Magic, Healing, and Religion Workshop

Posted by Emily Selove

6 April 2021

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McMaster University (Online)

May 26th

https://religiousstudies.mcmaster.ca/news/magicworkshop/?fbclid=IwAR1yDwFnCmyBfZOlZ0JjFURAlkx6bO4nAmpBwTnHD6Z-KKdj_tGX3udZX2k

This workshop proposes an interdisciplinary and inter-religious approach to healing in religious traditions. Religious healing can be syncretic between traditions, relegated to the margins of official religion, or use non-mechanical logics to address imbalances of body, spirit, and social identity. By comparing religions, and by fostering dialogue between different fields, we hope to understand the relationship between religion, science, magic, and healing.

10:00 AM-11:00 AM
Keynote talk:
Dr. Matt Melvin-Koushki, “Healing is Believing: Medical Magic Between Science and Religion.”

Workshop paper titles and schedule:

11:00 AM-11:40 AM
Dr. Hanna Tervanotko and Katharine Fitzgerald, “Food That Revives: Healing Rituals in Ancient Jewish Texts”

1:00 PM-1:40 PM
Dr. James Benn, “Dangers to the Body and Mind Caused by Meditation in the Chinese Buddhist Tradition”

1:40 PM-2:20 PM
Dr. Ellen Amster, “Kabbalists, Sufis, and Solomon’s Magic Ring: Magic Healing Amulets as a History of Judeo-Islamic Exchange in Morocco and Islamic Spain”

2:20 PM-3:00 PM
Dr. Mark Rowe, “The Alchemy of Ritual and Words: Healing Grief in Contemporary Japan”

3:00 PM-3:40 PM
Dr. Ellen Badone, “Laer Amann, Guérisseurs, Priests and Prayers”