Interesting talk
Copied from an e group....
Omphalos brings you more fantastic speakers at the Bath moot - on the 2nd Sunday of the month!
The next Omphalos Magick Moot is Sunday 10th of May when we present Kim Huggens' talk "Ten Ways to Curse Your Lover: Malefic Erotic Magic in the Ancient World"
In the Ancient World to incite passion and love in somebody using magic was to curse them, and the methods employed by magicians to do so were disturbingly similar to those employed to kill, maim, bind, or ruin a person.
This talk will examine the techniques and methods used in ancient Egypt, Hellenistic Greece, and the Roman Empire for binding the object of affection (or victim) to the magician's will. Fetching charms, erotic-attraction spells, separation spells, curses to torment the victim until they yield to the magician's love, and more will be studied based on both textual and archaeological sources.
In particular, the use of "voodoo" dolls - or effigies - in these erotic malefic magics will be explored. There will be a close study of the so-called "Louvre" doll currently residing the Louvre museum Paris: a female effigy of baked clay, made kneeling and with her hands and feet bound behind her back, with thirteen sharp nails driven through various parts of her body (dated to ca. 3rd century CE.) This archaeological find will be compared with the text from the Graeco-Roman Magical Papyri (PGM) IV. 296-466. The text and the doll bear a striking similarity, and highlight a wide variety of common features from these erotic malefic spells.
Kim Huggens is a current PhD student in Cardiff University's Ancient History department, with a thesis on malefic magic in the Late Antique period. Her research interests focus on the use of figurines in malefic magic in both the ancient and medieval world, and on the influence of the Mediterranean world upon other cultures and times in relation to magic and religion. Previous publications include "Sol Invictus: The God Tarot", and papers in "The Mithras Reader vol. 2", "Horns of Power", and "Priestesses, Pythonesses, and Sibyls". She is currently working on her second Tarot deck, "Pistis Sophia: The Goddess Tarot", and a homestudy Tarot course for Llewellyn publications due out Autumn 2010.
Venue: Upstairs at the Huntsman, 1 Terrace Walk, North Parade, Bath
Time: 2pm for a 2.30pm start
Cost: £5.00 on the door
The Omphalos Magick Moot will continue after the talk, with an opportunity open discussion and lively debate. Regular Omphalos meetings are on the second Sunday of each month, at our new home, upstairs at the Huntsman.
Omphalos brings you more fantastic speakers at the Bath moot - on the 2nd Sunday of the month!
The next Omphalos Magick Moot is Sunday 10th of May when we present Kim Huggens' talk "Ten Ways to Curse Your Lover: Malefic Erotic Magic in the Ancient World"
In the Ancient World to incite passion and love in somebody using magic was to curse them, and the methods employed by magicians to do so were disturbingly similar to those employed to kill, maim, bind, or ruin a person.
This talk will examine the techniques and methods used in ancient Egypt, Hellenistic Greece, and the Roman Empire for binding the object of affection (or victim) to the magician's will. Fetching charms, erotic-attraction spells, separation spells, curses to torment the victim until they yield to the magician's love, and more will be studied based on both textual and archaeological sources.
In particular, the use of "voodoo" dolls - or effigies - in these erotic malefic magics will be explored. There will be a close study of the so-called "Louvre" doll currently residing the Louvre museum Paris: a female effigy of baked clay, made kneeling and with her hands and feet bound behind her back, with thirteen sharp nails driven through various parts of her body (dated to ca. 3rd century CE.) This archaeological find will be compared with the text from the Graeco-Roman Magical Papyri (PGM) IV. 296-466. The text and the doll bear a striking similarity, and highlight a wide variety of common features from these erotic malefic spells.
Kim Huggens is a current PhD student in Cardiff University's Ancient History department, with a thesis on malefic magic in the Late Antique period. Her research interests focus on the use of figurines in malefic magic in both the ancient and medieval world, and on the influence of the Mediterranean world upon other cultures and times in relation to magic and religion. Previous publications include "Sol Invictus: The God Tarot", and papers in "The Mithras Reader vol. 2", "Horns of Power", and "Priestesses, Pythonesses, and Sibyls". She is currently working on her second Tarot deck, "Pistis Sophia: The Goddess Tarot", and a homestudy Tarot course for Llewellyn publications due out Autumn 2010.
Venue: Upstairs at the Huntsman, 1 Terrace Walk, North Parade, Bath
Time: 2pm for a 2.30pm start
Cost: £5.00 on the door
The Omphalos Magick Moot will continue after the talk, with an opportunity open discussion and lively debate. Regular Omphalos meetings are on the second Sunday of each month, at our new home, upstairs at the Huntsman.