This volume brings together for the first time writings by artists, magicians, historians and theorists which illuminate the vibrant correspondences between contemporary art and magical consciousness. Dispensing with the simple narratives of re-enchantment, Magic illustrates the intricate ways in which we have to some extent always been captivated by the allure of the numinous, and shows how magical culture's tendencies towards secrecy, occlusion and encryption have provided contemporary artists with strategies of remedial communality, a renewed faith in the invocational power of personal testimony, and a poetics of practice that boldly questions socially sanctioned techniques of medical and psychiatric care.Artists surveyed include Morehshin Allahyari, Sofia Al-Maria, Annie Besant, Elijah Burgher, Ithell Colquhoun, Benedict Drew, David Hammons, Susan Hiller, Travis Jeppesen, Mike Kelley, Mark Leckey, Ana Mendieta, Jeremy Millar, Elizabeth Mputu, Katrina Palmer, Holly Pester, Tabita Rezaire, Austin Osman Spare, Linda Stupart, Jenna Sutela.Writers include Emily LaBarge, Lou Cornum, Erik Davis, Aria Dean, Allan Doyle, Kristen Gallerneaux, Michel Leiris, Esther Leslie, Patricia MacCormack, Alan Moore, Victoria Nelson, Mark Pilkington, Israel Regardie, Jeffrey Sconce, Louis Chude-Sokei, Michael Taussig, Gary Zhexi Zhang, Jackie Wang