The belief that influence can be exerted on supernatural powers through sacrifice or invocation goes back to prehistoric times. The Indo-European root of the word means “to be able, to have power”-really a verb of basic action and agency. 1300 from Old French sorcerie, which is from Vulgar Latin sortiarius, from sors 'fate,' apparently meaning 'one who influences fate.' Sorceress appears also in the late fourteenth century, while sorcerer is attested only from 1526. In the Hellenistic period, Greek μάγος (magos) could be used as an adjective, but an adjective μαγικός ( magikos, Latin magicus) is also attested from the first century (Plutarchus), typically appearing in the feminine, in μαγική τέχνη ( magike techne, Latin ars magica) 'magical art.' The word entered the English language in the late fourteenth century from Old French magique. The word magic derives from Magus (Old Persian maguš), one of the Zoroastrian astrologer priests of the Medes. The fascination that magicians hold for the public reflects a longing to understand more than the external, physical aspects of the world and penetrate that which could give deeper meaning, the realm of spirit and magic. While some deny any form of magic as authentic, those that practice it regard the influencing of events, objects, people, and physical phenomena through mystical, paranormal or supernatural means as real.

Magic is thus distinguished both from religion and science: From religion in that magic invokes spiritual powers without presuming any personal relationship with spiritual or divine beings, merely an ability or power to bring about particular results and from science in that magic offers no empirical justification other than its efficacy, invoking a symbolic, rather than actual, cause-effect relationship. The efficacy of magic continues to be debated, as both religious adherents and scientists find difficulty understanding the source of its power.įundamental to magic is unseen connections whereby things act on one another at a distance through invisible links. Practitioners continue to use it for good or evil, as magic itself is neither but only a tool that is used according to the purpose of the one who wields it. While magic has been feared and condemned by those of certain faiths and questioned by scientists, it has survived both in belief and practice. Magic has been used throughout history, in attempts to heal or harm others, to influence the weather or crops, and as part of religious practices like shamanism and paganism. In many cultures, magic is under pressure from, and in competition with, scientific and religious conceptual systems.Īlthough an effort is sometimes made to differentiate sorcery from magic performed for entertainment value by referring to sorcery as 'magick,' this article will consistently use 'magic' in referring to sorcery. The term can also refer to the practices employed by a person asserting this influence, and to beliefs that explain various events and phenomena in such terms.

Magic, sometimes known as sorcery, is a conceptual system that asserts human ability to control the natural world (including events, objects, people, and physical phenomena) through mystical, paranormal, or supernatural means. John Dee and Edward Kelley evoking a spirit: Elizabethans who claimed magical knowledge.

Magic word origin