Concept
Magic (supernatural)
Overview
Magic, sometimes spelled magick, is the application of beliefs, rituals or actions employed with the intent to manipulate natural or supernatural beings and forces. It is a category into which have been placed various beliefs and practices sometimes considered separate from both religion and science.
Connotations have varied from positive to negative at times throughout history. Within Western culture, magic has been linked to ideas of the Other, foreignness, and primitivism; indicating that it is "a powerful marker of cultural difference" and likewise, a non-modern phenomenon. During the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Western intellectuals perceived the practice of magic to be a sign of a fantasy-prone mentality and also commonly attributed it to marginalised groups of people.
Overview adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0; see the article history for authors).
In the original texts
Passages from public-domain books where Magic (supernatural) is discussed.
the laws of impact and counter-impact, acids and alkalis, and refuse to lend an ear to their great countryman, when he tells them that 'there are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamt of in their philosophy.' One branch of Magic is still notoriously preserved and practised among the lower orders, being tolerated on account of its beneficent purpose. This is _curing by charms_ (_sympathetische Kuren_, as…
Arthur Schopenhauer, On the Fourfold Root of the Principle of Sufficient Reason, and On the Will in Nature
a chapter is titled for it; states what it is; names the idea; opens on it
It is quite another matter with magic. To be sure, the belief in magic is always more or less general; it is very frequently diffused in large masses of the population, and there are even peoples where it has as many adherents as the real religion. But it does not result in binding together those who adhere to it, nor in uniting them into a group leading a common life.
Émile Durkheim, The Elementary Forms of the Religious Life
states what it is; names the idea; opens on it
Moreover, this change is not in the least a mere symbol, but represents a magical act. With the change in name, the individual himself becomes another person. The name is so closely connected with the person that even the speaking of it may exercise a magical influence upon him.
Wilhelm Max Wundt, Elements of Folk Psychology Outline of a Psychological History of the Development of Mankind
names the idea; a chapter is titled for it; opens on it
Belief in magic did not cease when the coarser forms of superstitious practice ceased. The principle of magic is found whenever it is hoped to get results without intelligent control of means; and also when it is supposed that means can exist and yet remain inert and inoperative. In morals and politics such expectations still prevail, and in so far the most important phases of human action are still affected by…
John Dewey, Human Nature and Conduct
states what it is; names the idea; opens on it
An oracle is the voice of a god; whereas divination is simply sympathetic magic inverted.[17]
Plutarch, Plutarch's Romane Questions
names the idea; the book is about it; opens on it
Philosophers who discussed Magic (supernatural)
- Giovanni Pico della Mirandola
- Colin Wilson
- Augustine of Hippo
- Jean Bodin
- Julius Evola
- Marin Mersenne
- Giulio Pace
Related ideas
- Ritual
- Early modern Europe
- Greek language
- Giordano Bruno
- Hippocrates
- Halakha
- Animism
- Andrew Lang
- Isaac Newton
- Iran
- Ancient Greek
- Paracelsus
- Giovanni Pico della Mirandola
- Isidore of Seville
- Abingdon-on-Thames
- Wahhabism
- Tommaso Campanella
- Helena Blavatsky
- Kabbalah
- False dilemma
- Latin
- Hermeticism
- Modernity
- Sociology
Place in the tradition
Part of Mysticism.