Archives of the Impossible conference | Flash Talk: Bernd-Christian Otto

Bernd-Christian Otto, a scholar of religion at the Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU), Germany, presented a talk titled "A Practice of the Impossible? Pondering the Peculiarities of Modern Sigil Magick" as part of "Archives of the Impossible: Transnationalism, Transdisciplinarity, Transcendence." The May 11-13, 2023 international conference at Rice University featured speakers and panelists who set out to demystify the paranormal through their research and experiences regarding metaphysics, UFOs and much more.

Otto's research focuses on magic and esotericism, where he combines different methodologies such as conceptual history, discourse analysis, social theory and ritual studies. He has a broad expertise in the history of “Western learned magic,” and is, since a few years, particularly interested in its modern and contemporary manifestations ("magick"). Otto is co-founder and one of the research coordinators of the Center for Advanced Studies — Alternative Rationalities and Esoteric Practices from a Global Perspective — at FAU; he is a board member of the European Society for the Study of Western Esotericism; and he is the scientific director of the Research Network for the Study of Esoteric Practices (RENSEP).

His book publications include "Defining Magic: A Reader" (Routledge 2013), co-edited with Michael Stausberg; the duograph "Magical Manuscripts in Early Modern Europe: The Clandestine Trade in Illegal Book Collections" (Palgrave MacMillan 2017), co-authored with Daniel Bellingradt; and the anthology "Fictional Practice: Magic, Narration and the Power of Imagination" (Brill 2021), co-edited with Dirk Johannsen.

Learn more about the Archives of the Impossible:
https://impossiblearchives.rice.edu