Erós a magie v období renesance

There is a widespread prejudice in modern scientific society that magic is a ridiculous mixture of recipes and methods derived from primitive and erroneous ideas about nature. The book Eros and Magic in the Renaissance challenges this view, gives a thorough account of how magic works, and shows that magic in its altered form still exists today.

According to Ioan Culian, Renaissance magic was a credible attempt to manipulate individuals and groups based on knowledge of particularly erotic motivations. Its key principle was that everyone (and in a sense everything) could be influenced by appeals to sexual desire. In addition, the magician relied on a deep knowledge of the art of memory to manipulate the fantasies of his subjects. In these respects, magic is the forerunner of the modern psychological and sociological sciences, and the magician is the distant ancestor of the psychoanalyst and advertising agencies.

In the course of his study, Culianu explores in detail the ideas of such authors as Giordano Bruno, Marsilio Ficino, and Pico della Mirandola, illuminating many aspects of Renaissance culture, including heresy, medicine, astrology, alchemy, courtly love, the influence of classical mythology, and even the role of fashion in clothing.

Just as science gave the Renaissance its reigning myth today, magic gave the Renaissance its reigning myth. Because magic depended on the use of images, and images were suppressed and banned in the Reformation and subsequent history, magic was replaced by exact science and modern technology and eventually forgotten. Culian's remarkable scholarship helps us recover much of its original meaning and will appeal to a wide audience in the humanities and social sciences.

Czech edition