Magic (Sorcery)

"The Sorceress" by John William Waterhouse

Magic and sorcery are the influencing of events, objects, people and physical phenomena through mystical, paranormal or supernatural means. To differentiate between "real" magic and magic performed for entertainment value, the term is often spelt "magick". Magic has been used throughout history, in attempts to heal or harm others, to influence crops, and as part of religious practices like shamanism and paganism.

History

Magic and Early Religion

The belief that influence can be exerted on supernatural powers through sacrifice or invocation goes back to prehistoric times, and is present in the Egyptian pyramid texts and the Indian Vedas, specifically the Atharvaveda ("knowledge of magic formulas"), which contains a number of charms, sacrifices, hymns, and uses of herbs, and addresses topics like constipation, disease, possession by demons, and the glorification of the sun.

The prototypical "magicians" were a class of priests, the Iranian Magi of Zoroastrianism, who were highly learned and advanced in knowledge and crafts. This knowledge was likely mysterious to others, giving the Magi a reputation for sorcery and alchemy. The ancient Greek mystery religions had strongly magical components, and in Egypt, a large number of magical papyri have been recovered. Dating as early as the second century B.C.E., the scrolls contain early instances of spells, incantations and magical words composed of long strings of vowels, and self-identification with a deity (the chanting of "I am [deity]", for example.) The roots of European magical practice are often claimed to originate in such Greek or Egyptian magic, but other scholors contest this theory, arguing that European magic may have drawn from a generalized magical tradition, but not from Egyptian magic specifically.

In Europe, the Celts played a large role in early European magical tradition. Living between 700 B.C.E. and 100 C.E., Celtic priests, known as Druids, served as priests, teachers, judges, astrologers, healers, and more. Rituals were often connected with agricultural events and aspects of nature; trees in particular were sacred to the Celts. Over time, the Celtic beliefs and practices grew into what would become known as Paganism, mixed with other Indo-European beliefs, and became part of a set of beliefs and practices that were known collectively as "witchcraft". These practices included the concoction of potions and ointments, spell casting, as well as other works of magic.

Middle Ages

The Middle Ages were characterized by the ubiquitousness and power of the Catholic Church. In the beginning of Europe's conversion to Christianity, religious practices and beliefs were often appropriated and Christianized; Christian rites and formulas were combined with Germanic folk rituals to cure ailments. Christian relics replaced amulets, and tales were told of the miracles these relics wrought. Churches that housed these relics became places of pilgramage. Magic cooexisted, often uneasily, with Christian theology for much of the early Middle Ages. By the 15th century, magicians were persecuted, as magical rites and beliefs were considered heresy, a distortion of Christian rites to do the Devil's work. Magicians were accused of ritualistic baby-killing , and of having gained magical powers through pacts with the Devil.

Despite this widespread condemnation of magical practice, a great number of magic formulas and books from the Middle Ages suggest that magic was widely practiced. Charms, amulets, divination, astrology, and the magical use of herbs and animals existed, as well as higher forms of magic such as alchemy, necromancy, astral magic, and more advanced forms of astrology. Magic also played a role in literature; most notably in the Arthurian romances, where the magician Merlin advised King Arthur. Grimoires, books of magical knowledge, like The Sworn Book of Honorius, provided instructions on the conjuring and command of demons, among other information.

Renaissance

Further information: Alchemy

The Renaissance saw a resurgence in occultism, which was saturated with the teachings of hermeticism, which, along with Gnosticism and Neo-Platonism, has formed the basis of most Western occult practices. With the Industrial Revolution, on the other hand, there was the rise of scientism, in such forms as the substitution of chemistry for alchemy, the dethronement of the Ptolemaic theory of the universe assumed by astrology, and the development of the germ theory of disease. These developments both restricted the scope of applied magic and threatened the belief systems it relied on. Additionally, tensions roused by the Protestant Reformation led to an upswing in witch-hunting, especially in Germany, England, and Scotland.

The Revival of Magic in the 20th Century

The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn is often cited as one of the twentieth centuries most significant influences on Western occultism. The secret society, which included members like Aleister Crowley and W. B. Yeats, taught astral travel, scrying, alchemy, astrology, the Tarot, and geomancy.

The twentieth century saw a dramatic revival of magical interest, particularly with the advent of neopaganism. In 1951, England repealed the last of the Witchcraft Acts, which had previously made it against the law to practice witchcraft in the country. Gerald Gardner, often referred to as the "father of modern witchcraft", published his first non-fiction book on magic, entitled "Witchcraft Today", in 1954, which claimed modern witchcraft is the surviving remnant of an ancient Pagan religion. Gardner's novel inspired the formation of covens, and "Gardnerian Wicca" was firmly established.

The atmosphere of the 1960s and 1970s was conducive to the revival of interest in magic; the hippie counterculture sparked renewed interest in magic, divination, and other occult practices such as astrology. Various branches of Neopaganism and other Earth religions combined magic with religion, and influenced each other. For instance, feminists launched an independant revival of goddess worship, both influencing and being influenced by Gardnerian Wicca. Traditions and beliefs of different branches of neopaganism tend to vary, even within a particular group. Most focus on the development of the individual practitioner, not a need for strongly defined universal traditions or beliefs.

Magical Beliefs

Practitioners of magic attribute the workings of magic to a number of different causes. Some believe in a undetectable, magical, natural force that exists in addition to forces like gravity. Others believe in a heirarchy of intervening spirits, or mystical powers often contained in magical objects. Some believe in manipulation of the elements (fire, air, earth, water); others believe that the manipulation of symbols can alter the reality that the symbols represent.

Many, including famed magician Aleister Crowley, believed that concentration or meditation can produce mental or mystical atttainment; Crowley likened the effect to that which occured in "straightforward" Yoga. In addition to concentration, visualisation is often used by practitioners of magic; some spells are cast while the practitioner is in a trance state. The power of the subconcious mind and the interconnectedness of all things are also concepts often found in magical thinking.

Magic, ritual and religion

Viewed from a non-theistic perspective, many religious rituals and beliefs seem similar to, or identical to, magical thinking. The repetition of prayer may seem closely related to the repetition of a charm or spell, however there are important differences. Relgious beliefs and rituals may involve prayer or even sacrifice to a deity, where the deity is petitioned to intervene on behalf of the supplicant. In this case, the deity has the choice: to grant or deny the request.

Magic, in contrast, is effective in and of itself. In some cases, the magical rite itself contains the power. In others, the strength of the magician's will achieves the desired result, or the ability of the magician to command spiritual beings addressed by his/her spells. The power is contained in the magician or the magical rites, not a deity with a free will.

Types of Magical Rites

The best-known type of magical practice is the spell, a ritualistic formula intended to bring about a specific effect. Spells are often spoken or written or physically constructed using a particular set of ingredients. The failure of a spell to work may be attributed to many causes, such as failure to follow the exact formula, general circumstances being unconducive, lack of magical ability, or downright fraud.

Another well-known magical practice is divination, which seeks to reveal information about the past, present or future. Varieties of divination include: Astrology, Cartomancy, Chiromancy, Dowsing, Fortune telling, Geomancy, I Ching, Omens, Scrying and Tarot. [[Necromancy], the pracice of summoning the dead, can also be used for divination, as well as an attempt to command the spirits of the dead for one's own purposes.

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Varieties of magic can also be categorised by the techniques involved in their operation. One common means of categorisation distinguishes between contagious magic and sympathetic magic, one or both of which may be employed in any magical work. Contagious magic involves the use of physical ingredients which were once in contact with the person or thing the practitioner intends to influence. Sympathetic magic involves the use of images or physical objects which in some way resemble the person or thing one hopes to influence; voodoo dolls are an example.

Other common categories given to magic include High and Low Magic (the appeal to divine powers or spirits respectively, with goals lofty or personal as accords the type of magic). Manifest and Subtle magic typically refers to magic of legend rather than what many individuals who practise the Occult claim to use as magic, where Manifest magic is magic that immediately appears with a result, and Subtle magic being magic that gradually and intangibly alters the world.

Academic historian Richard Kieckhefer divides the category of spells into psychological magic, which seeks to influence other people's minds to do the magician's will, such as with a love spell, and illusionary magic, which seeks to conjure the manifestation of various wonders. A spell that conjured up a banquet, or that conferred invisibility on the magician, would be examples of illusionary magic. Magic that causes objective physical change, in the manner of a miracle, is not accommodated for in Kieckhefer's categories.

Magical traditions

Another method of classifying magic is by "traditions," which in this context typically refer to complexes of magical belief and practice associated with various cultural groups and lineages of transmission. Some of these traditions are highly specific and culturally circumscribed. Others are more eclectic and syncretistic. These traditions can compass both divination and spells.

When dealing with magic in terms of "traditions," it is a common misconception for outsiders to treat any religion in which clergy members make amulets and talismans for their congregants as a "tradition of magic," even though what is being named is actually an organized religion with clergy, laity, and an order of liturgical service. This is most notably the case when Voodoo, Palo, Santeria, Taoism, Wicca, and other contemporary religions and folk religions are mischaracterized as forms of "magic" or even "sorcery."

Examples of magical, folk-magical, and religio-magical traditions include:

• Alchemy
• Animism
• Catholicism (Exorcism)
• Druidry
• Hermeticism
• Mantrik Hinduism
• Witchcraft
• Kabbala
• Nagualism
• New Age
• Obeah
• Reiki
• Santería
• Satanism
• Shamanism
• Taoism
• Voodoo
• Wicca

Magic in animism and folk religion

Appearing from aboriginal tribes in Australia and Maori tribes in New Zealand to rainforest tribes in South America, bush tribes in Africa and ancient Pagan tribal groups in Europe and the British Isles, some form of shamanic contact with the spirit world seems to be nearly universal in the early development of human communities. The ancient cave paintings in France are widely speculated to be early magical formulations, intended to produce successful hunts. Much of the Babylonian and Egyptian pictorial writing characters appear derived from the same sources.

Although indigenous magical traditions persist to this day, very early on some communities transitioned from nomadic to agricultural civilizations, and with this shift, the development of spiritual life mirrored that of civic life. Just as tribal elders were consolidated and transformed into kings and bureaucrats, so too were shamans and adepts devolved into priests and a priestly caste.

This shift is by no means in nomenclature alone. While the shaman's task was to negotiate between the tribe and the spirit world, on behalf of the tribe, as directed by the collective will of the tribe, the priest's role was to transfer instructions from the deities to the city-state, on behalf of the deities, as directed by the will of those deities. This shift represents the first major usurpation of power by distancing magic from those participating in that magic. It is at this stage of development that highly codified and elaborate rituals, setting the stage for formal religions, began to emerge, such as the funeral rites of the Egyptians and the sacrifice rituals of the Babylonians, Persians, Aztecs and Mayans.

Magic in Hinduism

It has been often stated that Hindu India is a land of magic, both supernatural and mundane. Hinduism is one of the few religions that has sacred texts like the Vedas that discuss both white and black magic. The Atharva Veda is a veda that deals with mantras that can be used for both good and bad. The word mantrik in India literally means "magician" since the mantrik usually knows mantras, spells, and curses which can be used for or against forms of magic. Many ascetics after long periods of penance and meditation are alleged to attain a state where they may utilize supernatural powers. However, many say that they choose not to use them and instead focus on transcending beyond physical power into the realm of spirituality. Many siddhars are said to have performed miracles that would ordinarily be impossible to perform.

Magic and monotheism

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In Islam

Muslims, followers of the religion of Islam, do commonly believe in magic, and explicitly forbid the practice of it (Sihr). Sihr translates as sorcery or black magic from Arabic. Many Muslims believe that the devils taught sorcery to mankind:

And they follow that which the devils falsely related against the kingdom of Solomon. Solomon disbelieved not; but the devils disbelieved, teaching mankind sorcery and that which was revealed to the two angels in Babel, Harut and Marut. Nor did they (the two angels) teach it to anyone till they had said: We are only a temptation, therefore disbelieve not (in the guidance of Allah). And from these two (angels) people learn that by which they cause division between man and wife; but they injure thereby no-one save by Allah's leave. And they learn that which harmeth them and profiteth them not. And surely they do know that he who trafficketh therein will have no (happy) portion in the Hereafter; and surely evil is the price for which they sell their souls, if they but knew. (al-Qur'an 2:102)

However, whereas performing miracles in Islamic thought and belief are reserved for only Messengers (al-Rusul - those Prophets who came with a new Revealed Text) and Prophets (al-Anbiyaa - those Prophets who came to continue the specific law and Revelation of a previous Messenger) ; supernatural acts are also believed to be performed by Awliyaa - the spiritually accomplished, through Ma'rifah - and referred to as Karaamaat (extraordinary acts). Disbelief in the miracles of the Prophets is considered an act of disbelief; belief in the miracles of any given pious individual is not. Neither are regarded as magic, but as signs of Allah at the hands of those close to Him that occur by His will and His alone. Contrary to recent writings on the topic, Islamic esoterica, or Tasawwuf (also called Sufism), does not originate in the teachings of the Greek, Persian or Roman spiritual traditions spreading into Islamic thought with Muslim conquest^{[citation needed]}. Tasawwuf is based on the cognizance of Allah - al-Ma'rifah - and like Fiqh, was codified by the learned as time passed and the Muslim masses became less knowledgeable about their faith and thus thoght to have required a codified method (Manhaj) of following it in their day-to-day lives. As is said by the 'Ulamaa; 'Tasawwuf was once a reality without a name and is now a name without reality' - referring to what they saw as the general moral decay and growing ignorance of Muslims of spirituality.

Notes

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References

ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

• Frazer, J. G. (1911). The Magic Art (2 vols.) (The Golden Bough, 3rd ed., Part II). London.

• Clifton, Dan Salahuddin (1998). Myth Of The Western Magical Tradition. C&GCHE. ISBN 0-393-00143-1. 

• de Givry, Grillot (1954). Witchcraft, Magic, and Alchemy, trans. J. Courtney Locke. Frederick Pub.

• Hutton, Ronald (2001). The Triumph of the Moon: A History of Modern Pagan Witchcraft. Oxford. ISBN 0-19-285449-6.

• Hutton, Ronald (2003). Witches, Druids, and King Arthur. Hambledon. ISBN 1-85285-397-2

• Kampf, Erich (1894). The Plains of Magic. Konte Publishing.

• Kiekhefer, Richard (1998). Forbidden Rites: A Necromancer's Manual of the Fifteenth Century. Pennsylvania State University. ISBN 0-271-01751-1.

• Ruickbie, Leo (2004). Witchcraft Out of the Shadows. Robert Hale. ISBN 0-7090-7567-7.

• Thomas, N. W. (1910–11). "Magic." Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th ed., vol. 26, p. 337.

External links

• Catholic Encyclopedia "Occult Art, Occultism"
• Catholic Encyclopedia "Witchcraft"
• The Skeptic's Dictionary entry for Magical Thinking

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