By: GABRIELE BUX
Italy is a country where the interest in the occult and magic is both culturally rooted and commercially widespread. This article highlights the main dynamics of esoteric market focusing on so-called occult workers or esoteric professionals. We will argue that 1) esoteric pratices are used by individuals as tools to control consumeristic processes; 2) esoteric activities become objects of consumption, thereby reinforcing the very logics of commodification they seek to transcend. These arguments display that today magic constitutes a private sacral dimension where consumers can reaffirm their identities through consumerism which, paradoxically, is simultaneously perceived as a threat.
