indeed to remedy the perceived consequences of hostile sorcery. Moreover, a vast area of shifting tidal sands stretched between approved ecclesiastical rituals and forbidden ceremonial magic.