Idolatry Restor'd (Witchcraft and the Imaging of Power)

The translation of magical power to a created image is a matter well understood in so-called ‘archaic’ sorcery, in which a mutual embodiment of re-presentation and represented occurs. The carved fetish, for example, participates in a reciprocal process between object and creator that often begins long before chisels and adzes are set to wood, drawn from the atavistic spirit-reservoir of the carver. From the view of magic, the spirit that the idol represents thus participates in its own reification. Many of these forms of image-making were concerned with accessing power, and it was only later, in the context of religious devotion, that their forms densified into ‘mere’ idols. Witchcraft and the Occult, because of their syncretic nature, partake in multiple infusions of traditional image-making lore, including not only sorcery and religious iconography, but also science, craftsmanship, and the fine arts. However, because much of its images are used privately, and indeed created for consumption by a limited set of observers, they participate in a concentrated alembic of exposure wherein all who experience them do so in the context of magical practice and devotion. This intensity of private magical interaction provides a locus which enables the image to transcend its medium —and indeed that fetish known as ‘icon'. First published in book form in 2013 and long out of print, this second edition of Idolatry Restor’d contains additional textual expansion and is newly typeset.