Occult is Other: What, Where, Who, Why, How Occultus (the occult), according to Occultus: the hidden and macabre in literature and film, is "that which is hidden, secret, mysterious, inexplicable, magic, alchemy, not readily illuminated and not easily ascertained or understood" (Tobienne, “Occultus” 2). The occult, by nature, is not evil, but its practitioners are imbibed with a certain level of power that the mundane are not afforded, which makes their actions more subject to scrutiny. As Tobienne describes, “there is more to the occult than things that go ‘bump’ in the night” (Occultus, 2). Temptation, manipulation, and rejection of accepted mores are themes that prevail among the practitioners of the occult, simply because the occult itself falls outside the boundaries of society and all of its conventions.
The presence of the occult weaves an intellectual underworld beneath the curtain of the common quotidian dimension. The occult is a mechanism of deceit--therefore, it can only be undone by knowledge. However, this presents a dichotomous conundrum: one may only become a part of the occult by gaining sight of it, but with this knowledge, the occult--that which is secret--becomes a candid facet of one’s reality. The occult, then, must be transitive: unique to every individual and ultimately forever changing as the fabric of their reality metamorphoses. This comprehensive essay seeks to understand the occult as the creator, guardian, and mentor of another realm which exists outside of the physical and spiritual peripheries of the familiar one as well as why it exists and how it is destroyed.
What: The Occult as the Other Definition of What is Known The occult refers to that which is seen but the truth of which is not first known. Images, characters, dialogue, and other facets of film and literature are subject to interpretation. This scrutiny allows viewers and readers to take what is and--under the magnifying glass of an “Initiate” as Robert Steiner describes--unveil the occult within these thought-to-be ordinary or coincidental happenings (The Way of Initiation, II). The Ninth Gate, directed by Roman Polanski, follows Dean Corso (played by Johnny Depp) in his pursuit to authenticate volumes of The Nine Gates of the Kingdom of Shadows under the employ of Devil-book collector Boris Balkan (played by Frank Langella). The plotline of the film deals entirely with Corso being initiated into the world of the occult and in the process, viewers are hit with images and foreshadowing that go unexplained even as Corso himself identifies and interprets the occult as he encounters it, creating a sort of layered effect which resembles the occult itself. These images meant only for the viewer, then, are a part of the “auteur analysis” of the occult which Polanski presents (Tobienne, “Film Theory 2.1”). When owner of the third copy of the Nine Gates Baroness Kessler (played by Barbara Jefford) is killed, Corso flees from the scene after witnessing her dead body. He stumbles into Kessler’s assistant, who holds a bag of fruit within her hand, and three fruits fall to the floor. The significance, however, is not woe over bruised fruit, but that there are three fruit. Three, which is an excessively repeated number throughout the film: three copies of the book; three lettered anagrams within the books; nine engravings, a multiple of three. Even as viewers see this pattern, however, the true occult knowledge about the number three is that it is a clear reference to the Unholy Trinity, or the "unholy parody of the Trinity of God" and even moreso, that it forebodes something evil or malicious (Jameson xxviii).
Dominique Monfery’s animated film Destino and Luis Buñuel and Salvador Dalí’s collaboration, the silent film Un Chien Andalou are both surrealist in nature. Destino depicts the tragic romance of a gypsy-like woman with time or a god-like figure representing time. Un Chien Andalou is the opposite of a rational film; viewers are presented with short sequences of images that are disturbing in nature, but also disturbing in the fact that we have no way of knowing what they mean. The “auteur analysis” of the film is imperative in figuring out its occult undertones, but in true Dali fashion, viewers are left scrabbling for meaning--even if there may not even be one (Tobienne, “Film Theory 2.1”). The styles of the films--style defined as “the way a filmmaker selects and arranges images, together with any accompanying sounds"--aids in creating that imperative layer of normal over the occult (Nichols, 36-27). The silence and lack of dialogue in Un Chien Andalou and Destino respectively only aids in creating the occult.
The different scenes from Un Chien Andalou (the severed hand, the dead donkeys attached to the piano, the strangeness of the armpit hair, etc.) are not inherently connected, but something ties them all together--it is in fact, this incognizance that ties them together (that they are not normally connected). The moments which link these scenes are left completely out: they are examples of "eruptions of unpredictable urges, displays of uncharacteristic attitudes, a lack of moral compass” (Nichols, 193-194).The occult, then, can even be that which is unidentifiable, that which is without interpretation--or that which has meaning that can never truly be conceived for sure, only speculated. In fact, I would argue that the occult is not constant, therefore, no true definition or interpretation can be made from it. Unlike science, which is ruled by law and absolution.
The occult is that which is “not readily illuminated,” but it is also “[paradoxical,] where items hidden are shown or displayed for what they are sans abstract configuration” (Tobienne, “Occultus,” 2). The occult is often presented in a light where people are almost forced to view it through the lens of the normal and interpret it the same way.
The occult is often linked to things like magic and ideas that scientific processes cannot comprehend or deny (Tobienne, “A Magical Identity”). In William Arntz, et al.'s What the Bleep?!: Down the Rabbit Hole, the scientific principle of the subatomic world is presented as the occult, simply because it is not readily understood or accepted. However, this is not the first instance of science as the occult. Principles of alchemy, magic, and miracles have always been linked to science, because science is merely the practice through which those in the normal world attempt to understand the occult without acknowledging the occult or becoming an “Initiate” of it (The Way of Initiation, II). William R. Newman presents that alchemy “[blurs] the boundaries between the artificial and the natural,” which is “so reminiscent of the situation that contemporary bioengineering and synthetic organic chemistry encounter today” (The Artificial and the Natural, 109). In The Position of Magic in Selected Medieval Spanish Texts, miracles are explained as something “achieved by simple faith and devout confidence, not by spells and charms compose[d] according to the rules of criminal superstition" (Tobienne 16-17). Theodore M. Drange, however, interprets miracles as “event which violates at least one law of nature” (“Science and Nature,” 1998). Laws of nature by definition are something that cannot be broken, yet miracles as occult go against this notion, which bridges into our next topic: the occult exists not just as a facet of reality unseen, but as an altogether different reality only known to its practitioners.
Where: The Occult as the Gateway to an Other Reality As is denoted by "The Position of Magic in Selected Medieval Spanish Texts," Samuel M. Waxman accords that the "advantages of receiving knowledge were...that one 'would become omniscient' an attribute that belonged to the Divine Nature" (Tobienne, "Position of Magic," 46). Knowledge is power: this is the most basic principle of the occult.
Diagesis refers to the term in film "used to describe the story world occupied by the characters"; it comes from a "Greek word [meaning] narrative or story" (Nichols, 49). Diagesis is a parallel in film to the concept of the occult which I am attempting to explain. Practitioners of the occult belong to an altogether different sect of reality. Reality here does not refer to the physical world in which we live in--that does not change. The occult exists on a different plane of psychological awareness, that is neither higher or lower than a normal awareness: merely other.
Steiner believes that practitioners have “higher faculties,” which I disagree with, however, he does insist on the existence of “occult schools” where “Masters” give “instruction” of “esoteric science” (The Way of Initiation, II). This is also supposed in The Position of Magic in Selected Medieval Spanish Texts. The University described in the text had both physical and metaphorical connotations. It was a physical gathering space for "learning and translating from Arabic and Hebrew into the Latin" but it was also a mindset "held by the Clergy and those with a like-minded, literate disposition" (Tobienne, “Position of Magic,” 36). These facilities of occult teaching are part of the physical world, but the knowledge which is imparted to their pupils is the occult.
In Roman Polanski’s late 1960s psychological horror film Rosemary’s Baby, Rosemary is drugged and raped by the Devil. However, as Rosemary has yet to be initiated into the occult, to her knowledge, the episode is merely a strange hallucination or dream brought on by the ‘illness’ she felt. Viewers are made aware that the illness is actually due to drugs secretly placed inside of the pudding offered to her by a neighbor. Viewers are also aware of the contents of Rosemary’s hallucination. However, from a normal perspective, this is due to the hallucinogenic nature of the drugs she has ingested. The occult in this case is the knowledge that in spite of the scientific explanation, in spite of the rational explanation, the truth is that the Devil truly manifested and raped Rosemary, even though no proof is ever truly provided (only inferred).
The Ninth Gate presents a similar concept: Corso takes Balkan’s job offer and when unfortunate circumstances begin plaguing his life, he chalks it up to coincidence. In the scene where he confronts Green Eyes (played by Emmanuelle Seigner) about her following him, he asks who she works for or who sent her--paranoia about another competitor attempting to steal the Nine Gates books. Yet, by the end of the film, he realizes that she is no agent of the physical realm, but something rooted in the other.
Interestingly enough, in French filmmaker Jean-Jacques Annaud’s award-winning film The Name of the Rose, the supposition that the occult is secondary explanation is actually inverted, but the effect is still the same.
William of Baskerville (played by Sean Connery), while attempting to uncover the truth surrounding the death of a translator at an Italian abbey, meets with others who insist that the translators death and the ensuing deaths are caused by some sort of occult source. In truth, the deaths are caused by the head monk (played by Feodor Chaliapin, Jr.) at the abbey. Yet, the occult is still present--only not in a mystical fashion; it is the knowledge that the head monk was attempting to press an agenda against laughter by killing those who read a book about comedy. It is the knowledge that the head monk did so by coating the book’s pages with poison--so even if William thoroughly denies the existence of the occult as it is presented, he does end up undertaking the occultus lens by acknowledging both of these things. The occult does not have to be explained in a diagesis that denies the physical limitations of our world.
In Ingmar Bergman’s The Seventh Seal, one of the main characters, Antonius Block (played by Max von Sydow), a knight who fought in the Crusades, sees Death as a black-cloaked man and challenges him to a game of chess. He is the only one to see this man; other characters believe he plays chess against himself. Death is not of the physical world, but of the occult reality, a reality which Antonius has tapped into. The lens of the occult is achieved through acknowledgement of death, something prevalent of the period in which the film is set, but also something everybody turns from. Death is an instrument that binds all humans together--mortality is the base of humanity. Yet, if one cannot escape it, the occult perspective must view it as something other than just inevitable.
In another scene in The Seventh Seal, a woman is condemned to burn at the stake because of her collusions with the Devil. Just as she is about to be burned, she tells Antonius that she has already summoned the Devil, but he cannot see him. This prompts discussion that one’s occult reality must be different to each individual. Antonius sees Death, but not the Devil; his and the woman’s lens are different as if they have different prescriptions.
Even in Un Chien Andalou, structuralism plays a part in cementing this concept of identifying the other world via the occult. "Fragmentation draws attention to the surface of things, but their juxtaposition suggests linkages that are not first apparent" (Nichols, 194). The rapidly changing scenes and images are not, in themselves, the occult, but force viewers to break the barrier of the mundane perspective in order to interpret some sort of underlying message.
The occult must be acknowledged and through acknowledgment, a door to another plane of existence is opened. Yet, it all depends on the individual at hand--their level of understanding depends entirely on their experiences and their willingness to believe.
Who: The Occult as the Mechanism of Finding the Other Self If the occult opens the door to a new reality, it only makes sense that in this new reality, the practitioner is no longer what they used to be. They are new as they step into the framework of their other self, a self every person has the potential of becoming. “In every man there are latent faculties by means of which he can acquire for himself knowledge of the higher worlds” (Steiner, II).
As a student of Dr. Tobienne Francis Jr. Literature and Occult class, I and my fellow pupils can all testify that accepting the existence of the occult and therefore, viewing literature, film, and other things through the occult lens, expands our understanding of the physical world around us. As a student, I was somewhat forced to accept the existence of the occult in order to complete my assignments. However, in most cases, people face extreme psychological and physical challenges before this acceptance comes.
The barriers that prevent one from becoming a practitioner or secret-keeper of the occult are the stigmas of society which hold that what is, must be, preventing people from thinking about the ‘more’ of what could be. Conformity keeps us stagnant, makes sheep out of Man. However, even beyond this stigma to follow the leader, people fear the unknown and are wont to reject things that do not fit into their perfectly sculpted views of reality.
This suspended disbelief is created through trust of the mind--the “seeing is believing” philosophy that dictates most of the world. It is prevalent in films where a character, most probably the main character, go through a transformative journey where they not only learn about the occult surrounding their lives but are changed entirely by it. Steiner claims that one “must begin with a certain fundamental attitude of the soul: the student of Occultism calls it the Path of Devotion, of Veneration. Only he who maintains this attitude can, in Occultism, become a disciple” (The Way of Initiation, II). Films such as Rosemary’s Baby and The Ninth Gate develop this concept rather well.
Rosemary remains ignorantly blissful throughout the first half of Rosemary’s Baby, simply because of her trust in those around her. She and her husband Guy (played by John Cassavettes) make play at a perfect married couple, looking to start their ‘white picket fence and 2.5 kids’ dream. Rosemary, however, is essentially forcibly dragged--or drugged--into the occult world, but through manipulation of practitioners around her, she is kept in the dark to keep her docile and complacent to their plans. Yet, her initiation began the moment she steps foot into the apartment complex; she is given clue after clue but it is her want for things to remain normal and ‘perfect’ that allows her to deny the occult lens.
Once Rosemary figures out the truth, her complacency as a 1960s wife is thrown out the window. She becomes skeptical about every action taken by those around her--skepticism that rings true--and finally solidifies the truth that everyone around her has concealed about her child and what they have done to her. She breaks into the meeting place of the cult group, knife in hand, and discerns that her child is something not of this world because of its eyes.
The scepticism, threat of violence, and unwillingness to be made a fool of any longer are all facets of the ‘her’ unlocked by the occult reality. Her absolute acceptance of this new perspective occurs when she holds her child in the last moments of the film--accepting her child and therefore, accepting the occult as her new truth.
In the case of The Ninth Gate’s Corso, his archetype as a conman makes his mindset more calculative, but no less disbelieving. As events begin to unfold--more than can be chalked up to coincidence--he seeks a mundane explanation for them. However, his dealings with Green Eyes, in essence a “[Master] of the higher knowledge” as described by Steiner, force him to accept the occultus undertones causing these events and unknowingly--to him--driving his actions (The Way of Initiation, II). Corso’s employer, Balkan reveals his intent to summon the Devil via the true engravings within the Nine Kingdoms books. Even though Corso has ample opportunity to get out and leave his investigation, he continues to pursue unraveling the mystery of the books in spite of the dangers involved. This, of course, goes against his nature as someone who puts much (or all) stock on self-preservation. However, it fully evokes his nature as someone willing to go against the normal for self-gain, which had been hinted at with his profession as a conman.
Once Corso accepts the existence of the occult, he gains the knowledge to complete the ritual explained by the books and in-so-doing, gains power only available to those with the occult lens.
Why: The Occult as Other Power There are two segments of power which have to do with the occult. The first is the occult as it has to do with magic and miracula. Morality under the lens of the occult is different. The main practitioners of magic were priests--mainly those who would publicly denounce magic in all its forms, but would actually regularly practice some aspects of it, like necromancy (Tobienne, “A Magical Identity”).
Perhaps the most commonly examined aspect of miracula as defined by the occult is witchcraft. In Rosemary’s Baby, the members of the cult perform a ritual, which is the method by which Rosemary is impregnated by the Devil. Rituals are not unique to practitioners, but their power stems from belief in them--belief and knowledge. One of the rumors Rosemary and Guy hear about their new apartment building involves Adrian Marcato being hunted down for practicing witchcraft and conjuring the Devil. Something almost exactly paralleled in The Seventh Seal.
Minnie Castevet (played by Ruth Gordon), Rosemary’s neighbor and wife to the cult leader, gives her a necklace filled with ‘Tannis Root,’ which Rosemary’s discovers on her occult-learning journey as actually being a fungus called “Devil’s Pepper.” The fungus is an example of “contagious magic,” which is “evil magic [transferred] to a person by contact with an unclean or somehow poisoned object” (Tobienne, “Occultus,” 134). The fungus itself might be scientifically explained as a hallucinogenic or something which affects cognition, which could be the cause for Rosemary’s docility and delirium. However, the occult knowledge of its effects makes it a dangerous medium.
In The Ninth Gate, contagious magic takes form when all the owners of the Nine Gates books are killed because of their association with them. The books are not the physical harbingers of death--no, the owners are killed by human enemies--but they are the causality.
An additional type of witchcraft prevalent in films and literature is the use of the “The Evil Eye,” which requires no “direct contact nor complicated rituals” and can result in injuries to a person because of “evil words or feelings” (Tobienne, “Occultus,” 140). In Rosemary’s Baby, Guy obtains the success he desires by receiving the lead part in a play, a lead part only bestowed to him--the understudy--after the original actor suddenly and miraculously goes blind.
In The Name of the Rose, the head monk poisons the pages of the book about comedy, which is the cause of the deaths of the monks in the abbey. The signs of the poison manifest themselves in black colorations on the fingers and tongues of the deceased--signs that one might attribute to a festering of the soul or something equally as condemning by virtue of religion.
Black Magic refers to those powers belonging to the "demonic" realm, steeped in "dark[ness]" and "blackened spirits." White Magic, its antithesis, is steeped in light and "stems from God and the agents of the Divine," which is entirely due to the fact that the Church was its major supporter and perpetrator (Tobienne, “Position of Magic,” 6). Explanation of magic were often linked to the Church, which was very purposeful. Even “demonic magic,” is defined as “not distinct from religion, but rather a perversion of religion” (Tobienne, “Position of Magic,” 8). The Church has always and perhaps will always hold a modicum of power over the population of the world--people believe and their belief paves the way for the Church to manipulate the physical world from within the occult reality. St. Augustine, as explained by Tobienne, stated that miracles are acts "achieved by simple faith and devout confidence" rather than any magical or superstitious craft, pressing the Church’s agenda (Tobienne, “Position of Magic,” 16-17).
The Church and other sects of society rewrite and define what the occult is--often derailing others from ascertaining the truth of it. “Language authorizes [belief]” in this sense (Tobienne, “Position of Magic,” 4). This gives them power over those without the occult lens, but also guards the existence of the occult. Practitioners, therefore, are automatically given power by enacting their roles as secret-keepers, which makes sense: secrets only have power over others when they are kept.
The second segment of power is manipulation and temptation over the occult. Over the course of history, the Church has manipulated how people view the occult so that they may never truly See it. Outside of the Church, political sorcery has created a catalyst for political upheaval and/or change within the royal arena, meaning mainly within the "context of royal, princely, episcopal and papal courts" where the members "contented for access to power, wealth and security” (Peters, 218). Within ecclesiastical courts, indicators of the occult or even just manipulation of the facts to make matters look like the occult, which could be used to oust or further manipulate the political arena (Peters, 218-219).
In The Ninth Gate, Balkan manipulates Corso to go on the quest of authentication with money by questioning Corso’s ability as a book connoisseur and conman. However, when Corso’s friend dies in a suspicious manner after Corso entrusts him with Balkan’s copy of the Nine Gates book, Corso attempts to disband their contract. Balkan threatens Corso in order to make Corso continue his search for answers.
The entire premise of Rosemary’s Baby evolves through the manipulation of Rosemary’s trust from those around her. Guy as her husband coerces her into ingesting the drugged pudding preceding her ritualistic rape. Rosemary’s obstetrician Dr. Sapirstein (played by Ralph Bellamy) manipulates her knowledge about pregnancy in order for her to not complain or suspect anything wrong with her child as she experiences debilitating pain.
On the other hand, temptation is also one of the occult’s sources of power. While manipulation might barr others from obtaining knowledge of the occult, temptation acts in the opposite manner.
Humans are tempted by things that they covet. Guy, while at first finding the rumors of the occult about his and Rosemary’s new apartment complex trivial and comedic, quickly falls into temptation with promises off-screen of success; success which is delivered promptly after her does as the cult bids, even though it is at the expense of his wife.
The woman depicted in Destino dances with whimsy as she falls in love with the god of time or some other equivalent. The temptation of being together only provokes pain and heartache for both the woman and time god. The god is shown being pulled back to the statue on which he had been erected, which can be interpreted as the god being bound by his duties even though he wishes to be with the woman. This theme of temptation is at the center of the occult within the short film, but it also alludes to the possibility that the woman, who loves and sees a god of time (something which the mundane world would not be able to), was shown the occult via temptation.
Women are often relegated to roles of temptation within occult films--taking on witch roles or being imbibed with both true magic and mental power. In The Ninth Gate, Green Eyes, a witch or otherwise, provokes Corso into completing the ritual of summoning the Devil under the guise of aiding him--this could also be a form of manipulation. She uses her sexuality to fully induce Corso into the occult reality and only after they have intercourse does Corso obtain knowledge about the final engraving being a fake, which had previously lead to Balkan’s demise.
Miracula, manipulation, and temptation are all powers of the occult and its practitioners. However, at the same time, once knowledge of the occult is endowed, the occult is undone, creating a paradox.
How: The Occult as a Self-Destroyer I have already acknowledged that knowledge gives power to the occult. However, at the same time, knowledge is its greatest enemy. If the occult by definition is that which is “hidden,” but only by knowledge of its existence can one grasp its existence, how then do we arbitrate this anomaly of function?
As soon as one slips on the lens to view the occult reality, the occult becomes known and is therefore unmade. Yet, this is only one transitive interpretation. The occult as they have been exposed has been unmade and in this they have formulated their own interpretation. However, the function of reality is that it changes based on the individual’s personality, experiences and psyche--so too must the occult change.
In Rosemary’s Baby, Rosemary interprets clues left to her by Hutch (played by Maurice Evans), which includes a book, leading her to uncover the truth behind Roman Castevet’s name being an anagram for Adrian Marcato, the witch. As Rosemary uncovers the truth behind other hidden clues and events, they remain a facet of the occult, until she fully proves they are real at the end of the film. Now, they are simply aspects of her known reality.
This happening is reflected in all other instances of characters encountering or uncovering the occult, including The Name of the Rose, The Ninth Gate, The Seventh Seal, and other films and readings, either from within the plot lines themselves or from viewers outside of the screen in the case of Destino and Un Chien Andalou. These occult realities are vastly different from one another. In The Ninth Gate and Rosemary’s Baby, the Devil can be invoked through ritual. In The Seventh Seal, Death is a humanoid figure who enjoys playing chess. In The Name of the Rose, the supranatural is merely a front to uncover the true occult, which is that a human is responsible for the supposed magical happenings. In all cases, the realities form through a unique set of experiences by the characters and interpretations by the authors or filmmakers.
From outside the screen, every viewer takes something different away from the film or from any occult text. Their occult reality is also shaped by their experiences, their personality, their willingness to belief in the other.
So while Tobienne reflects that “a theory of occult must include that at the precise moment of its existence it is equally being destroyed,” I will further say that only some aspects of the occult reality are destroyed (“Occultus,” 204). Infinite interpretations and infinite hidden nuances allow the occult to perpetually exist but also continually change.
Conclusion: So? “The occult is” (Tobienne, “Occultus,” 205). If one puts on the lens of the occult reality, the occult is unmade but also somehow strengthened and the wearer of the lens is both an aid and an enemy of the occult. There is no definitive definition or explanation of the occult; it is continuous. All we can do is conjecture, but conjecture scholastically.
The fact is that we are all right and wrong--but if we are right, we will never know.
Works Cited
Annaud, Jean-Jacques, director. The Name of the Rose. Twentieth Century Fox, 1986.
Arntz, William, et al. What the Bleep!?: Down the Rabbit Hole. Captured Light, 2006.
Bergman, Ingmar, director. The Seventh Seal. Svensk Filmindustri, 1957.
Bunuel, Luis and Salvador Dali, directors. Un Chien Andalou. 1929.
Drange, Theodore M. “Science and Miracles.” The Secular Web: A drop of reason in a pool of confusion. 1998, https://infidels.org/library/modern/theodore_drange/miracles.html. Accessed 7 December 2017.
Jameson, Scott Lanier. The Tree of Life. Xulon Press, 2005.
Monfery, Dominique, director. Destino. The Walt Disney Company, 2003.
Newman, William R. The Artificial and the Natural. MIT Press, 2007.
Nichols, Bill. Engaging Cinema. W. W. Norton & Company, Inc, 2010.
Peters, Edward. “Political Sorcery at the Turn of the Fourteenth Century.” Witchcraft and Magic in Europe: The Middle Ages. University of Pennsylvania Press, 2002.
Polanski, Roman, director. The Ninth Gate. Lionsgate, 1999.
Polanski, Roman, director. Rosemary’s Baby. Paramount Picture, 1968.
Steiner, Rudolf. “How to Attain Knowledge of the Higher Worlds.” The Way of Initiation. Harper & Row, 1960.
Tobienne Jr., Francis. "A Magical Identity." Literature and the Occult, Day 1, 21 august 2017. Video lecture.
Tobienne Jr. , Francis. "Film Theory 2.1." Literature and the Occult, Day, 11 September 2017. Video Lecture.
Tobienne Jr., Francis. Occultus: the hidden and macabre in literature and film. Cognella Academic Publishing, 2016.
Tobienne Jr., Francis. The Position of Magic in Selected Medieval Spanish Texts. Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2008.