Magic vs. enchantment

This paper draws on a distinction by J. R. R. Tolkien between Magic (an exercise of the will to change something in the world) and Enchantment (the creation of and entering into a secondary world). After elaborating this contrast and some of its consequences—one of which is to illuminate the common ground between science and what is usually thought of as magic, as distinct (in both cases) from art—I suggest some complications and refinements, including a third category, Glamour. I then discuss contemporary modernist magic, including Weberian ‘disenchantment’ which, 1 argue, is actually central to the triumph of the former. One consequence of that triumph is to place an historically unique emphasis upon enchantment as a source of resistance and possibly re‐enchantment. I then take a closer look at wonder, as the hallmark of enchantment, and at the special relationship between wonder and nature, before concluding with some suggestions for how to recognise genuine contemporary re‐enchantment.