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Libra Esoterica

Jewish Magic and Superstition

A Study in Folk Religion

by Joshua Trachtenberg

  • First published:
  • 20th century
  • Language: English
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Description

Description from Global Grey ebooks (opens in a new tab)

Jewish Magic and Superstition is a book by Joshua Trachtenberg, first published in 1939. It offers a comprehensive review of Jewish magical belief from the tenth to the fifteenth century, with a strong emphasis on folklore and popular custom. Many well-known Jewish traditions are examined and explained, including the breaking of a glass at weddings and the origins of the expression “mazel tov” in astrological belief. Trachtenberg explores a wide range of supernatural beings, such as Golems, succubi, the Lillim derived from Lilith, Adam’s first wife, as well as creatures familiar and obscure, including werewolves, estrie, mare, and broxa. The book also contains detailed descriptions of talismans, amulets, charms, and other magical objects, alongside chapters devoted to dream interpretation, medical beliefs, necromancy, and forms of divination. Written by a Reform rabbi on the east coast of the United States, the work represents an expanded version of Trachtenberg’s Columbia University Ph.D. thesis and remains a foundational study of Jewish magical tradition.

Provenance

Why this book is in the catalog

Included because retained bibliographic metadata links this work to Astrology, Consciousness, mysticism, and metaphysics, Divination and oracles, Kabbalah and Jewish esotericism, Legendary beings and transformations, Occultism and esotericism, Out-of-body, astral, and dream studies, and Ritual magic and grimoires.

  • Occultism and esotericism

    Retained metadata contains “supernatural” in the description.

    • “supernatural”· in description
  • Ritual magic and grimoires

    Retained metadata contains “Magic” in the title, “Magic” in the description, “Talismans” in the description, and 2 additional metadata match(es).

    • “Magic”· in title
    • “Magic”· in description
    • “Talismans”· in description
    • “Magic”· in subject
    • “Magic”· in edition title
  • Astrology

    Retained metadata contains “astrological” in the description.

    • “astrological”· in description
  • Divination and oracles

    Retained metadata contains “Divination” in the description.

    • “Divination”· in description
  • Kabbalah and Jewish esotericism

    Controlled discovery queries from openlibrary matched “Jewish magic”. Retained metadata contains “Jewish magic” in the title, “Jewish magic” in the description, “Jewish magic” in the subject metadata, and 2 additional metadata match(es).

    • “Jewish magic”· via Open Library
    • “Jewish magic”· in title
    • “Jewish magic”· in description
    • “Jewish magic”· in subject
    • “Kabbalah”· in subject
    • “Jewish magic”· in edition title
  • Out-of-body, astral, and dream studies

    Retained metadata contains “Dream interpretation” in the description.

    • “Dream interpretation”· in description
  • Legendary beings and transformations

    Retained metadata contains “Werewolves” in the description.

    • “Werewolves”· in description
  • Consciousness, mysticism, and metaphysics

    Controlled discovery queries from global-grey matched “Mystic Texts and Mysticism”. Retained metadata contains “Mysticism” in the subject metadata.

    • “Mystic Texts and Mysticism”· via Global Grey ebooks
    • “Mysticism”· in subject

Membership records how this book met the catalog’s discovery criteria — relevance to a tradition, not a judgment of the book’s claims.

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Editions

Open Library reports 6 editions; 3 cataloged here.

Global Grey ebook edition (available formats vary by title)

—Global Grey ebooksEnglish—Public download

A Study in Folk Religion

Open Library record

1939Behrman's Jewish Book HouseEnglish—Public digitized item

A Study in Folk Religion

Open Library record

January 2004University of Pennsylvania PressEnglish
  • 9780812218626
  • 0812218620
No ebook

Subjects

14 subject headings

Identifiers & provenance

How this record was assembled, and the authority identifiers it carries.

Identifiers

ISBN-13
ISBN-10
LCCN
OCLC
Open Library work
Internet Archive
Global Grey
  • jewish-magic-and-superstition
Open Library work (alias)

Cataloging notes

  • Contributing institution: Princeton Theological Seminary Library
  • Digitization sponsor: Princeton Theological Seminary Library
  • Open Library reports 5 editions; this snapshot catalogs one representative edition and preserves work-level ISBN, date, and publisher aggregates.
  • Open Library reports 6 editions; this snapshot catalogs one representative edition and preserves work-level ISBN, date, and publisher aggregates.
  • Scanner: scribe3.nj.archive.org
  • Source-reported rights: Copyright review: Public domain according to HathiTrust rights database
Catalog id
openlibrary-work:OL4316270W
Edition coverage
Multi source partial
Retrieved