The prime focus of this dissertation is the relationship between natural philosophy, magic and religion. This is studied through an emphasis on ritual and ritualising practices centred on predicting and causing effect through ritual action. A focus therefore follows on astrological, healing and Christian practices, studied through almanacks and healing texts. The analysis is limited geographically to Denmark, and more specifically to Copenhagen and Scania. Conclusions drawn include the need to emphasise a continuity in ideas throughout the early modern period. This is demonstrated by showing a gradual shift in ritualised practices from the catholic era to and throughout the protestant era during the 1500s. Furthermore, astrologyis seen as an important ritualised practice that spans the spheres of both natural philosophy, magic and religion. Astrology as a ritualised practice is also shown to have been used foracademic, theological and agricultural purposes. The ritualised astrological practices within these spheres are confirmed to vary in execution but also show many similarities in regards to underlying ideas. Such ideas include sympathetic links between nature and the body and between the celestial spheres and earth. Christian ideas are also demonstrated to permeate ritual practices in the astrological, magical and medicinal fields. Re-ritualisation of healing and astrological practices are also concluded to have been used as a tool for implementing reformation ideals

Studien handlar om vikingatida kvinnogravar från Aska, Hagebyhöga och Kvarnbacken, Vadstena. Syftet med studien är att tolka variationen av religiösa föremål i båda gravarna. Gravarnas konstruktion, innehåll och religiösa föremål jämförs i syfte att analysera om det finns likheter och skillnader, tillsammans med en teoretisk utgångspunkt i rituell praktik och genusperspektiv. Endast en grav från vardera undersökta kontexter i Aska, Hagebyhöga och Kvarnbacken, Vadstena analyseras eftersom deras religiösa föremål är mer jämförbara i denna studie. Tidigare forskning och tolkningar tillämpas för ett bredare perspektiv i variationen av religiösa föremål. Jämförelser visar likheter i gravskick och föremål som exempelvis uppsättning pärlor. Skillnader är bland annat Frejasmycket och järnstaven från graven i Aska, Hagebyhöga. I Kvarnbacken, Vadstena är krucifixet särskiljande. Variation i religiösa föremål kan tolkas som en typ av förändring i rituell praktik i Kvarnbacken, Vadstena. Religiösa föremål i Aska, Hagebyhöga tolkas ha en generationsbunden betydelse men eftersom de begravs kan det tolkas som ett avslut på äldre traditioner för kommande generationer. / This thesis concern Viking Age burials from Aska, Hagebyhöga and Kvarnbacken, Vadstena. The goal of this thesis is to interpret the variety of religious objects in the graves. The formation of the grave, its content and the religious objects is compared based on the idea of ritual practice and gender perspective. The comparison is made to analyse differences and similarities which will be interpreted. The material consist of one Viking Age female burial from each place, based on the amount of religious objects and the contemporary dating of the graves. Previous research is applied to create a wider interpretive perspective on the variety of religious objects. Comparisons show, for example, that both graves contain a collection of beads. Distinctions is, for example, the Freja pendant and the iron rod in the burial from Aska, Hagebyhöga and the crucifix from Kvarnbacken, Vadstena. The variety of religious objects can be interpreted as a form of change in ritual practice from Kvarnbacken, Vadstena. The religious objects from Aska, Hagebyhöga can be interpreted as bounded by family traditions, which could indicate an end of older traditions, based on the fact that these objects is buried.