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Magical spells
(1,227 words)

(ὀνόματα βάρβαρα/onómata bárbara, Lat. nomina barbarica).

[German version]

I. General

Broad term for names, words and sounds used in ancient incantation practices of ritual magic and popular medicine. Their obscurity or indefiniteness was often understood by ancient observers as a synecdoche for the otherness of magic, above all in poetical depictions of fictional witchcraft rituals (e.g. Lucan, 6,685-693; Lucian, Dialogi Meretricii 4,5). From the magician's perspective, suc…

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Gordon, Richard L. (Ilmmünster), “Magical spells”, in: Brill’s New Pauly, Antiquity volumes edited by: Hubert Cancik and , Helmuth Schneider, English Edition by: Christine F. Salazar, Classical Tradition volumes edited by: Manfred Landfester, English Edition by: Francis G. Gentry. Consulted online on 19 March 2024 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/1574-9347_bnp_e12215000>
First published online: 2006
First print edition: 9789004122598, 20110510



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