In classical Greece, as well as in the Roman Empire, divination was regarded as a beneficial activity, if sanctioned by religious officials for the public good (e.g.
Coy traces the history of divination back to ancient Egypt and Greece. The first chapter provides an overview of historical attitudes toward divination. According to Coy, "the persistence of divination demonstrates the Protestant Reformation's failure to amend attitudes toward magic in the face of popular opposition, an opposition rooted in vibrant folk culture that sustained magical belief" (6).Ĭoy's work is divided into six chapters with an introduction and a conclusion. Coy argues that such a simplified and almost teleological understanding of the early modern period cannot account for the reports of divinatory practices that enjoyed great popularity among the elites and simple folk well into the eighteenth century. In his 2020 book, The Devil's Art: Divination and Discipline in Early Modern Germany, Jason Coy takes an in-depth look at the topic of divination and soothsaying in early modern Thuringia, "a microcosm of the Holy Roman Empire itself." With the help of this research, Coy attempts to defy the Weberian idea of disenchantment, which links the Reformation with the rationalization of human thought and gradual disappearance of magical beliefs.
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