The Occult, Witchcraft & Magic. An Illustrated History by Christopher Dell
Published by Thames & Hudson
A depiction of a magical ceremony from the 19th century. The caption underneath (not shown) reads: “Such were the mystic rites, ceremonies and incantation used by the ancient Theurgists to burst asunder the bonds of natural order, and to obtain an awful intercourse with the World of Spirits.”
A theurgist performs rituals to exercise divine powers on earth, 19th century. Colored aquatint.
Wellcome Library, London; Wellcome Images
A “magical” game from 19th-century France, reflecting the growing popular interest in divination and the spiritual as magic entered the mainstream.
Divinatory game of palmistry by A. de Para d’Hermes, late 19th century.
Private collection/ Archives Charmet/ Bridgeman Images
A 19th-century illustration of the Dendera zodiac, a bas-relief on the ceiling of the Hathor temple at Dendera in Egypt. It is the only complete map of the ancient skies to have survived, and dates from around 50 BC.
John Chapman after Vivant Denon, colored engraving of the Egyptian zodiac, Dendera.
Wellcome Library, London; Wellcome Images
Circe brandishes a large wand while offering a cup to Odysseus (pictured in the mirror), in a scene from Homer’s Odyssey. Circe uses her wand to turn Odysseus’ men into animals.
John William Waterhouse, Circe Offering the Cup to Odysseus, 1891.
Oil on canvas.
Gallery Oldham, Oldham, UK
Magical places are often deep underground. This “initiation well,” used in magical rites, was excavated at the Quinta da Regaleira estate in Sintra, Portugal.
Initiation well, Quinta da Regaleira, Sintra, Portugal
Photo Stijndon
A book of magic spells from Sumatra. The pages are made from tree bark.
Grimoire, Sumatra, Indonesia.
British Museum, London
Plucking mandrake at a distance with the aid of string.
Robert Bateman, Three People Plucking Mandrake. Gouache.
Wellcome Library, London; Wellcome Images
A Haitian voodoo altar, bringing together a wide range of symbolic objects and religious imagery. All Haitian voodoo altars feature a cross, which stands not only for the divine but also for the crossroads.
Haitian School, voodoo altar. Mixed media.
Horniman Museum, London/ Photo Heini Schneebeli/ Bridgeman Images
A New Orleans police officer holds a cross that has been studded with nails and decorated with special charms. Found on the doorstep of a woman’s house, and bearing the name of her fiancée, it was assumed to be a voodoo cross intended to split them up.
Policeman holding a voodoo cross, New Orleans, Louisiana, 17 June 1949.
Photograph.
© Bettmann/Corbis
