Magic and the Supernatural in the Ancient World

• Luck states: "Magic in itself would be suspect, but if it serves to confirm the supreme authority of a god, it is legitimate. This may explain why so many rites that we would call magical today were practiced in a sanctuary." Wouldn't this also prove that magic and religion are, essentially, the same thing?
• Why does Apuleius choose Isis as the "true name" of the Goddess? Is it to simply make the mystery cult more mysterious?
• There has been recent commentary on the modern world considering anything a "miracle" (e.g. "It's a miracle I ever got this paper done.") Was this true in ancient times or was a bit more required?

• Is magic thought to be condemned by nature?
• Which god is thought to be more directly attached to miracles and supernatural healings?
• Is there a differnce between 'spiritual healing' and 'divine healing'?

• Are the deeds that Moses performs miracles and not magic simply because they are used to demonstrate the superiority of God?
• Luck makes the comment (in the story where Apollonius brings the girl back to life) that it would not have been a true miracle if the girl were in a coma. I found this statement curious, because in my mind, if she had been in a coma, wouldn't Apollonius have still performed a miracle because he would have healed her?
• Since the differences between magic and miracles are so subjective, do you think any concrete definition can be made in order to distinguish between the two?

• Can miracle-working be considered a specific type of magic? Miracles manipulate natural phenomena via supernatural forces, but is an esoteric body of knowledge required or just an individual's dynamis?
• Is an audience absolutely required for an event to be considered a miracle? What would the event be if no one witnessed it?
• Could the concept of the miracle actually be a tool used by a central institution, such as the Christian Church, to legitimize their "magic" as opposed to the magic of those on the periphery?

• It seems to me that there was a definiote link between astology and astronomy in ancient times, but today astronomy has distanced itself from astrology. When did this transition start?
• In A. Kiev's article, he states that all primitive food gathering societies believe magic determines the course of medicine. Are there any exceptions to this? Surely some studies have been conducted looking at exceptions to this "rule"?
• I'd like to discuss the statistic showing that traditional healers are enormously more effective in curing mental illness than western doctors. Does anyone else find this fact truely amazing? What are some ideas that we can attribute to this?

Bradley Laye: blaye@mailhost.tcs.tulane.edu

• 1. In Neusner's article about Miracle vs. Magic in Judaism, he says that one knows the difference by the source and standing of the practitioner and names Elijah as an example. In formative Judaism, however, prophets were not usually viewed very well into very late in their ministry (we discussed this in class once before). Do they start off as magicians and end up as miracle workers?
• 2. Can we discuss the strong tendency towards deification of healers? (Kee)
• 3. In Luck and the other texts, it seems miracle is equated with a god and magic with the practitioner, but doesn't a practitioner still call upon a god for the power (namely in healing)?

• 1. What is the relationship between magic and miracles? Are they mutually exclusive or is one a subset of the other?
• 2. Some authors of primary sources seem to doubt or question the validity of the miracles witnessed. What does this indicate about the attitude of most people in antiquity?
• 3. Is Religion to Miracles as is Magic to Witchcraft?

• 1.With respect to miracles, how does one classify an occurance that seems to be unexplicable but is really just a fact of nature that has not been found before?
• 2.It seems as though a large number of "miracle workers" and doctors of the such were really just nutritionalists. They emphasized a good diet and some exercise as well as abstaining from heavy drinking. Are these people really "miracle workers"?
• 3.In the eleventh book of The Golden Ass, Queen Isis shows up and talks about how "soon through her providence the sun of his salvation shall arise." Does the hearer of this really believe that This foreign queen/goddess can save him?