The Centre for Magic and Esotericism
The Centre for Magic and Esotericism
Calls for papers for upcoming conferences / events related to magic and esotericism. Please note that these are largely external events, and we cannot vouch for the accuracy of information regarding deadlines, though we try to organise this page with upcoming dates first.
European Network for the Study of Islam and Esotericism (ENSIE) is pleased to announce their seventh biennial conference, to be held in Málaga, Spain, from 20–23 May 2026.
Theme: “Human and Non-Human”
This conference will explore how Islamic and Islamic-inspired esoteric traditions have conceptualized and interacted with human and non-human agents — divine, angelic, spiritual, animal, mechanical, and cosmic. We welcome contributions from across periods, regions, and disciplines, including philosophy, theology, esotericism, the occult sciences, material culture, and global perspectives.
Programme highlights:
The conference will be hosted by the Universidad de Málaga, with Antonio de Diego González serving as local organiser.
If you are interested in participating: Please send an abstract (max. 300 words) and short bio (max. 100 words) by 15 February 2026 to secretary@ensie.site.
The MagEIA Project at the University of Würzburg is hosting an in-person workshop, June 22–24, 2026, in Würzburg, Germany, focused on the study of magic in the pre-modern Arabophone Islamic and Persianate worlds.
This workshop invites proposals exploring the category of magic as it appears in literary, documentary, and material sources composed in Persian, Judeo-Persian, Judeo-Arabic, and Arabic from Late Antiquity through the Medieval period. It seeks to bring together bodies of evidence that have often remained marginal within broader discussions of magic in the premodern world.
While scholarship on magical practices, rituals, and demonic beings in Greek, Latin, and Hebrew traditions is well established, sources in these other linguistic and cultural contexts have frequently been underexamined. This workshop aims to redress that imbalance by centering texts, objects, and practices within their specific linguistic, religious, and intellectual milieus.
The organizers are particularly interested in contributions that examine how magic was conceptualized, represented, transmitted, and contested across genres and communities. Topics may include, but are not limited to:
This workshop is part of the MagEIA (Magic between Entanglement, Interaction, and Analogy) project.
More information can be found here:
https://www.phil.uni-wuerzburg.de/en/mageia/
Submission deadline: February 20, 2026
Submission format: Abstracts of 300–500 words
Submissions should be sent to Neda Darabian at
neda.darabian@uni-wuerzburg.de
UNC Charlotte’s Department of Art + Art History and the Center for the Study of Ideas and Practices are hosting an online conference, October 15–17, 2026, centered on the theme Creative Practices and Bridging the Invisible.
The conference welcomes student and emerging scholar submissions, alongside artists and researchers working across visual art, design, architecture, performance, music, poetry, craft, digital media and other interdisciplinary practices. It’s especially focused on how creative work connects to ways of knowing, belief systems and the unseen.
The event will run alongside the exhibition Holding a Bright, Untroubled Sky: Visioning a Better World through Magic, curated by Dr. Amy Hale at UNC Charlotte’s Rowe Galleries.
Submission deadline: March 2, 2026
Formats include short or long papers, artist talks, roundtables, creative experiences, and themed panels.
Registration fees: sliding scale, $0–$20.
Questions can be directed to Prof. Heather D. Freeman at
heatherfreeman@charlotte.edu or heatherfreemanartist@gmail.com.
See more details here.
24th – 26th June 2026, York, UK
Theme: Nature
We are delighted to invite paper proposals for Magic and Witchcraft Conference 2026. This year’s theme is Magic, Witchcraft and Nature. This is a hybrid academic conference with speakers and attendees welcome to appear in person or online.
Papers are invited which address this theme in relation to the period from Antiquity to 1850. The scope of the conference is global, so please feel free to interpret ‘nature’ creatively.
Suggested topics include, but are not limited to:
Abstracts of 200-300 words should be sent to magicwitchcraft2024@gmail.comby 14th of March 2026. All presentations are expected to be 20-minutes. Please include your name, institutional affiliation (if any), and your intention to attend in person or online.