The Architect As Magician by Smith Albert C.; Schank Smith Kendra; & Kendra Schank Smith

Author:Smith, Albert C.; Schank Smith, Kendra; & Kendra Schank Smith
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Taylor & Francis Group
Published: 2020-06-15T00:00:00+00:00

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The Renaissance in Europe demonstrated a period when religion, magic, and early notions of science were intertwined. It is well known that the Catholic religion dominated most of the populations’ daily lives. Religion was vital to the community, as it provided values such as “reverence for tradition … courage and confidence in the struggle with difficulties and at the prospect of death.”3 At the same time, magic was practiced in almost every community, and scholars such as Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa wrote extensively about its role in society (De occulta philosophia). With similar goals, magic is not unlike religion, and when the Catholic Church practiced it, it was known as white magic. Although magic is directed at practical ends, as the anthropologist Bronislaw Malinowski writes, its purpose “is to ritualize man’s optimism, to enhance his faith in the victory of hope over fear.”4 During this period, often called the Scientific Renaissance, science had emerged in the form of epistemological explorations based on the belief that “experience, effort, and reason are valid” in the form of astronomy, alchemy, and mathematics.5

The decline in the practice of magic and the rise of disenchantment began as early as the 1620s. This decline was influenced by the philosophical writings of Descartes and as a result of various cultural and societal factors. The historian Keith Thomas suggests that this decline in magic was not the result of a sole reason but instead involved numerous converging influences. Some may point to a new rationalist attitude and the scientific revolution (and later the Enlightenment) that deemed magic as intellectually unsatisfactory, but this may be only part of the picture.6

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