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Śaiva magic Ullrey, Aaron

Description

Magic in South Asia consists of pragmatic rituals aimed to transform the everyday world on behalf of a single practitioner or client; it originates and is most fully represented in the Śaiva tantras, even though Śaiva ritual techniques can be found in Buddhist and Jain tantras. Śaiva magic is constituted by the six magic ritual results (ṣaṭkarman), fantastic acts and enchanted items (indrajāla, kautukakarman), and conjuring (yakṣinīsādhana). Though such rites are prefigured by techniques found in the Vedas, Epic, and Legal literature--especially those practices labeled sorcery (abhicāra), root-work (mūlakarman), and medicine craft (auṣadhi)--the full bloom of Śaiva magic is found in the tantras. Magic is not to be confused with the perfections (siddhis) displayed by thaumaturges (siddhas) or the yoga powers displayed by perfected strivers (yogīs); magic is the realm of the, often singular, ritual practitioner (sādhaka).

Item Metadata

Title
Śaiva magic
Creator
Ullrey, Aaron
Contributor
Database of Religious History (DRH)
Publisher
Database of Religious History (DRH)
Date Issued
2017-11-17
Description
Magic in South Asia consists of pragmatic rituals aimed to transform the everyday world on behalf of a single practitioner or client; it originates and is most fully represented in the Śaiva tantras, even though Śaiva ritual techniques can be found in Buddhist and Jain tantras. Śaiva magic is constituted by the six magic ritual results (ṣaṭkarman), fantastic acts and enchanted items (indrajāla, kautukakarman), and conjuring (yakṣinīsādhana). Though such rites are prefigured by techniques found in the Vedas, Epic, and Legal literature--especially those practices labeled sorcery (abhicāra), root-work (mūlakarman), and medicine craft (auṣadhi)--the full bloom of Śaiva magic is found in the tantras. Magic is not to be confused with the perfections (siddhis) displayed by thaumaturges (siddhas) or the yoga powers displayed by perfected strivers (yogīs); magic is the realm of the, often singular, ritual practitioner (sādhaka).
Subject
Religious Group; Indic Buddhist Traditions; Jain Traditions; Hinduism; Indic Religious Traditions
Genre
Other
Type
Text
Language
eng
Date Available
2023-12-08
Provider
Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
Rights
Attribution 4.0 International
DOI
10.14288/1.0438244
URI
http://hdl.handle.net/2429/86922
Affiliation
Non UBC
Citation
Aaron Michael Ullrey. (2017). Śaiva Magic. Database of Religious History, Vancouver, BC: University of British Columbia.
Peer Review Status
Unreviewed
Scholarly Level
Researcher
Rights URI
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Aggregated Source Repository
DSpace

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Rights

Attribution 4.0 International