Magic or sorcery is an attempt to understand, experience and influence the world using rituals, symbols, actions, gestures and language. Modern Western magicians generally state magic's primary purpose to be personal spiritual growth.
Modern theories of magic may see it as the result of a universal
sympathy where some act can produce a result somewhere else, or as a
collaboration with spirits who cause the effect.
The belief in and the practice of magic has been present since the
earliest human cultures and continues to have an important spiritual,
religious and medicinal role in many cultures today. Magic is often viewed with suspicion by the wider community, and is sometimes practiced in isolation and secrecy.
The concept of magic as a category separate from religion was first
widely recognized in Judaism, which derided as magic the practices of
pagan worship designed to appease and receive benefits from gods other
than Yahweh .
Hanegraaff argues that magic is in fact "a largely polemical concept
that has been used by various religious interest groups either to
describe their own religious beliefs and practices or – more
frequently – to discredit those of others.
The performance of magic almost always involves the use of language.
Whether spoken out loud or unspoken, words are frequently used to access
or guide magical power. 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.
Bronisław 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." Magical speech is therefore a ritual act and is of equal or even
greater importance to the performance of magic than non-verbal acts.
Not all speech is considered magical. Only certain words and phrases
or words spoken in a specific context are considered to have magical
power. 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;
whereas in scientific language words are tied to specific meanings and
refer to an objective external reality.
Magical language is therefore particularly adept at constructing
metaphors that establish symbols and link magical rituals to the world.
Malinowski argues that "the language of magic is sacred, set and used
for an entirely different purpose to that of ordinary life." The two forms of language are differentiated through word choice, grammar, style, or by the use of specific phrases , for example. 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 use of Hebrew in Judaism is an example.
Another potential source of the power of words is their secrecy and
exclusivity. Much 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. In this respect, Tambiah argues that magical languages violate the primary function of language: communication.
Yet adherents of magic are still able to use and to value the magical
function of words by believing in the inherent power of the words
themselves and in the meaning that they must provide for those who do
understand them. 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
The possession of magical knowledge alone may be insufficient to
grant magical power; often a person must also possess certain magical
objects, traits or life experiences in order to be a magician. 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.
A variety of personal traits may be credited with giving magical
power, and frequently they are associated with an unusual birth into the
world. For example, in 16th century Friuli , babies born with the caul were believed to be benandanti
or "Good Walkers" who would battle evil witches in night time battles
over the bounty of the next year's crops. They did not particularly
think of themselves as witches, though the term was only later applied
to them by the Catholic Church as the Italian Inquisition came under
way.
Certain post-birth experiences are also be believed to convey magical
power. For example a person's survival of a near-death illness may be
taken as evidence of their power as a healer: 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. Initiations are perhaps the most commonly used ceremonies to establish
and to differentiate magicians from common people. In these 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.
Given the exclusivity of the criteria needed to become a magician, much magic is performed by specialists.
Laypeople will likely have some simple magical rituals for everyday
living, but in situations of particular importance, especially when
health or major life events are concerned, a specialist magician will
often be consulted.
The powers of both specialist and common magicians are determined by
culturally accepted standards of the sources and the breadth of magic. A
magician may not simply invent or claim new magic; the magician is only
as powerful as his peers believe him to be.
In different cultures, various types of magicians may be
differentiated based on their abilities, their sources of power, and on
moral considerations, including divisions into different categories like
sorcerer, wizard, witch, healer and others.
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