'Improper Grimoires': Evelyn Underhill's Representation of Ritual Magic in The Column of Dust
Evelyn Underhill (1875-1941) is generally regarded as a piously Anglican writer; her interest in the occult is either elided or dismissed as unserious dabbling. An examination of her writings on the subject, however, reveals a keen, intelligent curiosity about the theory and practice of ritual magic...
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Oxford University Press
[2019]
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| In: |
Literature and theology
Year: 2019, Volume: 33, Issue: 1, Pages: 25-49 |
| IxTheo Classification: | AZ New religious movements CD Christianity and Culture KDE Anglican Church |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (Resolving-System) Volltext (doi) |
| Summary: | Evelyn Underhill (1875-1941) is generally regarded as a piously Anglican writer; her interest in the occult is either elided or dismissed as unserious dabbling. An examination of her writings on the subject, however, reveals a keen, intelligent curiosity about the theory and practice of ritual magic. Underhill studied the occult in real depth, eventually fictionalising a conjuration in her novel The Column of Dust (1909). Underhill saw the occult not merely as the preserve of cranks and charlatans, but as a coherent system of belief which provided a sense of power and independence for women constrained by middle-class social structures. |
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| ISSN: | 1477-4623 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Literature and theology
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1093/litthe/fry030 |