The magical universe: everyday ritual and magic in pre-modern Europe

'Offical' and 'unofficial' religion have always had an uncomfortable relationship, feeding and feeding off each other in a constantly changing pattern. This magisterial survey of 'unofficial' religion shows how pre-modern people coped with life's uncertainty, and puts sensational aspects of magic, like withcraft, in a wider context. The universality of the magical beliefs which have existed throughout Europe from the time of the Romans to the present has been hidden by a focus on the sensational aspects of magic, and on witch trials in particular. The Magical Universe shows how magical beliefs and practices permeated all aspects of work and of family life, and profoundly influenced the approach of men and women to health and healing, birth, marriage and death. Magic offered the hope of protection in a dangerous and uncertain world, if the correct rituals were observed. Magical beliefs borrowed from and were incorporated in church rites. Such beliefs, shared by the powerful as well as the poor, lasted remarkably late in many rural areas and have still not completely vanished.