Forty Thousand Years of Magic: a Global History of Witchcraft, Astrology and Alchemy

The author of this book tells us a magical story that spans more than 40,000 years: from the Ice Age to today's unknown corners, spanning all continents of the world, from the Mongolian grasslands to the Mesopotamia, from ancient Egypt to the magnificent palaces of London and Paris. We will meet priests, diviners, shamans, wizards, alchemists and other characters, and follow them on a wonderful journey. In the process, Gosden reveals that magic occupies a far more important role in human society than people think. The triple spiral of magic, religion, and science constructs human civilization, and hidden within it are different models of the relationship between humans and the world. In religion, humans enter into a relationship with one or more gods who dominate the world. Science attempts to establish a distant relationship with the world that ultimately enables us to observe and understand the world in abstract terms. Magic emphasizes our kinship with other creatures, the earth, and the sky. Through magic, we are able to develop a deep engagement with the world, which also has a set of ethical concerns at its core. By examining the entangled relationships between magic, religion, and science, we can gain a new perspective on global history.