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Internet Book of Shadows, (Various Authors), [1999], at sacred-texts.com


 
 
                                 Definitions
 
      Some food for thought for those of us who are fond of the word
      magic.
 
      "... as  the symbolic  background of  magical techniques  as well  as their
      deployment  in official ceremonies shows, the  transition between magic and
      religion is very  fluid.  Since  religious symbols are  always a  synthesis
      between the visible and the invisible, they may be looked upon as signposts
      in  the  search  for  religious  meaning,  or  misinterpreted  as  ends  in
      themselves.  In this sense each ritual may be either religious or magical,
      conditional upon the intention of the participants.
 
                Distinctionscan be made, as precise as the symbols and principles
      employed allow,  among various types of  magic.  Substitute  Magic is based
      upon the idea that a part  substitutes for the whole, thereby reversing the
      transcendental principle that the part may represent the whole.  Man seizes
      power over  someone  else by  possessing parts  of him,  e.g. bones,  hair,
      nails, etc.  Contagious magic obtains when the substitution of the part
      for the  whole is only partially  realized and integrated into  a scheme of
      causal  connection.   By touching  or wearing  power-laden objects  such as
      relics, fetishes, sacred stones, amulets, etc. or even by assimilating them
      as in the case of  cannibalism, man integrates him-self and his  deeds into
      the efficacy of an invisible power structure.  Sympathetic magic deals with
      symbols  and  their  supposed   unity  or  sympathy  with  that   which  is
      sympathized.   It differs from substitute magic by the ideational character
      of the substitution.  Examples are the anticipation of a successful hunt by
      striking a picture of the animal;  the manipulation of pictures and figures
      in general; the use of  curse figurines or dolls; the deployment  of arcane
      formulas,  both in  connection with pictures  and statues  or independently
      from them.    In  this latter  instance,  the practice  of  subjecting  the
      godhead, a ghost, or an individual to one's will by means of a name or
      proper formula should also be mentioned.   Gnoseological magic appears as a
      more  or less autonomous type  when the instrumental  function of knowledge
      and  reason becomes an end in itself.  The knowledge of the right time, the
      right setting,  the  godhead proper  in  a given  situation,  is in  itself
      sufficient reason to achieve the  desired goal.  The world of the sacred as
      a means of orientation for the growth and meaning of  the person turns into
      a  state of  impersonal  and  mechanically  effective anonymity.    Ascetic
      technique becomes its own end, effective by its very deployment.
 
                As  a technique of reaching  goals by means  different from those
      required by these goals, magic is of particular significance for the social
      life of  a  community.   In  this regard  we  have to  distinguish  between
      official and private magic.  Official magic obtains when public affairs are
      treated by help of magical techniques, e.g., when a drought is counteracted
      by the imitative act of sprinkling water, or when the office of a shaman
      is a generally recognized institution.  Private magic on the  other hand is
      a matter of individuals and/or exclusive groups who, often in deep secrecy,
      use  their knowledge  and techniques  in order  to pursue  their particular
      goals....."
      __________________________________
 
      From the Encyclopedic Dictionary of Religion. 
 
      ..........  FROM RMPJ, 2/3/1987
 
 
                                                                              816
 


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