Esotericism and Magic
Further information: Diabolical signatureThe word in Renaissance magic came to refer to any astrological, cabbalistic or magical sign or symbol. Related is the Sacramental character of Catholic doctrine. Famously, John Dee designed his Monas Hieroglyphica in 1564.
In the 19th century, this sense of the word appears mainly in Romantic poetry, such as Sir Walter Scott's Lay of the last minstrel (1805), where "A hallow'd taper shed a glimmering light / On mystic implements of magic might; On cross, and character, and talisman," (6.17).
Read more about this topic: Character (symbol)
Famous quotes containing the word magic:
“Oh, what a catastrophe for man when he cut himself off from the rhythm of the year, from his unison with the sun and the earth. Oh, what a catastrophe, what a maiming of love when it was a personal, merely personal feeling, taken away from the rising and the setting of the sun, and cut off from the magic connection of the solstice and the equinox!”
—D.H. (David Herbert)