Popular Magic by Owen Davies
Cunning-Folk in English History
An accessible cultural history of everyday magical beliefs and practices in Britain that traces how ordinary people used charms, amulets, cunning-folk, healing rites, weather magic, love spells and divination from the medieval period into the modern era. Drawing on court records, folklore, pamphlets and material culture, it shows how popular magic operated alongside official religion and learned occultism, how practitioners met practical needs and negotiated moral boundaries, and how changing legal and religious contexts shaped accusations of witchcraft and the persistence or transformation of folk practices. The narrative emphasizes continuities and regional variation and highlights the social roles of cunning-folk and other practitioners, offering a corrective to views that treat magic as purely irrational or marginal.
- Published
- 2003
- Nationality
- British
- Length
- Unknown
- Pages
- Unknown
- Original Language
- English
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