Reflections on the Ethnographic Study of Contemporary Ritual Magic

Correspondences: Journal for the Study of Esotericism 6 (1):77-107 (2018)
  Copy   BIBTEX

Abstract

This article identifies and engages with the complexities of conducting ethnographic research on a hard-to-access field of Western esotericism, referred to here as “modern ritual magic”. Rather than simply studying magic in terms of how it is understood in the abstract and reacted to by outsiders, I argue that the analytical focus should shift to how it is enacted and becomes meaningful for practitioners. To achieve this, the primary research question focuses on how practitioners use distinctive modes of performance to produce, represent, and experience magic as a participatory process transitioning from an “ordinary” to a “magical” worldview of meaning and effect. Participant observation is employed to gain access to such participatory accounts. Theory from both anthropology and Western esotericism is engaged with to emphasise the problems of entering and portraying this “hidden population”, as well as the role of social media as an additional ethnographic site. I also refer to my own theoretical reflections as an “observing participant” with slight “insider” experience in various ethnographic case studies of modern magical ritual. Finally, to capture the experiential events that define modern magical ritual in terms of shaping one’s perception and cognition as a modern Western magician, I discuss the possibility for studying Western esoteric performances through what Shaun Gallagher refers to as “enactive phenomenology”. This, I suggest, is a promising method for capturing data on how the subjectivity of the “magician” is moulded, experienced, and self-portrayed.

Links

PhilArchive



    Upload a copy of this work     Papers currently archived: 93,098

External links

Setup an account with your affiliations in order to access resources via your University's proxy server

Through your library

Similar books and articles

Magic Made Modern? Re-evaluating the Novelty of the Golden Dawn’s Magic.Christopher A. Plaisance - 2014 - Correspondences: Journal for the Study of Esotericism 2 (2):159-187.
Initiatory Materials: An Ethnography of Contemporary Alchemy in Sweden.Olivia Cejvan - 2018 - Correspondences: Journal for the Study of Esotericism 6 (1):25-45.
Nevill Drury, ed. Pathways in Modern Western Magic.Ethan Doyle White - 2014 - Correspondences: Journal for the Study of Esotericism 2 (1):115-118.
The Globalization of Esotericism.Wouter J. Hanegraaff - 2015 - Correspondences: Journal for the Study of Esotericism 3:55-91.
The ritual stance does not apply to magic in general.Ze Hong - 2022 - Behavioral and Brain Sciences 45:e258.
Western esotericism and consciousness.Arthur Versluis - 2000 - Journal of Consciousness Studies 7 (6):20-33.

Analytics

Added to PP
2019-08-31

Downloads
1 (#1,913,104)

6 months
1 (#1,516,021)

Historical graph of downloads

Sorry, there are not enough data points to plot this chart.
How can I increase my downloads?

Citations of this work

No citations found.

Add more citations

References found in this work

What is it Like to be a Bat?Thomas Nagel - 2003 - In John Heil (ed.), Philosophy of Mind: A Guide and Anthology. Oxford University Press.

Add more references