Disenchanted Rituals. Traces of the Curse Tablets and Their Function in the Revelation of John

• Applicant: Dr. Michael Hölscher
• Subject Area: Roman Catholic Theology
• Term: since 2021
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 458878862

The Revelation of John (Rev) reads like a competition between God and ungodly powers, between right and wrong religious practice. Both sides engage in a battle with all available means. On the narrative stage, this battle is mirrored in narrative techniques reminiscent of ancient binding spells: The God of the Revelation can “bind” and “loose” Satan, even hide him underground like a magic doll (Rev 20:3). The whore of Babylon – symbolized by a large stone – is to be sunk ritually into the sea (Rev 18:21–22). On both the divine and the ungodly side, the inscribing and marking of bodies can be seen as ritually binding, and thus as a way of exercising power, as it is typical of binding spells: The mark of the beast (Rev 13:16) is contrasted with the “seal of the living God” (Rev 7:2–3) as an powerful sign. Ancient readers or listeners of the Rev were able to associate entire passages of the text or even single terms or motifs with these binding spells, which have been documented in the archive of the so-called “curse tablets” (defixiones). The tablets, that are mainly found in the form ofinscribed lead lamellae, are documented from Roman Britain to Egypt. In antiquity, these tablets were officially regarded as black magic and such practices of black magic have always been prohibited in Roman law. Strikingly enough, the Rev rejects any form of magic. The corresponding word field of sorcery (Rev 18:23) or sorcerer (Rev 9:21; 21:8; 22:15) has a negative connotation throughout the Revelation. The main question that is to be addressed in this project is as follows. How can the overlaps between the Rev and the defixiones in connection with their ritual contexts be interpreted, considering that magic is clearly marked negatively in the Rev? The texts in the Rev, which are distinctly overlapping with the rituals of the defixio, will be interpreted against the background of the ancient discourse on magic and religion. Within this scope of discourse, it will finally become plausible why certain aspects of the defixio are adopted productively and – in a disenchanted way – emphasize specific features, while the opposing side is being demonized along with its religious practices and thus receives the label “magic”. The discourse on rituals, both permitted and forbidden ones, seems to function as a cultural resource in the Rev, with the help of which the addressees of the Revelation could interpret their situation and cope with it. The project thus investigates constructions of identity, processes of segregation, and strategies of crisis management of an early Christian group in Asia Minor in the 1st century A.D., which are reflected in a particularly puzzling biblical book, to which the material of the curse tablets provides a new key.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants