Connotations have varied from positive to negative at times throughout history,[3] Within Western culture, magic has been linked to ideas of the Other,[4] foreignness,[5] and primitivism;[6] indicating that it is "a powerful marker of cultural difference"[7] and likewise, a non-modern phenomenon.[8] During the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Western intellectuals perceived the practice of magic to be a sign of a primitive mentality and also commonly attributed it to marginalised groups of people.[7]
The Latin language adopted this meaning of the term in the first century BCE. Via Latin, the concept became incorporated into Christian theology during the first century CE. Early Christians associated magic with demons, and thus regarded it as against Christian religion. In early modern Europe, Protestants often claimed that Roman Catholicism was magic rather than religion, and as Christian Europeans began colonizing other parts of the world in the sixteenth century, they labelled the non-Christian beliefs they encountered as magical. In that same period, Italian humanists reinterpreted the term in a positive sense to express the idea of natural magic. Both negative and positive understandings of the term recurred in Western culture over the following centuries.[citation needed]
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Historians and anthropologists have distinguished between practitioners who engage in high magic, and those who engage in low magic.[17] High magic, also known as theurgy and ceremonial or ritual magic, is more complex, involving lengthy and detailed rituals as well as sophisticated, sometimes expensive, paraphernalia.[17] Low magic and natural magic are associated with peasants and folklore[18] with simpler rituals such as brief, spoken spells.[17] Low magic is also closely associated with sorcery and witchcraft.[19] Anthropologist Susan Greenwood writes that "Since the Renaissance, high magic has been concerned with drawing down forces and energies from heaven" and achieving unity with divinity.[20] High magic is usually performed indoors while witchcraft is often performed outdoors.[21]
Historian Owen Davies says the term "white witch" was rarely used before the 20th century.[22] White magic is understood as the use of magic for selfless or helpful purposes, while black magic was used for selfish, harmful or evil purposes.[23] Black magic is the malicious counterpart of the benevolent white magic. There is no consensus as to what constitutes white, gray or black magic, as Phil Hine says, "like many other aspects of occultism, what is termed to be 'black magic' depends very much on who is doing the defining."[24] Gray magic, also called "neutral magic", is magic that is not performed for specifically benevolent reasons, but is also not focused towards completely hostile practices.[citation needed]
The historian Ronald Hutton notes the presence of four distinct meanings of the term witchcraft in the English language. Historically, the term primarily referred to the practice of causing harm to others through supernatural or magical means. This remains, according to Hutton, "the most widespread and frequent" understanding of the term.[25] Moreover, Hutton also notes three other definitions in current usage; to refer to anyone who conducts magical acts, for benevolent or malevolent intent; for practitioners of the modern Pagan religion of Wicca; or as a symbol of women resisting male authority and asserting an independent female authority.[26] Belief in witchcraft is often present within societies and groups whose cultural framework includes a magical world view.[27]
Those regarded as being magicians have often faced suspicion from other members of their society.[28] This is particularly the case if these perceived magicians have been associated with social groups already considered morally suspect in a particular society, such as foreigners, women, or the lower classes.[29] In contrast to these negative associations, many practitioners of activities that have been labelled magical have emphasised that their actions are benevolent and beneficial.[30] This conflicted with the common Christian view that all activities categorised as being forms of magic were intrinsically bad regardless of the intent of the magician, because all magical actions relied on the aid of demons.[31] There could be conflicting attitudes regarding the practices of a magician; in European history, authorities often believed that cunning folk and traditional healers were harmful because their practices were regarded as magical and thus stemming from contact with demons, whereas a local community might value and respect these individuals because their skills and services were deemed beneficial.[32]
Magic was invoked in many kinds of rituals and medical formulae, and to counteract evil omens. Defensive or legitimate magic in Mesopotamia (asiputu or masmassutu in the Akkadian language) were incantations and ritual practices intended to alter specific realities. The ancient Mesopotamians believed that magic was the only viable defense against demons, ghosts, and evil sorcerers.[37] To defend themselves against the spirits of those they had wronged, they would leave offerings known as kispu in the person's tomb in hope of appeasing them.[38] If that failed, they also sometimes took a figurine of the deceased and buried it in the ground, demanding for the gods to eradicate the spirit, or force it to leave the person alone.[39]
The ancient Mesopotamians also used magic intending to protect themselves from evil sorcerers who might place curses on them.[40] Black magic as a category did not exist in ancient Mesopotamia, and a person legitimately using magic to defend themselves against illegitimate magic would use exactly the same techniques.[40] The only major difference was that curses were enacted in secret;[40] whereas a defense against sorcery was conducted in the open, in front of an audience if possible.[40] One ritual to punish a sorcerer was known as Maql, or "The Burning".[40] The person viewed as being afflicted by witchcraft would create an effigy of the sorcerer and put it on trial at night.[40] Then, once the nature of the sorcerer's crimes had been determined, the person would burn the effigy and thereby break the sorcerer's power over them.[40]
The ancient Mesopotamians also performed magical rituals to purify themselves of sins committed unknowingly.[40] One such ritual was known as the urpu, or "Burning",[41] in which the caster of the spell would transfer the guilt for all their misdeeds onto various objects such as a strip of dates, an onion, and a tuft of wool.[41] The person would then burn the objects and thereby purify themself of all sins that they might have unknowingly committed.[41] A whole genre of love spells existed.[42] Such spells were believed to cause a person to fall in love with another person, restore love which had faded, or cause a male sexual partner to be able to sustain an erection when he had previously been unable.[42] Other spells were used to reconcile a man with his patron deity or to reconcile a wife with a husband who had been neglecting her.[43]
The ancient Mesopotamians made no distinction between rational science and magic.[44][45][46] When a person became ill, doctors would prescribe both magical formulas to be recited as well as medicinal treatments.[45][46][47] Most magical rituals were intended to be performed by an ipu, an expert in the magical arts.[45][46][47][48] The profession was generally passed down from generation to generation[47] and was held in extremely high regard and often served as advisors to kings and great leaders.[49] An ipu probably served not only as a magician, but also as a physician, a priest, a scribe, and a scholar.[49]
The Sumerian god Enki, who was later syncretized with the East Semitic god Ea, was closely associated with magic and incantations;[50] he was the patron god of the br and the aip and was widely regarded as the ultimate source of all arcane knowledge.[51][52][53] The ancient Mesopotamians also believed in omens, which could come when solicited or unsolicited.[54] Regardless of how they came, omens were always taken with the utmost seriousness.[54]
A common set of shared assumptions about the causes of evil and how to avert it are found in a form of early protective magic called incantation bowl or magic bowls. The bowls were produced in the Middle East, particularly in Upper Mesopotamia and Syria, what is now Iraq and Iran, and fairly popular during the sixth to eighth centuries.[55][56] The bowls were buried face down and were meant to capture demons. They were commonly placed under the threshold, courtyards, in the corner of the homes of the recently deceased and in cemeteries.[57] A subcategory of incantation bowls are those used in Jewish magical practice. Aramaic incantation bowls are an important source of knowledge about Jewish magical practices.[58][59][60][61][62]
In ancient Egypt (Kemet in the Egyptian language), Magic (personified as the god heka) was an integral part of religion and culture which is known to us through a substantial corpus of texts which are products of the Egyptian tradition.[63]
While the category magic has been contentious for modern Egyptology, there is clear support for its applicability from ancient terminology.[64] The Coptic term hik is the descendant of the pharaonic term heka, which, unlike its Coptic counterpart, had no connotation of impiety or illegality, and is attested from the Old Kingdom through to the Roman era.[64] heka was considered morally neutral and was applied to the practices and beliefs of both foreigners and Egyptians alike.[65] The Instructions for Merikare informs us that heka was a beneficence gifted by the creator to humanity "in order to be weapons to ward off the blow of events".[66]
Magic was practiced by both the literate priestly hierarchy and by illiterate farmers and herdsmen, and the principle of heka underlay all ritual activity, both in the temples and in private settings.[67] 152ee80cbc
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