This page is dedicated to the study of historical magic in reference to
The Middle Ages and early Renaissance. It is a constant work in
progress as I learn more and refine the research here. It is a blend of
magic, history and the Society for Creative Anachronism (and how
magic relates to it). I have used my SCA name in the header of the page
because of this.
Early Beginnings
Any book on the history of magic seems to think that they must mention
the first recorded instance of magic, regardless of the time span of
the work. Frankly Eqyptian magic only holds one reference that we can
contend with and that is the Gypsies, sometime refered to in documents
as Egyptians.
Juggling or Magic?
The fact is for a very long time jugglers were magicians. If you think
about it, the defintion of juggling is the creative manipulation of
objects. A modern juggler tosses balls, using dexterity to keep them
aloft while a magician uses dexterity to confuse and manipulate fine
objects in an entertaining fashion. In this way, both jugglers and
magicians were (and are) the same. In period an magician was a broader
kind of entertainer. We do not see the finer defintions of magicians
until just out of period.
Historic Books
The first book usually mentioned in reference to magic in The Middle
Ages is The Discoverie of Witchcraft (Reginald Scot). The entirety of
the book is
dedicated to proving that witches do not exist. In one part of the book
those that practice Legerdemain are covered so that people might
understand there are no supernatural powers held by street performers.
Scot manages to describe the tricks but his descriptions leave
magicians wanting for something as they are sparse and poorly
explained. It
could be surmised that Scot really only had a passing familiarity with
street magic, or had someone else help with the details. It is clear
that he was more concerned with explaining that broader topic of magic
rather than giving us something closer to a text book.
More importantly would be Hocus Pocus Jr. This book takes much of
Discoverie to the next level. It is clearly written by an actual
magician as they cover not only the tricks but how to relate to your
audience and how important the audience is. Hocus Pocus Jr also goes
more into depth into a basic cups & balls routine (with diagrams).
It is considered the first true text book of magic (the cup below is from Hocus Pocus Jr.).
Is it Period?
Much like in period culinary disucssions there is a time when it comes
down to asking whether or not an effect is period or not. Again, we
break down into various categories.
1) Period Magic
2) Period-Dervitives (a modern cups & balls routine)
3) Period-esqe (Modern magic made to feel period)
4) OOP Magic
Period Magic
Cups & Balls
The Cups and Balls are the classic example of period magic. They are timeless and enjoyed even today.
Period cups (as the diagram to left shows) did not have the shoulder
bead that kept the cups apart and they had a recessed bottom to keep
the balls from rolling off the cups. They were almost always made of
metal.
My cups are in the banner at the top of the page (Bosco cups from Harries Magic is Sweden). They are not
period cups. They are however as close as I can get from standard
merchants.The
more modern design allows for larger balls to be used, which makes it
easier for audiences to follow the play. The balls above are simply
felted balls. I am in the process of making some with red felt which
will show up against the green of my table top better. More period
balls would be cork cores covered in fabric (yet another project I need
to do).
Coins
As soon as coins were common they became props in magical effects. Scot
mentions coins in his treatise and from that point forward all books
and manuscripts contain information about coin magic. Most coin magic,
as a specific speciality, did become popular until well out of period.
Knives
Period magic was, at times, extremely bloody and shocking. Knife magic
was common and the intent was to shock the audience. This included mock
beheadings, knives through the nose, the tongue and other part of the
body. Some of what we take as shocking magic, such as the street magic
of David Blaine and Criss Angel, would actually be mild by past
standards.
Cards
Cards did not take hold in magic as early as coins did. Most card magic
is an offshoot of con men and swindler's card cheats. While we see
cards in mentioned in some period manuscripts the majority of card
magic is outside of period.
Balls
Balls or small stones are mentioned very early and have been found in documents from Greek scholars.
Jacob's Ladder
The small child's toy where the blocks looks like they are falling
is a derivitive of the orignal apparatus. The orginal was only two
panels.
Here, a 5 of Spades is tucked under a the single strap. When the packet
is closed and reopened the 5 of Spades is now under the other side of
the packet.
The use of this effect is not readily discussed in historic documents
and may be more of an amusement or a puzzle than a real effect in
magic. The photos contain an oversized prototype of one I am building
out of wood.
Wands
I mention wands, not because they are magic in themselves, but they are
a necessary part of any period magician's kit. Evidence of tips wands
in artwork is completely within the timeframe of the SCA. Hieronymus
Bosch's The Conjurer shows a metal tipped wand, where the tips are
lighter than the rest of the wand.
My wand is in the style of period wands with two notable exceptions.
First, the tips are longer than those in period illustrations and
secondly the brass piece in the middle is a fitting as this wand breaks
down into two pieces (for easier transport).
Period-Derivitives
Most close up magic can be thought of as a Period-Derivitive. Coin,
ball and card magic has strong ties to period and, if done properly,
can pass as period magic to the untrained eye.
Period-esqe
This would be the kind of fare found at Renassiance festivals. The
lenght and breadth of the kind of tricks done, but poorly made to look
Medieval, would be too long to list.
OOP Magic
Contact (or Kinetic) Juggling
This stuff is beautiful. You probably saw it with crystal balls in the
David Bowie film Labyrinth. Unfortunately it dates all the way back to
the 1970's. The man who created it, Michael Moschen, was once a juggling partner of now famous magician Penn Jillette.
The Sub Trunk (Substitution Trunk, Metamorphosis) Made popular by Harry
Houdini's brother, Hardeen, both men used the effect to great length
since it matched so well with their escape skills. It dates back to the
early 1900s.
Spirit Cabinets
Boxes or fabric barriers where strange things happened and were
attributed to 'spirts'. These effects became popular as an ofshoot of
the Spiritualism movement of the last 1800s and early 1900s.
My Magic
Right now (Sept 2006) it's all about the cups and balls. I have put
these off for far too long. I won't have a working routine by Outlands
Crown but I certainly have nearly all of the moves down to a very
refined level. My problem is with final loads. That will be my focus
right now.
I have a enough Period-Derivitive effects to put on a show. I have done
two SCA demos with a historical lesson theme. It is rough and I'm not
completely happy with it.
Bibilography
Discoverie of Witchcraft, Reginald Scot, 1584
Dover Books, ISBN 0-486-26030-5
The Illustrated History of Magic, Milbourne &Maurine Christopher, 1973
Heinemann, ISBN 0-435-07016-9
Magic, A Picture History, Milbourne Christopher, 1962
Dover, ISBN 0-486-26373-8
Conuring, James Randi, 1992
St. Martin's Press, ISBN 0-312-09771-9, Current out of print
Hocus Pocus Jr.
Unavailable in regular print. Some electronic copies on the internet in ebook format.
The Art of Iuggling.
GibeciereVol 1 Issue 1
Journal of the Conjuring Arts Center. Membership required for subscription
http://www.conjuringarts.org/index.shtml
Copyright 2006, C. Bays (Known in the SCA as The Honorable Lord Robert of Deerbourne)