magic

Art of controlling the forces of nature by supernatural means such as charms and ritual. The central ideas are that like produces like (sympathetic magic) and that influence carries by contagion or association; for example, by the former principle an enemy could be destroyed through an effigy, and by the latter principle through personal items such as hair or nail clippings. See also witchcraft.

Most early religious practices and much early art were rooted in beliefs in magical processes. There are similarities between magic and the use of symbolism in religious ritual. Under Christianity existing magical rites were either suppressed (although they survived in modified form in folk custom and superstition) or replaced by those of the church itself. Those still practising the ancient rites were persecuted as witches.

Magic may be undertaken either for beneficial purposes (white magic) or to create harmful effects (black magic).

In the 1930s, following studies in Africa made by E E Evans-Pritchard, Western scholars began to realize that magic can be seen as a rigorously logical practice, based upon different conceptions of how the world operates from those generally held in the West.