The Magical Universe Everyday Ritual and Magic in Pre-modern Europe

The universality of the magical beliefs which have existed throughout Europe in the Middle Ages 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 through- out Europe in the Middle Ages, 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. Shared by the powerful as well as the poor, magical beliefs have lasted remarkably late in many rural areas and have still not completely vanished to this day.