low magic
Many years ago, I read some works by Luís da Câmara Cascudo, which deeply impacted me—perhaps not because of the academic content itself, but because of the parallel reflection that naturally arises when reading great authors: how interesting this author's way of life must have been.
In the folklorist’s view, everything carried an ancestral meaning, passed down from generation to generation. A mirror: a portal. A handshake: a complex and ancient code. It was as if everything became mandinga—folk magic, charm, enchantment.
If the writer and occultist Alan Moore sees magic in the transformative power of writing, Câmara Cascudo went even further: any knot, any figa amulet, any evil eye, any vowel, could be seen as the product of the highest form of popular magic.
I recommend reading Luís da Câmara Cascudo to anyone who wants to become enchanted by the world.