Re-envisioning the Evil Eye: Magic, Optical Theory, and Modern Supernaturalism in Jewish Thought
Abstract This essay is a case study in the modern emergence of the “supernatural.” I argue that pre-modern understandings of the evil eye were predominantly naturalistic, based on extramissionist, haptic concepts of vision. The need to believe in the evil eye first arises when sight becomes universa...
Main Author: | |
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Format: | Electronic Article |
Language: | English |
Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
Journals Online & Print: | |
Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
Published: |
Brill
2021
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In: |
European journal of jewish studies
Year: 2021, Volume: 15, Issue: 1, Pages: 30-59 |
Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
Judaism
/ Evil eye
/ The Supernatural
/ Magic
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RelBib Classification: | AB Philosophy of religion; criticism of religion; atheism AG Religious life; material religion BH Judaism |
Further subjects: | B
extramission
B Magic B Kabbalah B Evil Eye B Supernatural B history of science B Rabbinic Literature |
Online Access: |
Volltext (Resolving-System) Volltext (Verlag) |
Summary: | Abstract This essay is a case study in the modern emergence of the “supernatural.” I argue that pre-modern understandings of the evil eye were predominantly naturalistic, based on extramissionist, haptic concepts of vision. The need to believe in the evil eye first arises when sight becomes universally understood as the result of light entering rather than emerging from the eyes. In the Jewish context, rabbis then begin to develop alternative explanations for its existence and efficacy. These novel etiologies were, for the first time, supernatural. Furthermore, an under-appreciated consequence of the emergence of the modern category of the supernatural is here revealed: rather than signifying the opprobrium of rejected knowledge, for certain religious communities, its embrace has come to represent spiritual conviction. |
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ISSN: | 1872-471X |
Contains: | Enthalten in: European journal of jewish studies
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Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1163/1872471X-11411098 |