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Magic (paranormal)
Magic or sorcery is the use of rituals, symbols, actions, gestures, and language with the aim of utilizing supernatural
forces.[1][2]:67[3][4]:24 The term magic has a variety of meanings, and there is no widely agreed upon definition of what
it is or how it can be used.

Religious scholars have defined magic in different ways. One approach, associated with the anthropologists Edward
Tylor and James G. Frazer, suggests that magic and science are opposites. An alternative approach, associated with the
sociologists Marcel Mauss and Emile Durkheim argues that magic takes place in private, while religion is a communal
and organised activity.

The term magic comes from the Old Persian magu, a word that applied to a form of religious functionary about which
little is known. During the late sixth and early fifth centuries BCE, this term was adopted into Ancient Greek, where it
was used with negative connotations, to apply to religious rites that were regarded as fraudulent, unconventional, and
dangerous. This meaning of the term was then adopted by Latin in the first century BCE. The concept was then
incorporated into Christian theology during the first century CE, where magic was associated with demons and thus
defined against religion. This concept was pervasive throughout the Middle Ages, although in the early modern period
Italian humanists reinterpreted the term in a positive sense to establish the idea of natural magic. Both negative and
positive understandings of the term were retained in Western culture over the following centuries, with the former
largely influencing early academic usages of the word.

Throughout history, there have been examples of individuals who practiced magic and referred to themselves as
magicians. This trend has proliferated in the modern period, with a growing number of magicians appearing within
the esoteric milieu. British esotericist Aleister Crowley described magic as the art of effecting change in accordance
with will.

Contents
1 Definition
1.1 Intellectualist approach
1.2 Functionalist approach
2 Etymology and conceptual development
2.1 Ancient and medieval world
2.2 Modern world
3 Common features of magical practice
3.1 Rituals
3.2 Magical symbols
3.2.1 Principle of similarity
3.2.2 Principle of contagion
3.3 Magical language
3.4 Magicians
3.5 Witchcraft
4 Theories
4.1 Anthropological and psychological origins
4.1.1 Psychological theories of magic
4.2 Theories on the relationship of magic, science, art, and religion
4.2.1 S. J. Tambiah
4.2.2 Bronisaw Malinowski
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4.2.3 Robin Horton

5 History
5.1 Classical antiquity
5.2 Middle Ages
5.3 Renaissance
5.4 Modernity
6 Modern Western magic
7 See also
8 References
8.1 Sources
9 External links

Definition
Just as they have failed to agree on a definition of
religion, scholars have failed to agree on a "Magic has often been dismissed as either primitive and
irrational and therefore alien to modern society, as
definition of magic.[6] The subject has been one of inherently opposed to the Judeo-Christian traditions of
intense dispute, with some scholars criticizing the the West, or as incompatible with religion in general.
validity of the term in the first place.[6] Even among These antipathetic sentiments are deeply embedded in
Western culture, and the term magic has typically been
those throughout history who have described
used to describe non-mainstream beliefs and practices
themselves as magicians, scholars argue that has non-Christians, heretics, non-Westerners,
been no common understanding of what magic indigenous, ancient or 'primitive' cultures any that
might be considered 'Other.' The image of magic as
is.[7]
inherently linked with the Other has functioned as an
important factor in the construction of the self-identity
There has been some debate among scholars as to of Western culture, for by defining magic as something
whether to use the term magic at all. The scholar of alien, exotic, primitive, evil, deviant or even ridiculous,
religion Jonathan Z. Smith for example argued that our society also makes a tacit statement as to its self-
perceptions."
it had no utility as an etic term that scholars should
Historian of religion Henrik Bogdan[5]:2
use.[8] Religious historian Wouter Hanegraaff
agreed, stating that "the term magic is an
important object of historical research, but not intended for doing research."[9] The scholars of religion Berndt-
Christian Otto and Michael Stausberg suggested that it would be perfectly possible for scholars to talk about amulets,
curses, healing procedures and other components often regarded as magical in Western culture without any recourse
to the concept of magic itself.[10] Since the 1990s its usage among scholars has declined.[8]

Within Western culture, magic has been linked to the idea of the Other.[5]:2 Using the term magic when discussing
non-Western cultures or pre-modern forms of Western society raises problems, as it may impose Western categories
that are alien to them.[11] Alternately, this term implies that all categories of magic are ethnocentric and that such
Western preconceptions are an unavoidable component of scholarly research.[11]

Magic is one of the most heavily theorized concepts in the study of religion.[12] Many different definitions of magic
have been offered by scholars, although according to the historian of religion Wouter Hanegraaff these can be
understood as variations of a small number of heavily influential theories.[12]

Intellectualist approach
The intellectualist approach to defining magic is associated with two prominent British anthropologists, Edward Tylor
and James G. Frazer.[13] This was an approach that viewed magic as being the theoretical opposite of science,[14] which
came to preoccupy much anthropological thought on the subject.[15]

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In his 1871 book Primitive Culture, Tylor characterized

magic as beliefs based on "the error of mistaking ideal
analogy for real analogy".[16] In Tylor's view, "primitive
man, having come to associate in thought those things
which he found by experience to be connected in fact,
proceeded erroneously to invert this action, and to
conclude that association in thought must involve
similar connection in reality. He thus attempted to
discover, to foretell, and to cause events by means of
processes which we can now see to have only an ideal
significance".[17]
Tylor and Frazer, the primary anthropologists
Tylor's ideas were adopted and simplified by Frazer.[17] associated with the intellectualist interpretation of
He used the term magic to mean sympathetic magic, magic.
describing it as a practice relying on the magician's
belief "that things act on each other at a distance
through a secret sympathy", something which he described as "an invisible ether".[17] He further divided this magic
into two forms, the "homeopathic (imitative, mimetic)" and the "contagious".[17][18] Frazer characterized a belief in
magic as a major stage in humanity's cultural development, describing it as part of a tripartite division in which magic
came first, religion came second, and eventually "science" came third.[17]

Others, such as N. W. Thomas[19] and Sigmund Freud have rejected this explanation. Freud explains that "the
associated theory of magic merely explains the paths along which magic proceeds; it does not explain its true essence,
namely the misunderstanding which leads it to replace the laws of nature by psychological ones".[20]:83 Freud
emphasizes that what led primitive men to come up with magic is the power of wishes: "His wishes are accompanied
by a motor impulse, the will, which is later destined to alter the whole face of the earth in order to satisfy his wishes.
This motor impulse is at first employed to give a representation of the satisfying situation in such a way that it
becomes possible to experience the satisfaction by means of what might be described as motor hallucinations. This
kind of representation of a satisfied wish is quite comparable to children's play, which succeeds their earlier purely
sensory technique of satisfaction. [...] As time goes on, the psychological accent shifts from the motives for the magical
act on to the measures by which it is carried outthat is, on to the act itself. [...] It thus comes to appear as though it is
the magical act itself which, owing to its similarity with the desired result, alone determines the occurrence of that
result."[20]:84

Functionalist approach
The functionalist approach to defining magic is associated with the French sociologists Marcel Mauss and Emile
Durkheim.[21] In this approach, magic is understood as being the theoretical opposite of religion.[22]

Mauss used the term magic in reference to "any rite that is not part of an organized cult: a rite that is private, secret,
mysterious, and ultimately tending towards one that is forbidden".[21] Therefore, Mauss deliberately rejected the
intellectualist approach promoted by Frazer, believing that it was inappropriate to restrict the term magic to
sympathetic magic, as Frazer had done.[17] By saying that magic was inherently non-social, Mauss had been influenced
by the traditional Christian understandings of the concept.[23] Mauss' ideas were adopted by Durkheim in his 1912
book Formes lmentaires de la vie religieuse. (Elementary Forms of Religious Life)[17] Durkheim described magic as
being inherently anti-social, existing in contrast to what he referred to as a "Church," the religious beliefs shared by a
social group; in his words, "There is no Church of magic."[22] Durkheim also expressed the view that "there is
something inherently anti-religious about the maneuvers of the magician".[22]

Scholars have criticized the idea that magic can be differentiated from religion into two separate categories.[24]
Nevertheless, this distinction is still often made by scholars discussing this topic.[24]

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Etymology and conceptual development

Ancient and medieval world

The etymology of the term magic can be traced back to the ancient language of Old
Persian, which used the term magu, rendered as magu (magician) and mgoi
(magicians).[25] The etymology of this particular Persian term is unclear,[26] although it
appeared to refer to some form of religious functionary.[27] A number of ancient Greek
authors discussed these Persian mgoi in their works. Among those to do so was the
historian Herodotus, who claimed that the mgoi were one of seven Median tribes and
that they served as functionaries at the court of the Achaemenid Empire, where they
acted as advisers to the king.[26] According to Herotodus, these Persian mgoi were
also in charge of various religious rites, namely sacrifices and the interpretation of
dreams.[26]

During the late sixth and early fifth centuries BCE, the Persian magu was Graecicized
One of the earliest
and introduced into the ancient Greek language as and .[26] In doing so it
surviving accounts of
underwent a transformation of meaning, gaining negative connotations, with the the Persian mgoi was
magos being regarded as a charlatan whose ritual practices were fraudulent, strange, provided by the Greek
unconventional, and dangerous.[26] This change in meaning was influenced by the historian Herodotus
military conflicts that the Greek city-states were then engaged in against the Persian
Empire.[26] In this context, the term makes appearances in such surviving text as
Sophocles' Oedipus Rex, Hippocrates' De morbo sacro, and Gorgias' Encomium of Helen.[26]

In the first century BCE, the Greek concept of the magos was adopted into Latin and used by a number of ancient
Roman writers as magus and magia.[26] The Roman use of the term was similar to that of the Greeks, but placed
greater emphasis on the judicial application of it.[26] Within the Roman Empire, laws would be introduced
criminalising things regarded as magic.[28]

In the first century CE, the idea of magic was then absorbed by early Christian authors, who incorporated it into their
developing Christian theology.[28] They retained the Graeco-Roman negative connotations of the term and enhanced
them by incorporating conceptual patterns borrowed by Jewish thought.[28] Thus, for early Christian writers like
Augustine of Hippo, magic was not merely fraudulent and unsanctioned ritual practices, it was the very opposite of
religion because it relied upon cooperation from demons, the henchmen of Satan.[28] Ever since, the idea that magic is
something defined in opposition to religion has been pervasive throughout Western culture.[6] Christian theologians
believed that there were multiple different forms of magic, the majority of which were types of divination.[29] For
instance, Isidore of Seville listed geomancy, hydromancy, aeromancy, and pyromancy as forms of magic alongside
enchantment and ligatures.[30]

Modern world
During the early modern period, the concept of magic underwent a more positive reassessment through the
development of the concept of magia naturalis (natural magic).[28] This was a term introduced and developed by two
Italian humanists, Marsilio Ficino and Giovanni Pico della Mirandola.[28] For them, magia was viewed as an elemental
force pervading many natural processes,[28] and thus was fundamentally distinct from the mainstream Christian idea
of demonic magic.[31] Their ideas influenced an array of later philosophers and writers, among them Paracelsus,
Giordano Bruno, Johannes Reuchlin, and Johannes Trithemius.[28] According to the historian Richard Kieckhefer, the
concept of magia naturalis took "firm hold in European culture" during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries,[32]
although did not supplant traditional attitudes toward magic in the West, which remained largely negative.[33]

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While the proponents of magia naturalis insisted that this did not rely on the actions of demons, critics disagreed,
arguing that the demons had simply deceived these magicians.[34] By the seventeenth century the concept of magia
naturalis had moved in increasingly 'naturalistic' directions, with the distinctions between it and science becoming
blurred.[35] The validity of magia naturalis as a concept for understanding the universe then came under increasing
criticism during the Age of Enlightenment in the eighteenth century.[33]

In the nineteenth century, a number of scholars adopted the traditional, negative concept of magic.[33] That they chose
to do so was not inevitable, for they could have followed the example adopted by prominent esotericists active at the
time like Helena Blavatsky who had chosen to use the term and concept of magic in a positive sense.[33]

The scholarly application of magic as a sui generis category that can be applied to any socio-cultural context was
linked with the promotion of modernity to both Western and non-Western audiences.[36]

Common features of magical practice

Rituals
Magical rituals are the precisely defined actions (including speech) used to
work magic. Bronisaw Malinowski describes ritual language as possessing
a high "coefficient of weirdness" in that the language used in rituals is
archaic and out of the ordinary. This he ascribes to the need to create a
mindset that fosters belief in the ritual.[37] However, S. J. Tambiah notes
that even if the power of the ritual is said to reside in the words, "[they]
only become effective if uttered in the special context of other actions."[38]
These other actions typically consist of gestures, possibly performed with
special objects at a particular place or time. The objects, locations, and
performers may require purification beforehand, a condition that parallels
the felicity conditions J. L. Austin requires of performative utterances.[39]

Magical symbols
Anthropologists, such as Sir James Frazer (18541938), have characterized
the implementation of symbols into two primary categories: the principle
of similarity, and the principle of contagion. He further categorized these Magic ritual
principles as sympathetic magic and the law of contagion and asserted that
these concepts were "general or generic laws of thought which were
misapplied in magic".[2]:52

Principle of similarity
The principle of similarity, which falls into the category of sympathetic magic states "that like produces like, or that an
effect resembles its cause".[40]

Principle of contagion
The law of contagion states that "things which have once been in contact with each other continue to act on each other
at a distance after the physical contact has been severed".[40] Bonewits and Bonewits have noted parallels in quantum
physics.[41]

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An example given by Tambiah relates to adoption: among some American

Indians when a child is adopted, his or her adoptive mother will pull the
child through some of her clothes, symbolically representing the birth
process and thereby associating the child with herself,[2]:59 thereby
'becomes' hers emotionally even though their relationship is not biological.
As Claude Lvi-Strauss put it the birth "would consist, therefore, in making
explicit a situation originally existing on the emotional level and in
rendering acceptable to the mind pains which the body refuses to
tolerate...the woman believes in the myth and belongs to a society which
believes in it."[42]

Symbols, for many cultures that use magic, are seen as a type of
Helm of Awe (gishjlmr) - magical
technology: native peoples might use symbols and symbolic actions to
symbol worn by Vikings for
bring about change and improvements in the same way as those from invincibility. Modern day use by
advanced cultures use advanced irrigation techniques to promote soil satr followers for protection.
fertility and crop growth. Michael Brown discusses the use of nantag stones
among the Aguaruna as being similar to this type of technology.[43]

Magical language
In "The Magical Power of Words" (1968) S. J. Tambiah argues that the connection between language and magic is due
to a belief in the inherent ability of words to influence the universe. Bronisaw Malinowski, in Coral Gardens and their
Magic (1935), suggests that this belief is an extension of man's basic use of language to describe his surroundings, in
which "the knowledge of the right words, appropriate phrases and the more highly developed forms of speech, gives
man a power over and above his own limited field of personal action."[37]:235

Magical speech is, therefore, a ritual act, and is of equal or even greater importance to the performance of magic than
non-verbal acts.[38]:175176 However, not all speech is considered magical. Only certain words and phrases or words
spoken in a specific context are considered to have magical power.[38]:176

Magical language, according to C. K. Ogden and I. A. Richards's (1923) categories of speech, is distinct from scientific
language because it is emotive and it converts words into symbols for emotions. On the other hand, in scientific
language, words are tied to specific meanings and refer to an objective external reality.[38]:188 Magical language is
therefore particularly adept at constructing metaphors that establish symbols and link magical rituals to the
world.[38]:189

Malinowski argues that "the language of magic is sacred, set and used for an entirely different purpose to that of
ordinary life",[37]:213 the two forms of language being differentiated through word choice, grammar, style, or by the use
of specific phrases or forms: spells, songs, blessings, or chants. Sacred modes of language often employ archaic words
and forms in an attempt to invoke the purity or truth of a religious or a cultural golden age, the usage of Hebrew in
Judaism being cited as an example.[38]:182

Another potential source of the power of words is their secrecy and exclusivity: very sacred language is differentiated
enough from common language that it is incomprehensible to the majority of the population and it can only be used
and interpreted by specialized practitioners (magicians, priests, shamans, even mullahs).[37]:228[38]:178

In this respect, Tambiah argues that magical languages violate the primary function of language:
communication.[38]:179 This leads Tambiah to conclude that "the remarkable disjunction between sacred and profane
language which exists as a general fact is not necessarily linked to the need to embody sacred words in an exclusive
language."[38]:182

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Magicians
A magician is any practitioner of magic, even if they are specialists or
common practitioners who do not consider themselves to be
magicians.[4]:25

Among the Azande, for example, in order to question an oracle, a man

must have both the physical oracle (poison, or a washboard, for example),
and knowledge of the words and the rites needed to make the object
function.[44]

A variety of personal traits may be credited with giving magical power, and
frequently they are associated with an unusual birth into the world.[45]

Post-birth experiences are also believed to convey magical power, an

example being that the survival of a near-death illness may be taken as
evidence of their power as a healer. For example, in Bali, a medium's
survival is proof of her association with a patron deity and therefore her
ability to communicate with other gods and spirits.[46]

However, the most common method of identifying, differentiating, and

establishing magical practitioners from common people is by initiation. By
means of rites the magician's relationship to the supernatural and his entry
into a closed professional class is established (often through rituals that
simulate death and rebirth into a new life).[4]:4144

Given the exclusivity of the criteria needed to become a magician, much

magic is performed by specialists,[4]:26 laypeople being limited to some
simple magical rituals that relate to everyday living. Thus, in situations of
particular importance, especially when health or major life events are
concerned, a specialist magician will often be consulted.[47]

Mauss argues that the powers of both specialist and common magicians are
determined by culturally accepted standards of the sources and the breadth
of magic: a magician cannot simply invent or claim new magic. In practice,
the magician is only as powerful as his peers believe him to be.[4]:33, 40

In different cultures, various types of magicians may be classified on their

abilities, their sources of power, on moral considerations and hence
categorized as sorcerer, wizard, witch, healer et cetera.[48]

Witchcraft
The "Magician" card from a 15th-
Witchcraft means the practice of, and belief in, magical skills and abilities
century tarot deck.
that are able to be exercised individually, by designated social groups, or by
persons with the necessary esoteric knowledge. In non-scientific societies,
perceived magical attack is an idea sometimes employed to explain personal or societal misfortune.[49]

In anthropological and historical contexts this is often termed witchcraft or sorcery, and the perceived attackers
witches or sorcerers. Their maleficium - a term that applies to any magical act intended to cause harm or death to
people or property - is often seen as a biological trait or an acquired skill.[50]

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Known members of the community may be accused as witches, or the witches may be perceived as supernatural, non-
human entities.[49] In early modern Europe and Britain such accusations led to the executions of tens of thousands of
people, who were seen to be in league with Satan. Those accused of being satanic witches were often practitioners of
(usually benign) folk magic.[49][51][52][53][54]

The English term 'witch' is used on occasion as a purely descriptive term without its pejorative sense to describe such
practitioners, and includes both male and female practitioners.[52]

Theories

Anthropological and psychological origins

Psychological theories of magic

Psychological theories of magic treat magic as a personal phenomenon intended to meet individual needs, as opposed
to a social phenomenon serving a collective purpose. The explanatory power of magic should not be underestimated,
however. Both in the past and in the modern world, magical belief systems can provide explanations for otherwise
difficult or impossible to understand phenomena while providing a spiritual and metaphysical grounding for the
individual. Furthermore, as both Brian Feltham and Scott E. Hendrix argue, magical beliefs need not represent a form
of irrationality, nor should they be viewed as incompatible with modern views of the world.[55]

Theories on the relationship of magic, science, art, and religion

S. J. Tambiah
According to Stanley Tambiah, magic, science, and religion all have their own
"quality of rationality", and have been influenced by politics and ideology.[2]:2 As
opposed to religion, Tambiah suggests that mankind has a much more personal
control over events. Science, according to Tambiah, is "a system of behavior by
which man acquires mastery of the environment."[2]:8

Much of the debate between religion and magic originated during the Protestant
Reformation. The Catholic Church was attacked for its doctrine of
transubstantiation because it was considered a type of sacramental magic.
Furthermore, the possibility of anything happening outside of God's purpose was
Cover page of Treatise on
denied. Spells[56] were viewed as ineffective and blasphemous, because religion
the Apparitions of Spirits
required belief in "a conscious agent who could be deflected from this purpose by and on Vampires or
prayer and supplication".[2]:19 During the Renaissance, magic was less stigmatized Revenants (1751), a
even though it was done in secret and therefore considered "the occult". historic treatise and case
Renaissance magic was based on cosmology, and its powers were said to be derived study on matters of magic,
from the stars and the alignment of the planets. Newton himself began his work in witchcraft, vampires, and
apparitions by Augustin
mathematics because he wanted to see "whether judicial astrology had any claim to
Calmet's
validity."[2]:28

Bronisaw Malinowski
In his essay "Magic, Science, and Religion", Bronisaw Malinowski contends that every person, no matter how
primitive, uses both magic and science. To make this distinction he breaks up this category into the "sacred" and the
"profane"[57]:17 or "magic/religion" and science. He theorizes that feelings of reverence and awe rely on observation of

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nature and a dependence on its regularity. This observation and reasoning about nature are a type of science. Magic
and science both have definite aims to help "human instincts, needs, and pursuits".[57]:86

To end his essay, Malinowski poses the question, "why magic?". He writes, "Magic supplies primitive man with a
number of ready-made rituals, acts, and beliefs, with a definite mental and practical technique which serves to bridge
over the dangerous gaps in every important pursuit or critical situation.".[57]:90

Robin Horton
Robin Horton compared the magical and religious thinking of non-modernized cultures with western scientific
thought. He argues that both traditional beliefs and western science are applications of "theoretical thinking".[58] The
common form, function, and purpose of these theoretical idioms are therefore structured and explained by eight main
characteristics of this type of thought:

1. In all cultures, the majority of human experience can be explained by common sense. The purpose then of theory
is to explain forces that operate behind and within the commonsense world. Theory should impose order and
reason on everyday life by attributing a cause to a few select forces.[58]
2. Theories also help place events in a causal context that is greater than common sense alone can provide,
because commonsense causation is inherently limited by what we see and experience. Theoretical formulations
are therefore used as intermediaries to link natural effects to natural causes.[58]
3. "Common sense and theory have complementary roles in everyday life."[58] Common sense is more handy and
useful for a wide range of everyday circumstances, but occasionally there are circumstances that can only be
explained using a wider causal vision, so a jump to theory is made.
4. "Levels of theory vary with context."[58] There are widely and narrowly encompassing theories, and the individual
can usually choose which to use in order to understand and explain a situation as is deemed appropriate.
5. All theory breaks up aspects of commonsense events, abstracts them and then reintegrates them into the
common usage and understanding.[58]
6. Theory is usually created by analogy between unexplained and familiar phenomena.[58]:146
7. When theory is based on analogy between explained and unexplained observations, "generally only a limited
aspect of the familiar phenomena is incorporated into (the) explanatory model".[58] It is this process of abstraction
that contributes to the ability of theories to transcend common sense explanation. For example, gods have the
quality of spirituality by the omission of many common aspects of human life.
8. Once a theoretical model has been established, it is often modified to explain contradictory data so that it may no
longer represent the analogy on which it was based.[58]
While both traditional beliefs and western science are based on theoretical thought, Horton argues that the differences
between these knowledge systems in practice and form are due to their states in open and closed cultures.[58]

History

Classical antiquity
Ancient Greek scholarship of the 20th century, almost certainly influenced by Christianising preconceptions of the
meanings of magic and religion, and the wish to establish Greek culture as the foundation of Western rationality,
developed a theory of ancient Greek magic as primitive and insignificant, and thereby essentially separate from
Homeric, communal ("polis") religion. Since the last decade of the century, however, recognising the ubiquity and
respectability of acts such as katadesmoi ("binding spells"), described as magic by modern and ancient observers alike,
scholars have been compelled to abandon this viewpoint.[59]:9095 The Greek word mageuo ("practise magic") itself
derives from the word Magos, originally simply the Greek name for a Persian tribe known for practising religion.[60]
Non-civic "mystery cults" have been similarly re-evaluated:[59]:9798

the choices which lay outside the range of cults did not just add
additional options to the civic menu, but ... sometimes
incorporated critiques of the civic cults and Panhellenic myths

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or were genuine alternatives to them.

Simon Price, Religions of the Ancient Greeks

(1999)[61]

Katadesmoi (Latin: defixiones)), curses inscribed on wax or lead tablets

and buried underground, were frequently executed by all strata of Greek
society, sometimes to protect the entire polis.[59]:9596 Communal curses
carried out in public declined after the Greek classical period, but private
curses remained common throughout antiquity.[62] They were
distinguished as magical by their individualistic, instrumental and sinister
qualities.[59]:96 These qualities, and their perceived deviation from
inherently mutable cultural constructs of normality, most clearly delineate
ancient magic from the religious rituals of which they form a
part.[59]:102103

A large number of magical papyri, in Greek, Coptic, and Demotic, have

been recovered and translated.[63] They contain early instances of: Hecate, the ancient Greek goddess
of magic.
the use of "magic words" said to have the power to command
spirits;[64]
the use of mysterious symbols or sigils which are thought to be useful when invoking or evoking spirits.[65]
The practice of magic was banned in the late Roman world, and the Codex Theodosianus (438 AD) states:[66]

If any wizard therefore or person imbued with magical contamination who is called by custom of the people
a magician...should be apprehended in my retinue, or in that of the Caesar, he shall not escape punishment
and torture by the protection of his rank.

Middle Ages
Ars Magica or magic is a major component and supporting contribution to the belief and practice of spiritual, and in
many cases, physical healing throughout the Middle Ages. Emanating from many modern interpretations lies a trail of
misconceptions about magic, one of the largest revolving around wickedness or the existence of nefarious beings who
practice it. These misinterpretations stem from numerous acts or rituals that have been performed throughout
antiquity, and due to their exoticism from the commoner's perspective, the rituals invoked uneasiness and an even
stronger sense of dismissal.[67][68]

One societal force in the Middle Ages more powerful than the singular commoner, the Christian Church, rejected
magic as a whole because it was viewed as a means of tampering with the natural world in a supernatural manner
associated with the biblical verses of Deuteronomy 18:9-12. Despite the many negative connotations which surround
the term magic, there exist many elements that are seen in a divine or holy light.[69]

The various yet sparse healers of the Middle Ages were among the few, if not the only, proponents of a positive
impression of magic. One of the most famous healers of this time was Saint Hildegard of Bingen. Her healing abilities
were so sought after that many individuals, healthy and ill alike, would travel great distances to be blessed by her.[70]

Modern historians of medicine along with the people of the Middle Ages both possess no straightforward answer as to
where her abilities derived from; however, many of these historians argue or speculate that they are related to mental
visions of which recorded documents, such as her three volumes of visionary theology, depict. The volumes include:
Scivias, ("Know the Ways"), Liber Vitae Meritorum, ("Book of Life's Merits"), and Liber Divinorum Operum ("Book of
Divine Works").[70]

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Diversified instruments or rituals used in medieval magic include, but are not limited to: various amulets, talismans,
potions, as well as specific chants, dances, prayers. Along with these rituals are the adversely imbued notions of
demonic participation which influence of them. The idea that magic was devised, taught, and worked by demons
would have seemed reasonable to anyone who read the Greek magical papyri or the Sefer-ha-Razim and found that
healing magic appeared alongside rituals for killing people, gaining wealth, or personal advantage, and coercing
women into sexual submission.[68] Archaeology is contributing to a fuller understanding of ritual practices performed
in the home, on the body and in monastic and church settings.[71][72]

The Islamic reaction towards magic did not condemn magic in general and distinguished between magic which can
heal sickness and possession, and sorcery. Magic is therefore a special gift from God, while the latter is achieved
through help of Jinn and devils. Ibn al-Nadim hold, Exorcists gain their power by their obedience to God, while
sorcerers please the devils by acts of disobidience and sacrifices and they in return do him a favor.[73] Being pious and
strictly follow the teachings of the Quran can increase the probability to perform magic or miracles.[74] According to
Ibn Arabi Al-ajjj ibn Yusuf al-Shubarbuli was due to his piety able to walk on water.[75] Based on the Quran,
regarding islamic legends of Solomon, magic was taught by devils to the humans. Solomon took the writings of the
sorcerer away and hid them under his throne. After his death, Iblis, unable to get close to Solomons court, told the
people, they will find a treasure under the throne and thus lead them to sorcery. Another account hold, sorcery came
with the fallen angels Harut and Marut to mankind.[76]

Renaissance
Renaissance humanism saw a resurgence in hermeticism and Neo-Platonic varieties of ceremonial magic. The
Renaissance, on the other hand, saw the rise of science, in such forms as the dethronement of the Ptolemaic theory of
the universe, the distinction of astronomy from astrology, and of chemistry from alchemy.[77]

The seven artes magicae or artes prohibitae or arts prohibited by canon law by Johannes Hartlieb in 1456 were:
nigromancy (which included "black magic" and "demonology"), geomancy, hydromancy, aeromancy, pyromancy,
chiromancy, and scapulimancy and their sevenfold partition emulated the artes liberales and artes mechanicae. Both
bourgeoisie and nobility in the 15th and 16th century showed a great fascination with these arts, which exerted an
exotic charm by their ascription to Arabic, Jewish, Gypsy, and Egyptian sources, and the popularity of white magic
increased. However, there was great uncertainty in distinguishing practices of superstition, occultism, and perfectly
sound scholarly knowledge or pious ritual. The intellectual and spiritual tensions erupted in the Early Modern witch
craze, further reinforced by the turmoil of the Protestant Reformation, especially in Germany, England, and
Scotland.[77]

Modernity
Sorcery is a legal concept in Papua New Guinea law, which differentiates between legal good magic, such as healing
and fertility, and illegal black magic, held responsible for unexplained deaths.[78]

Modern Western magic

Modern Western magic has challenged widely-held preconceptions about contemporary religion and spirituality.[5]:12
For many, and perhaps most, modern Western magicians, the goal of magic is deemed to be personal spiritual
development.[79]

The polemical discourses about magic influenced the self-understanding of modern magicians, a number of whom
such as Aleister Crowley and Julius Evola were well versed in academic literature on the subject.[5]:11

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These modern Western concepts of magic rely on a belief in correspondences

connected to an unknown occult force that permeates the universe.[80] As noted by
Hanegraaff, this operated according to "a new meaning of magic, which could not
possibly have existed in earlier periods, precisely because it is elaborated in reaction to
the "disenchantment of the world"."[80]

According to scholar of religion Henrik Bogdan, "arguably the best known emic
definition" of the term magic was provided by Crowley.[5]:11 Crowley who favoured
the spelling "magick" over magic[5]:12 was of the view that "Magick is the Science and
Art of causing Change to occur in conformity with Will".[5]:11 Crowley's definition
influenced that of subsequent magicians.[5]:11 Dion Fortune of the Fraternity of the
Inner Light for instance stated that "Magic is the art of changing consciousness Concepts of modern
according to Will".[5]:11 Gerald Gardner, the founder of Gardnerian Wicca, stated that magic are often heavily
influenced by the ideas
magic was "attempting to cause the physically unusual",[5]:11 while Anton LaVey, the
of Aleister Crowley
founder of LaVeyan Satanism, described magic as "the change in situations or events in
accordance with one's will, which would, using normally acceptable methods, be
unchangeable."[5]:11

LaVey's daughter Zeena Schreck has said that "The core practice of magic is: The execution of a willed intent to create
change in the material world, which either defies, hastens or purifies the consequences of natural cause and effect."[81]

The perception of magic as a form of self-development is central to the way that magical practices have been adopted
into forms of modern Paganism and the New Age phenomenon.[79]

One significant development within modern Western magical practices has been sex magic.[79] This was a practice
promoted in the writings of Paschal Beverly Randolph and subsequently exerted a strong interest on occultist
magicians like Crowley and Theodor Reuss.[79]

See also
List of occult terms Magic (illusion)
List of occult writers Magic in fiction
List of occultists Psionics
Maleficium (sorcery)

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Quotations related to Magic at Wikiquote

Catholic Encyclopedia "Occult Art, Occultism" (http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/11197b.htm)

Catholic Encyclopedia "Witchcraft" (http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/15674a.htm)
Sorcery and Forbidden Lore (Lecture) (http://www.otherworldsociety.org/sorcery-and-forbidden-lore-lecture.html)

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