Modern Enchantments: The Cultural Power of Secular Magic. By Simon During. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2002; pp. 336 + illus. $35 cloth.

Extract

Simon During's book presents a broad overview of European and North American magic and argues that magic influenced the formation of modern culture. During clearly delineates three types of magic: Supernatural Magic, or “real” spiritual magic associated with superstition, religion, and the occult; Natural Magic, which popularized scientific discoveries such as electricity, magnetism, X-rays, and optics; and Secular Magic, based on spectacle, skillful technique, illusion, and special effects. He successfully charts the complex relations among the three types of magic, and explains how they reinforce one another (as is the case with natural and secular magic), or work against one another (as when natural and secular magic gradually delegitimized the influence of supernatural magic in an increasingly secularized, modern culture).