Shimmering Magic: Cross-cultural Explorations of the Aesthetic, Moral, and Mystical Significance of Reflecting and Deflecting Shine

Abstract

This introduction lays basic theoretical groundwork that helps tie together these different articles on ritual uses of shimmer. Contributors examine not only how contemporary technologies of mass production (tinfoil, plastic sequins) and reproduction (photographs) have entered both iconoclast and iconophile ritual and popular culture spheres; they also illustrate how metaphoric and metonymic forms of agency and presence are attributed to shimmering properties and substances. Contributors have a common purpose in probing the limit of common sense assumptions about the agency of shine as presencing (rather than just representing) the divine.