Building Magic

Owen Davies Is Professor of Social History at the University of Hertfordshire, UK. He has published widely on the history of witchcraft, magic, ghosts, and popular medicine, including most recently, A Supernatural War:  Magic, Divination, and Faith During the First World War (2018). Ceri Houlbrook is a Folklore and History Lecturer at the University of Hertfordshire, UK. Her primary research interests are the material culture of ritual practices and popular beliefs, and contemporary folklore. She has previously published on the modern-day customs of coin-trees and love-locks.

“There is a lot to take away from this volume, which covers a broad selection of issues in a comparatively short space. Building Magic is a book that probably warrants repeated reading, and many of the topics it covers deserve further investigation in greater depth, either by the authors themselves or others following their example. … An important work, Building Magic comes highly recommended.” (Ethan Doyle White, Folklore, June 13, 2023)

• 1. Folk science meets folk memory: Acoustics and illumination .- 2. Bodies: Mummified but not Ancient.- 3. Folk science meets folk memory: Acoustics and illumination  .- 4. Sealing Memories.- 5. Seeking protection: Objects of power.- 6. Luck and wellbeing in the home.- 7. Curators and custodians of the revealed concealed.