Details

The Magic of Coin-Trees from Religion to Recreation

The Magic of Coin-Trees from Religion to Recreation

The Roots of a Ritual
Palgrave Historical Studies in Witchcraft and Magic

von: Ceri Houlbrook

128,39 €

Verlag: Palgrave Macmillan
Format: PDF
Veröffentl.: 23.04.2018
ISBN/EAN: 9783319755175
Sprache: englisch

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Beschreibungen

Titelbeschreibung

<p>This book traces the history of ritual landscapes in the British Isles, and the transition from religious practice to recreation, by focusing on a highly understudied exemplar: the coin-tree. These are trees imbued with magical properties into which coins have been ritually embedded. This is a contemporary custom which can be traced back in the literature to the 1700s, when it was practiced for folk-medical and dedicatory purposes. Today, the custom is widespread, with over 200 coin-trees distributed across the British Isles, but is more akin to the casual deposition of coins in a wishing-well: coins are deposited in the tree in exchange for wishes, good luck, or future fortune.&nbsp;Ceri Houlbrook&nbsp;contributes to the debate on the historic relationships between religion, ritual, and popular magic in British contexts from 1700 to the present.&nbsp;<br></p>

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Chapter 1. Introduction: Coining the Coin Tree.- Chapter 2. Roots of a Ritual.- Chapter 3. The Democratization of the Landscape.- Chapter 4. Contemporary Engagement.- Chapter 5. The Mutability of Meaning.- Chapter 6. Manipulating Meaning.- Chapter 7. Green Monuments and their Heritage.- Chapter 8. Concluding Thoughts.- Index.

Autorenportrait

<p>Ceri Houlbrook is Early Career Researcher of History and Folklore at the University of Hertfordshire, UK, and the co-editor of <i>The Materiality of Magic: An Artefactual Investigation into Ritual Practices and Popular Beliefs </i>and<i> Magical Folk: British and Irish Fairies</i>.<br></p><p><br></p>

Back cover copy

This book traces the history of ritual landscapes in the British Isles, and the transition from religious practice to recreation, by focusing on a highly understudied exemplar: the coin-tree. These are trees imbued with magical properties into which coins have been ritually embedded. This is a contemporary custom which can be traced back in the literature to the 1700s, when it was practiced for folk-medical and dedicatory purposes. Today, the custom is widespread, with over 200 coin-trees distributed across the British Isles, but is more akin to the casual deposition of coins in a wishing-well: coins are deposited in the tree in exchange for wishes, good luck, or future fortune. Ceri Houlbrook contributes to the debate on the historic relationships between religion, ritual, and popular magic in British contexts from 1700 to the present.&nbsp;

Sonderbeitrag

Provides the first book-length study focusing specifically on, and cataloguing, British coin-trees Contributes to debates on the historic relationships between religion, ritual, and popular magic in British contexts Utilises an interdisciplinary approach, combining methodologies from folklore, anthropology and archaeology