For a long time, historians’ understanding of medieval magic mostly came from the work of the judges and other church authorities who condemned miraculous acts as superstitions and demons. In recent decades, many scholars have begun to explore magical texts directly, placing them in a broader context of religious and intellectual history. In the memory of remembrance devout motives, illegal interests and mysterious methods of the medieval universe, Sophie Page made an important contribution to this field of study. She focuses on a collection of texts collected at the St. Augustine Abbey in the early fourteenth century, a rich and famous Benedictine monastery in Canterbury. St. Augustine has about 30 magical texts, larger than the houses of almost all other British monasteries, and they also outnumber most aristocratic libraries. At this point, the monks can carry books with them after entering the monastery and continue to get specific text there. Therefore, this collection represents the direct interests of at least some members of the St. Augustine community.
Page’s writing has proved that the collection of magical texts by medieval monks is not shocking. First, she pointed out that the library does not contain works that clearly demonize magic. Instead, text can be described as presenting natural magic or mysterious magic. Natural magic involves the mysterious forces that are said to exist in nature. The most famous varieties are astrology and astral magic, in which celestial forces are thought to influence the Earth’s world, allowing predictions of future events or more active rituals, aimed at concentrating these energies to achieve specific results. Other special attributes are believed to exist in plants, metals and stones and can then be used in a variety of rituals. This practice is bordered by the natural sciences of the Middle Ages and can be used as part of the scholarly monk’s commendable curiosity about all aspects of God’s creation. It is also reasonable to claim that the use of spiritual power is as long as the relevant power is considered sacred, angelic, or at least not clear. Then they can be classified as a monk’s pursuit of spiritual understanding or direct fantasy experience.
This chapter focuses on image magic, skillfully examining its various pressures in popular and academic traditions. The work on image magic contains a unique type in the magical work of the St. Augustine Library, with sixteen separate texts and more copies and excerpts. Despite fears of idolatry and worries by thinkers such as Thomas Aquinas, the magical role is part of the demon agreement, and Page clearly shows how monastic readers interpret image magic in a Christian context.
First, St. Augustine’s text forms part of the work with medicine, astronomy and other scientific works. Once again it shows that the physical environment can be respected. It is worth noting that these texts also recognize God’s omnipotence, while at the same time gaining the scientific foundation from the aristocratic noble science and the translation of the twelfth century into Latin from its authority derived from the Arabic source. Image magic connects practitioners with the greater power of celestial bodies and souls through the medium of material images.
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