The End(s) of Time(s): Apocalypticism, Messianism, and Utopianism through the Ages ed. by Hans-Christian Lehner (review)

with close attention to ancient sources, and although the answers are ultimately unknowable their investigation is important. The book’s throughlines are: first, the use and manipulation of scent in ancient magical rituals; and, secondly, the ways in which scent’s physical characteristics make it a useful mental model for the physical operation of magic. The question is posted as to how scent can be knowable and understandable, and can yet, at times, simultaneously avoid clear definition and description. Ager comments on how, in a magical context, “scent becomes a nonverbal technique similar to Tambiah’s idea of persuasive analogy” (27). An important consideration in this regard is the invasive nature of scent: it is invisible and does not really have a physical reality and yet it penetrates private spaces as well as the body and causes an effect (and an affect). This idea is particularly drawn out in sections which focus on the use of scent by witches and women more generally. On the other hand, the analysis of the second relationship between scent and magic, that of the “mental model,” could have been explored in much greater depth, though it remains an interesting theoretical contribution. Given the chronological and geographical scope of the work and the variety of topics covered, more time could have been taken in drawing together overall conclusions. There are, however, good concluding discussions at the end of each constituent chapter.