Deals with the Devil

Chris Hill examines how the long history of Faustian pacts in the arts reflects our never-ending love of transgressive tales

Devil’s Contract The History of the Faustian Bargain Ed Simon Melville House UK 2024 Hb, 272pp, £25, ISBN 9781685891046 At the heart of Ed Simon’s book is a sad truth; we are a desultory species and one quite prepared to trade our humanity for profit and self-extinction. His investigation into this very human desire follows a historical, literary, and artistic trajectory and explores the cultural universalism of dealing with the Devil. Starting with Simon Magus, a legendary character known only through sparse scriptural references and the Gnostic text, the Testimony of Truth, Simon identifies the primary source of later Faustian narratives. The archetypal magician, Simon Magus, in his quest to conquer nature entered into contractual agreement with supernatural agencies in full knowledge that the cost of his vanity might well…

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Fortean Times (Digital) - 1 Issue, 449

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