After Magic - Moves Beyond Super-Nature, From Batman to Shakespeare

by Kester Brewin

Magic, super-powers, contact with the beyond - digging down beneath these stories uncovers an extraordinary pattern: it is only in the renunciation of such ‘potent arts’ that a hero’s true humanity is revealed.
Journeying from Shakespeare’s plays through novels and films and deep into the human condition, After Magic presents a startling challenge to a world still tied up with toxic religion to discover what lies in a life lived beyond the infinite demand of ‘super-nature.’

80 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 12, 2013

Reviews

[Chris Nelson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book by a favorite author. Kester (ironically my phone wants to autocorrect to Jester) makes wonderful cross-disciplinary connections and challenges the reader.

[Jan Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun & light read. I love the creativity in the way he argues, through literary analysis and pop culture. He seems to try to get somewhere but never arrive, but still accomplishing some fun thoughts. His suggestion for moving the church / Christianity forward seems too simplistic and although worth exploring, seems not sustainable in the long run.

[Austin Sill · Rating 4 out of 5]

A radical little work of pyro-theology. Some extremely insightful points here, but I am not sure if the work crescendos into a productive new philosophical/theological way of thinking. Faith "after-magic" is indeed a riveting and deeply provocative idea... Even profound. But I feel the author, to some extent, went a step too far... In his attempt to create a new, wholesome grey area he verged too far into black and whites. (Spoilers ahead). I don't think theoretical rejection of God as external is necessary to live in a faith, or in a community "after-magic"-- a community concerned wholly with what Kierkegaard would call "divine love".

I really appreciate the depth of the paradox created here, and the awareness common delusions we create in our religious and political practices. Moreover, Brewin's use of psychoanalytic theory to deconstruct our interaction with Super-Powers is on point. But again, the work peaks into something which is too utilitarian... Too much of a solution, as it were, to the issue of faith in convergence with religion/human nature. I think the happening of Christ is an event which we must constantly work though in fear and trembling, and Brewin offers too simple a solution in the face of said conflict. To merely reject God as the external other in order to love more wholly and fully as Christ's resurrected body is an interesting paradox, yet far too pragmatic a solution.

Worthwhile read overall. Definitely will stir up conversation and conflict. I think there are seeds here for something bigger, but this work does not offer the last word by any means...

[Curtis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very much enjoyed the exploration of the different works but didn't really connect with the application to Christ. I see a different Christianity than the one the author is engaging with. I am left wondering what he thinks of the Spirit being sent after the Ascension and what form Christianity ought to take as a result.

[Chris Enstad · Rating 5 out of 5]

An utterly amazing survey of magic in the poetic imagination of humanity... and how this can help us interpret the Eucharist in a dynamic, life-giving way for the church. Well worth the read.