A Case of Clerical Magic Involving Treasure Hunting from 1880: An English Translation from the Acta Sanctae Sedis.

The old volumes of the Acta Sanctae Sedis , the official journal of the Holy See, contain a largely unexplored trove of riches for historians of religions and ideas to explore. This article unearths from this source a report from 1880 on an episode of magical treasure hunting involving a priest. The episode very probably took place in Italy, likely in Sardinia. The report is interesting in that it attests to the persistence of this form of magic in an unusually late period: the latter part of the nineteenth century. The case serves to increase our stock of evidence regarding the Euro-American cultural practice of magical treasure hunting, as well as shedding significant light on a number of aspects of life in the community in which it arose. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]