Sorcery or Science? examines how two Sufi Muslim
theologians who rose to prominence in the western Sahara Desert in
the late eighteenth century, Sīdi al-Mukhtār al-Kuntī (d. 1811) and
his son and ...successor, Sīdi Muḥammad al-Kuntī (d. 1826), decisively
influenced the development of Sufi Muslim thought in West
Africa.
Known as the Kunta scholars, Mukhtār al-Kuntī and Muḥammad
al-Kuntī were influential teachers who developed a pedagogical
network of students across the Sahara. In exploring their
understanding of "the realm of the unseen"-a vast, invisible world
that is both surrounded and interpenetrated by the visible
world-Ariela Marcus-Sells reveals how these theologians developed a
set of practices that depended on knowledge of this unseen world
and that allowed practitioners to manipulate the visible and
invisible realms. They called these practices "the sciences of the
unseen." While they acknowledged that some Muslims-particularly
self-identified "white" Muslim elites-might consider these
practices to be "sorcery," the Kunta scholars argued that these
were legitimate Islamic practices. Marcus-Sells situates their
ideas and beliefs within the historical and cultural context of the
Sahara Desert, surveying the cosmology and metaphysics of the realm
of the unseen and the history of magical discourses within the
Hellenistic and Arabo-Islamic worlds.
Erudite and innovative, this volume connects the Islamic
sciences of the unseen with the reception of Hellenistic discourses
of magic and proposes a new methodology for reading written
devotional aids in historical context. It will be welcomed by
scholars of magic and specialists in Africana religious studies,
Islamic occultism, and Islamic manuscript culture.
In Performing Deception, Brian Rappert reconstructs the practice of entertainment magic by analysing it through the lens of perception, deception and learning, as he goes about studying conjuring ...himself. Through this novel meditation on reasoning and skill, Rappert elevates magic from the undertaking of mere trickery to an art that offers the basis for rethinking our possibilities for acting in the modern world. Performing Deception covers a wide range of theories in sociology, philosophy, psychology and elsewhere in order to offer a striking assessment of the way secrecy and deception are woven into social interactions, as well as the illusionary and paradoxical status of expertise.
This book brings together ancient manuscripts of the large compendium of Mesopotamian exorcistic incantations known as Udug.hul (Utukku Lemnutu), directed against evil demons, ghosts, gods, and other ...demonic malefactors within the Mesopotamian view of the world.It allows for a more accurate appraisal of variants arising from a text tradition spread over more than two millennia and from many ancient libraries.
A Γ-magic rectangle set MRSΓ(a,b;c) of order abc is a collection of c arrays (a×b) whose entries are elements of group Γ of order abc, each appearing once, with all row sums in every rectangle equal ...to a constant ω∈Γ and all column sums in every rectangle equal to a constant δ∈Γ.
In this paper we prove that for {a,b}≠{2α,2k+1} where α and k>0 are some natural numbers, a Γ-magic rectangle set MRSΓ(a,b;c) exists if and only if a and b are both even or |Γ| is odd or Γ has more than one involution. We proved that there does not exist a Γ-magic rectangle set MRSΓ(2,2k+1;c) for any Abelian group Γ of order (4k+2)c. Moreover we obtain sufficient and necessary conditions for existence of a Γ-magic rectangle MRSΓ(a,b)=MRSΓ(a,b;1).
This work will also be potentially useful for graph theorists who work in graph labeling. We apply the main result for construction of two group magic-type labelings for some families of graphs. In particular we give necessary and sufficient conditions for tKn,n to be Γ-magic.
Magic partially filled arrays on abelian groups Morini, Fiorenza; Pellegrini, Marco Antonio
Journal of combinatorial designs,
August 2023, 2023-08-00, 20230801, Letnik:
31, Številka:
8
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
In this paper we introduce a special class of partially filled arrays. A magic partially filled array MPFΩ(m,n;s,k) ${\text{MPF}}_{{\rm{\Omega }}}(m,n;s,k)$ on a subset Ω ${\rm{\Omega }}$ of an ...abelian group (Γ,+) $({\rm{\Gamma }},+)$ is a partially filled array of size m×n $m\times n$ with entries in Ω ${\rm{\Omega }}$ such that (i) every ω∈Ω $\omega \in {\rm{\Omega }}$ appears once in the array; (ii) each row contains s $s$ filled cells and each column contains k $k$ filled cells; (iii) there exist (not necessarily distinct) elements x,y∈Γ $x,y\in {\rm{\Gamma }}$ such that the sum of the elements in each row is x $x$ and the sum of the elements in each column is y $y$. In particular, if x=y=0Γ $x=y={0}_{{\rm{\Gamma }}}$, we have a zero‐sum magic partially filled array MPFΩ0(m,n;s,k) ^{0}\text{MPF}_{{\rm{\Omega }}}(m,n;s,k)$. Examples of these objects are magic rectangles, Γ ${\rm{\Gamma }}$‐magic rectangles, signed magic arrays, (integer or noninteger) Heffter arrays. Here, we give necessary and sufficient conditions for the existence of a magic rectangle with empty cells, that is, of an MPFΩ(m,n;s,k) ${\text{MPF}}_{{\rm{\Omega }}}(m,n;s,k)$ where Ω={1,2,…,nk}⊂ℤ ${\rm{\Omega }}=\{1,2,\ldots ,nk\}\subset {\rm{{\mathbb{Z}}}$. We also construct zero‐sum magic partially filled arrays when Ω ${\rm{\Omega }}$ is the abelian group Γ ${\rm{\Gamma }}$ or the set of its nonzero elements.
The astrologer-physician Richard Napier (1559-1634) was not only a man of practical science and medicine but also a master of occult arts and a devout parish rector who purportedly held conversations ...with angels. This new interpretation of Napier reveals him to be a coherent and methodical man whose burning desire for certain, true knowledge contributed to the contemporary venture of putting existing knowledge to useful ends.
Originally trained in theology and ordained as an Anglican priest, Napier later studied astrological medicine and combined astrology, religious thought, and image and ritual magic in his medical work. Ofer Hadass draws on a remarkable archive of Napier’s medical cases and religious writings—including the interviews he claimed to have held with angels—to show how Napier’s seemingly inconsistent approaches were rooted in an inclusive and coherent worldview, combining equal respect for ancient authority and for experientially derived knowledge. Napier’s endeavors exemplify the fruitful relationship between religion and science that offered a well-founded alternative to the rising mechanistic explanation of nature at the time.
Carefully researched and compellingly told, Medicine, Religion, and Magic in Early Stuart England is an insightful exploration of one of the most fascinating figures at the intersection of medicine, magic, and theology in early modern England and of the healing methods employed by physicians of the era.
•A magic square is an nxn square divided into n2 cells inscribed with n2 disjoint integers arranged in such a way that the integers in every row, every column and the two diagonals sum to the same ...constant which is called the MAGIC CONSTANT of the square.•Magic squares are examples of SameSum graphs. In general, a SameSum graph is a graph whose vertices are inscribed with positive integers which are arranged in such a way that there are several subsets of the inscribed integers which sum to the same constant.•This article introduces the n-trigles, a new variant in the Samesum family.•An n-trigle is a planar connected graph made of triangles. A triplet of distinct positive integers is inscribed at the three vertices of every triangle in the graph. The triplet of integers in every triangle sum to the same constant n. The number of triangles in the graph is determined by a formula that depends on n.
A SameSum graph is a graph whose vertices are inscribed with positive integers which are arranged in such a way that there are several subsets of the inscribed integers which sum to the same constant. An example of a SameSum graph is a Magic Square: the triplets of integers along the rows, along the columns and along the two diagonals of a magic square sum to the same magic constant of that specific square. Some recent results of the author of this article present several groups of SameSum graphs providing some additional examples. This article introduces the n-trigles, a new variant in the SameSum family, as a planar connected graph based on triangles only. The n-trigles are defined, their versatile properties are described and several examples are shown.
Magic is an art form that has been traced back 1000 years ago. Previous studies have been conducted to investigate the positive effects magic could bring on human beings. Herein, we organize studies ...on the positive effects and the use of magic tricks in aspects of performing, witnessing, discovering the secrets of magic, and finally, in educational settings. We discovered that magic not only benefits well‑being with physical and mental improvement but also works well as a therapeutic use for hospitals, pediatric settings, and rehabilitation for patients with functional loss. With research on the human mind developing rapidly, magic could also be a great study tool for exploring human cognition and perception. We conclude that magic has already brought about a great number of promising effects in various settings. Therefore, in this manuscript, we discuss how performing and perceiving magic tricks could bring positive effects on researchers and human beings.
This sourcebook provides the first systematic overview of witchcraft laws and trials in Russia and Ukraine from medieval times to the late nineteenth century. Witchcraft in Russia and Ukraine, ...1000–1900 weaves scholarly commentary with never-before-published primary source materials translated from Polish, Russian, and Ukrainian. These sources include the earliest references to witchcraft and sorcery, secular and religious laws regarding witchcraft and possession, full trial transcripts, and a wealth of magical spells. The documents present a rich panorama of daily life and reveal the extraordinary power of magical words. Editors Valerie A. Kivelson and Christine D. Worobec present new analyses of the workings and evolution of legal systems, the interplay and tensions between church and state, and the prosaic concerns of the women and men involved in witchcraft proceedings. The extended documentary commentaries also explore the shifting boundaries and fraught political relations between Russia and Ukraine.
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