Book research

Iboga (Tabernanthe iboga) is an unassuming perennial shrub native to equatorial West Africa. While it has only become known in the West in the past few decades, it has an ancient history in West Africa, particularly in Gabon, Cameroon, Angola, and the Republic of Congo. Traditional use of iboga is perhaps most associated with Bwiti, an animist, syn

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“All [magical] ritual is a kind of language, it therefore translates ideas.” (Marcel Mauss, A General Theory of Magic, 75)

“Japanese people feel relieved once you put a name to something,” said Mitsuo Takeda, a judge of the Shodoshima contest and an artist who designed a large installation featuring a bug-eyed yokai large enough to walk through. “If you are pulling grass and you get a cut and you wonder what happened,” he said, “if you think, ‘Oh, it is just a yokai,’

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Magical techniques and beliefs differ around the world, but the actual practices can be grouped into five branches: sympathy, scrying, sending, summoning and syzygy. Each has its own lessons for the prompt artist.

Witch Ball Folklore

Witch Balls have been very popular since the 18th century. First in England, then in New England, but their actual origin is considered to be much older. For well over 3 centuries hollow glass spheres have been hung in windows to ward off witch's spells, evil spirits and ill fortune. Hanging these decorative glass balls in the w... See more