Anthropology's long and complex relationship to magic has been strongly influenced by western science and notions of rationality. This book takes a refreshing new look at modern magic as practised by contemporary Pagans in Britain. It focuses on what Pagans see as the essence of magic - a communication with an otherworldly reality. Examining issues of identity, gender and morality, the author argues that the otherworld forms a central defining characteristic of magical practice.

Integrating an experiential ethnographic approach with an analysis of magic, this book asks penetrating questions about the nature of otherworldly knowledge and argues that our scientific frameworks need re-envisioning. It is unique in providing an insider's view of how magic is practised in contemporary western culture.

Dr. Susan Greenwood has a BA and PhD degrees in anthropology and teaches undergraduate courses on shamanism and altered states of consciousness at the University of Sussex, UK. She has written widely on magic, taking a critically sympathetic approach to issues of identity, gender, feminism, morality and the environment. She is the author of Magic, Witchcraft and the Otherworld (Berg, 2000), The Encyclopedia of Magic and Witchcraft (Lorenz, 2001), and The Nature of Magic: An Anthropology of Consciousness (Berg, 2005).