Front Cover; Title Page; Copyright Page; Dedication; Contents; Acknowledgements; Conventions and Abbreviations; Illustrations; Introduction; 1. For The 'Uninitiated'; 2. Magical Masculinities; 3. Fraternity and Freemasons; 4. Scrying and Subversion: John Dee and Edward Kelley; 5. John Pordage and Passivity; 6. Swords, Satan and Sex; 7. Fairies and Female Magicians; 8. Magical Metaphors: Mary Parish and Goodwin Wharton; 9. Magic and Honour; Conclusion: Boundaries and Intersections; Notes; Bibliography; Back Cover
Summary
In early modern England, the practice of ritual or ceremonial magic - the attempted communication with angels and demons - both reinforced and subverted existing concepts of gender. The majority of male magicians acted from a position of control and command commensurate with their social position in a patriarchal society; other men, however, used the notion of magic to subvert gender ideals while still aiming to attain hegemony. Whilst women who claimed to perform magic were usually more submissive in their attempted dealings with the spirit world, some female practitioners employed magic to u
Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references (pages 195-213) and index