Scholastic Magic: Ritual and Revelation in Early Jewish Mysticism

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In exploring the social background of early Jewish mysticism, Scholastic Magic tells the story of how imagination and magic were made to serve memory and scholasticism. In the visionary literature that circulated between the fifth and ninth centuries, there are strange tales of ancient rabbis conjuring the angel known as Sar-Torah, the "Prince of t

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"[Swartz's] translation... and commentary on the main texts of the 'Prince of the Torah' tradition... are especially valuable and provide nonexperts with access to the important mystical-magical material under analysis. Especially significant is his emphasis on the ritual and ritual procedures outlined in these texts."--Choice