List Magic

Magic Online Tempest Remastered 269 cards May, 2015 Vintage Masters 325 cards June, 2014.

The Magician (I), an illustration from the first published in 1910.Magic is a category into which have been placed various beliefs and practices considered separate from both. Emerging within, the term has historically often had pejorative connotations, with things labeled magical perceived as being socially unacceptable, primitive, or foreign. The concept has been adopted by scholars in the and, who have proposed various different—and often mutually exclusive—definitions of the term.

Many contemporary scholars regard the concept to be so problematic that they reject it altogether.The term magic derives from the Magu, a word that applied to a form of religious functionary about which little is known. During the late sixth and early fifth centuries BCE, this term was adopted into, where it was used with negative connotations to apply to rites that were regarded as fraudulent, unconventional, and dangerous.

This meaning of the term was then adopted by in the first century BCE. Via Latin, the concept was incorporated into during the first century CE, where magic was associated with and thus defined against the Christian religion. This concept was pervasive throughout the Middle Ages, when Christian authors categorised a diverse range of practices—such as enchantment, and —under the label magic. In, often claimed that was magic rather than religion, and as Christian Europeans began colonizing other parts of the world in the sixteenth century they labeled the non-Christian beliefs they encountered magical.

In that same period, Italian reinterpreted the term in a positive sense to create the idea of. Both negative and positive understandings of the term recurred in Western culture over the following centuries.Since the nineteenth century, academics in various disciplines have employed the term magic but have defined it in different ways and used it in reference to different things. One approach, associated with the and, uses the term to describe beliefs in between objects that allow one to influence the other. Defined in this way, magic is portrayed as the opposite of science.

An alternative approach, associated with the and, employs the term to describe private rites and ceremonies and contrasts it with religion, which it defines as a communal and organized activity. By the 1990s, many scholars were rejecting the term's utility for a scholarship. They argued that it drew arbitrary lines between similar beliefs and practices that were instead considered religious and that, being rooted in Western and Christian history, it was to apply it to other cultures.Throughout Western history, there have been individuals who engaged in practices that their societies called magic and who sometimes referred to themselves as magicians. Within modern, which developed in nineteenth-century Europe, there are many self-described magicians and people who practice ritual activities that they call magic. In this environment, the concept of magic has again changed, usually being defined as a technique for bringing about changes in the physical world through the force of one's will.

This definition was pioneered largely by the influential British occultist and is used in occultist movements such as,. Magic as a term is problematic.

It did not arise as a straightforward attempt to describe an object or an action; it does not represent an exclusive set of ideas. Instead, there developed an arrangement of ideas at a particular point in time (Christianity and Christian evangelization) that made the concept of magic as we have come to define it possible.—ArchaeologistThe historian stated that the word magic was 'beyond simple definition', and had 'a range of meanings'. Similarly, the historian Michael D. Bailey characterised magic as 'a deeply contested category and a very fraught label'; as a category, he noted, it was 'profoundly unstable' given that definitions of the term have 'varied dramatically across time and between cultures'. Scholars have engaged in extensive debates as to how to define magic, with such debates resulting in intense dispute. Throughout such debates, the scholarly community has failed to agree on a definition of magic, in a similar manner to how they have failed to agree on a definition of religion. Even among those throughout history who have described themselves as magicians, there has been no common understanding of what magic is.Concepts of magic generally serve to sharply demarcate certain practices from other, otherwise similar practices in a given society.

According to Bailey: 'In many cultures and across various historical periods, categories of magic often define and maintain the limits of socially and culturally acceptable actions in respect to numinous or occult entities or forces. Even more basically they serve to delineate arenas of appropriate belief.' In this, he noted that 'drawing these distinctions is an exercise in power'. Similarly, Randall Styers noted that attempting to define magic represents 'an act of demarcation' by which it is juxtaposed against 'other social practices and modes of knowledge' such as 'religion' and 'science'. The historian Karen Louise Jolly described magic as 'a category of exclusion, used to define an unacceptable way of thinking as either the opposite of religion or of science'. Frontispiece of an English translation of Natural Magick published in London in 1658.During the early modern period, the concept of magic underwent a more positive reassessment through the development of the concept of (natural magic).

This was a term introduced and developed by two Italian humanists,. For them, magia was viewed as an elemental force pervading many natural processes, and thus was fundamentally distinct from the mainstream Christian idea of demonic magic. Their ideas influenced an array of later philosophers and writers, among them,. According to the historian, the concept of magia naturalis took 'firm hold in European culture' during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, attracting the interest of of various theoretical orientations, including, and.Adherents of this position argued that magia could appear in both good and bad forms; in 1625, the French librarian wrote his Apology for all the Wise Men Falsely Suspected of Magic, in which he distinguished 'Mosoaicall Magick'—which he claimed came from God and included prophecies, miracles, and —from 'geotick' magic caused by demons.

While the proponents of magia naturalis insisted that this did not rely on the actions of demons, critics disagreed, arguing that the demons had simply deceived these magicians. By the seventeenth century the concept of magia naturalis had moved in increasingly 'naturalistic' directions, with the distinctions between it and science becoming blurred. The validity of magia naturalis as a concept for understanding the universe then came under increasing criticism during the in the eighteenth century.Despite the attempt to reclaim the term magia for use in a positive sense, it did not supplant traditional attitudes toward magic in the West, which remained largely negative.

At the same time as magia naturalis was attracting interest and was largely tolerated, Europe saw an active persecution of accused witches believed to be guilty of maleficia. Reflecting the term's continued negative associations, often sought to denigrate sacramental and devotional practices as being magical rather than religious. Many Roman Catholics were concerned by this allegation and for several centuries various Roman Catholic writers devoted attention to arguing that their practices were religious rather than magical.

At the same time, Protestants often used the accusation of magic against other Protestant groups which they were in contest with. In this way, the concept of magic was used to prescribe what was appropriate as religious belief and practice.Similar claims were also being made in the Islamic world during this period. The Arabian cleric —founder of —for instance condemned a range of customs and practices such as divination and the veneration of spirits as sihr, which he in turn claimed was a form of, the sin of idolatry. Colonialism and academia In the sixteenth century, European societies began to conquer and colonise other continents around the world, and as they did so they applied European concepts of 'magic' and 'witchcraft' to practices found among the peoples whom they encountered.

Usually, these European colonialists regarded the natives as primitives and savages whose belief systems were diabolical and needed to be eradicated and replaced by Christianity. Because Europeans typically viewed these non-European peoples as being morally and intellectually inferior to themselves, it was expected that such societies would be more prone to practicing magic. Women who practiced traditional rites were labelled 'witches' by the Europeans. Concepts of modern magic are often heavily influenced by the ideas of Aleister CrowleyModern Western magic has challenged widely-held preconceptions about contemporary religion and spirituality.The polemical discourses about magic influenced the self-understanding of modern magicians, a number of whom—such as and —were well versed in academic literature on the subject.According to scholar of religion Henrik Bogdan, 'arguably the best known emic definition' of the term 'magic' was provided by Crowley.

Crowley—who favoured the spelling ' over 'magic' to distinguish it from stage illusionism —was of the view that 'Magick is the Science and Art of causing Change to occur in conformity with Will'. Crowley's definition influenced that of subsequent magicians. Of the for instance stated that 'Magic is the art of changing consciousness according to Will'., the founder of, stated that magic was 'attempting to cause the physically unusual', while, the founder of, described magic as 'the change in situations or events in accordance with one's will, which would, using normally acceptable methods, be unchangeable.'

The movement emerged during the late 20th century, as an attempt to strip away the, or otherwise ornamental aspects of other occult traditions and distill magic down to a set of basic techniques.These modern Western concepts of magic rely on a belief in correspondences connected to an unknown occult force that permeates the universe. As noted by Hanegraaff, this operated according to 'a new meaning of magic, which could not possibly have existed in earlier periods, precisely because it is elaborated in reaction to the 'disenchantment of the world'.'

For many, and perhaps most, modern Western magicians, the goal of magic is deemed to be personal spiritual development.The perception of magic as a form of self-development is central to the way that magical practices have been adopted into forms of and the phenomenon.One significant development within modern Western magical practices has been. This was a practice promoted in the writings of and subsequently exerted a strong interest on occultist magicians like Crowley and.The adoption of the term 'magic' by modern occultists can in some instances be a deliberate attempt to champion those areas of Western society which have traditionally been marginalised as a means of subverting dominant systems of power. The influential American and author for instance stated that ' Magic is another word that makes people uneasy, so I use it deliberately, because the words we are comfortable with, the words that sound acceptable, rational, scientific, and intellectually correct, are comfortable precisely because they are the language of estrangement.' Academic definitions Modern scholarship has produced various definitions and theories of magic. According to Bailey, 'these have typically framed magic in relation to, or morefrequently in distinction from, religion and science.' Since the emergence of the and the, magic has been a 'central theme in the theoretical literature' produced by scholars operating in these academic disciplines.

Magic is one of the most heavily theorized concepts in the study of religion, and also played a key role in early theorising within anthropology. Styers believed that it held such a strong appeal for social theorists because it provides 'such a rich site for articulating and contesting the nature and boundaries of modernity'. Scholars have commonly used it as a foil for the concept of religion, regarding magic as the 'illegitimate (and effeminized) sibling' of religion. Alternately, others have used it as a middle-ground category located between religion and science.The context in which scholars framed their discussions of magic was informed by the spread of European colonial power across the world in the modern period.These repeated attempts to define magic resonated with broader social concerns, and the pliability of the concept has allowed it to be 'readily adaptable as a polemical and ideological tool'. The links that intellectuals made between magic and 'primitives' helped to legitimise European and Euro-American imperialism and colonialism, as these Western colonialists expressed the view that those who believed in and practiced magic were unfit to govern themselves and should be governed by those who, rather than believing in magic, believed in science and/or (Christian) religion.

In Bailey's words, 'the association of certain peoples whether non-Europeans or poor, rural Europeans with magic served to distance and differentiate them from those who ruled over them, and in large part to justify that rule.' Many different definitions of magic have been offered by scholars, although—according to Hanegraaff—these can be understood as variations of a small number of heavily influential theories. Intellectualist approach. Edward Tylor, an anthropologist who used the term magic in reference to sympathetic magic, an idea that he associated with his concept of animismThe intellectualist approach to defining magic is associated with two prominent British,. This approach viewed magic as the theoretical opposite of, and came to preoccupy much anthropological thought on the subject.

This approach was situated within the evolutionary models which underpinned thinking in the social sciences during the early 19th century. The first social scientist to present magic as something that predated religion in an evolutionary development was; in his A System of Synthetic Philosophy, he used the term magic in reference to.

Spencer regarded both magic and religion as being rooted in false speculation about the nature of objects and their relationship to other things.Tylor's understanding of magic was linked to his concept of. In his 1871 book Primitive Culture, Tylor characterized magic as beliefs based on 'the error of mistaking ideal analogy for real analogy'. In Tylor's view, 'primitive man, having come to associate in thought those things which he found by experience to be connected in fact, proceeded erroneously to invert this action, and to conclude that association in thought must involve similar connection in reality. He thus attempted to discover, to foretell, and to cause events by means of processes which we can now see to have only an ideal significance'.

Tylor was dismissive of magic, describing it as 'one of the most pernicious delusions that ever vexed mankind'. Tylor's views proved highly influential, and helped to establish magic as a major topic of anthropological research. James Frazer regarded magic as the first stage in human development, to be followed by religion and then scienceTylor's ideas were adopted and simplified by James Frazer.

He used the term 'magic' to mean sympathetic magic, describing it as a practice relying on the magician's belief 'that things act on each other at a distance through a secret sympathy', something which he described as 'an invisible ether'. He further divided this magic into two forms, the 'homeopathic (imitative, mimetic)' and the 'contagious'. The former was the idea that 'like produces like', or that the similarity between two objects could result in one influencing the other. The latter was based on the idea that contact between two objects allowed the two to continue to influence one another at a distance. Like Taylor, Frazer viewed magic negatively, describing it as 'the bastard sister of science', arising from 'one great disastrous fallacy'.Where Frazer differed from Tylor was in characterizing a belief in magic as a major stage in humanity's cultural development, describing it as part of a tripartite division in which 'magic' came first, 'religion' came second, and eventually 'science' came third. For Frazer, all early societies started as believers in magic, with some of them moving away from this and into religion.

He believed that both magic and religion involved a belief in spirits but that they differed in the way that they responded to these spirits. For Frazer, magic 'constrains or coerces' these spirits while religion focuses on 'conciliating or propitiating them'. He acknowledged that their common ground resulted in a cross-over of magical and religious elements in various instances; for instance he claimed that the was a fertility ritual which combined elements from both world-views.Some scholars retained the evolutionary framework used by Frazer but changed the order of its stages; the German ethnologist argued that religion—by which he meant —was the first stage of human belief, which later degenerated into both magic. Others rejected the evolutionary framework entirely. Frazer's notion that magic had given way to religion as part of an evolutionary framework was later deconstructed by the folklorist and anthropologist in his essay 'Magic and Religion'; Lang did so by highlighting how Frazer's framework relied upon misrepresenting ethnographic accounts of beliefs and practiced among indigenous Australians to fit his concept of magic. Functionalist approach The functionalist approach to defining magic is associated with the French and.In this approach, magic is understood as being the theoretical opposite of religion.Mauss set forth his conception of 'magic' in a 1902 essay, 'A General Theory of Magic'.

Mauss used the term magic in reference to 'any rite that is not part of an organized cult: a rite that is private, secret, mysterious, and ultimately tending towards one that is forbidden'. Conversely, he associated religion with organised cult. By saying that magic was inherently non-social, Mauss had been influenced by the traditional Christian understandings of the concept.

Mauss deliberately rejected the intellectualist approach promoted by Frazer, believing that it was inappropriate to restrict the term magic to sympathetic magic, as Frazer had done. He expressed the view that 'there are not only magical rites which are not sympathetic, but neither is sympathy a prerogative of magic, since there are sympathetic practices in religion'.Mauss' ideas were adopted by Durkheim in his 1912 book. Durkheim was of the view that both magic and religion pertained to 'sacred things, that is to say, things set apart and forbidden'.

Where he saw them as being different was in their social organisation. Durkheim used magic to describe things that were inherently anti-social, existing in contrast to what he referred to as a 'Church,' the religious beliefs shared by a social group; in his words, 'There is no Church of magic.' Durkheim expressed the view that 'there is something inherently anti-religious about the maneuvers of the magician', and that a belief in magic 'does not result in binding together those who adhere to it, nor in uniting them into a group leading a common life.' Durkheim's definition encounters problems in situations—such as the rites performed by Wiccans—in which acts carried out communally have been regarded, either by practitioners or observers, as being magical.Scholars have criticized the idea that magic and religion can be differentiated into two distinct, separate categories.

The social anthropologist suggested that 'a simple dichotomy between magic and religion' was unhelpful and thus both should be subsumed under the broader category of. Many later anthropologists followed his example.Nevertheless, this distinction is still often made by scholars discussing this topic. Emotionalist approach. Further information: andThe emotionalist approach to magic is associated with the English anthropologist, the Austrian, and the Polish anthropologist.Marett viewed magic as a response to stress. In a 1904 article, he argued that magic was a cathartic or stimulating practice designed to relieve feelings of tension. As his thought developed, he increasingly rejected the idea of a division between magic and religion and began to use the term 'magico-religious' to describe the early development of both.

Malinowski understood magic in a similar manner to Marett, tackling the issue in a 1925 article. He rejected Frazer's evolutionary hypothesis that magic was followed by religion and then science as a series of distinct stages in societal development, arguing that all three were present in each society. In his view, both magic and religion 'arise and function in situations of emotional stress' although whereas religion is primarily expressive, magical is primarily practical. He therefore defined magic as 'a practical art consisting of acts which are only means to a definite end expected to follow later on'. For Malinowski, magical acts were to be carried out for a specific end, whereas religious ones were ends in themselves.

He for instance believed that fertility rituals were magical because they were carried out with the intention of meeting a specific need. As part of his approach, Malinowski saw magic not as irrational but as something that served a useful function, being sensible within the given social and environmental context. Ideas about magic were also promoted by Sigmund FreudThe term 'magic' was used liberally by Freud. He also saw magic as emerging from human emotion but interpreted it very differently to Marett.Freud explains that 'the associated theory of magic merely explains the paths along which magic proceeds; it does not explain its true essence, namely the misunderstanding which leads it to replace the laws of nature by psychological ones'.

Freud emphasizes that what led primitive men to come up with magic is the power of wishes: 'His wishes are accompanied by a motor impulse, the will, which is later destined to alter the whole face of the earth in order to satisfy his wishes. This motor impulse is at first employed to give a representation of the satisfying situation in such a way that it becomes possible to experience the satisfaction by means of what might be described as motor. This kind of representation of a satisfied wish is quite comparable to children's play, which succeeds their earlier purely sensory technique of satisfaction. As time goes on, the psychological accent shifts from the motives for the magical act on to the measures by which it is carried out—that is, on to the act itself. It thus comes to appear as though it is the magical act itself which, owing to its similarity with the desired result, alone determines the occurrence of that result.' In the early 1960s, the anthropologists Murray and Rosalie Wax put forward the argument that scholars should look at the 'magical worldview' of a given society on its own terms rather than trying to rationalize it in terms of Western ideas about scientific knowledge.

Their ideas were heavily criticised by other anthropologists, who argued that they had set up a false dichotomy between non-magical Western worldview and magical non-Western worldviews. The concept of the 'magical worldview' nevertheless gained widespread use in history, folkloristics, philosophy, cultural theory, and psychology. The notion of ' has also been utilised by various psychologists. In the 1920s, the psychologist used the concept as part of their argument that children were unable to clearly differentiate between the mental and the physical. According to this perspective, children begin to abandon their 'magical thinking' between the ages of six and nine.According to, magic, science, and religion all have their own 'quality of rationality', and have been influenced by politics and ideology.

Clones definition. Any of two or more individuals with identical genetic makeup produced from one parent by ASEXUAL REPRODUCTION. Examples of clones are daughter plants produced by strawberry RUNNERS, and whole plants produced by tissue culture. The identical individuals produced by the splitting of a young embryo. › a plant or animal that has the same genes as the original from which it was produced. › informal disapproving someone or something that looks very much like someone or something else: Most people saw her as just another blond-haired, red-lipped Marilyn Monroe clone. The clone is then transplanted into the nucleus of a cell from which genetic material has been removed. Verb To produce or grow a cell, group of cells, or organism from a single original cell. Cloning is the production of a population of genetically identical cells or of organisms asexually produced by a single cell or organism. Cloning is fundamental to most living things, since the body cells of plants and animals are clones that come from a single fertilized egg. Clone - a group of genetically identical cells or organisms derived from a single cell or individual by some kind of asexual reproduction clon organism, being - a living thing that has (or can develop) the ability to act or function independently.

As opposed to religion, Tambiah suggests that mankind has a much more personal control over events. Science, according to Tambiah, is 'a system of behavior by which man acquires mastery of the environment.' Magicians. The ' card from a 15th-century.Many of the practices which have been labelled magic can be performed by anyone. For instance, some charms can be recited by individuals with no specialist knowledge nor any claim to having a specific power. Others require specialised training in order to perform them. Some of the individuals who performed magical acts on a more than occasional basis came to be identified as magicians, or with related concepts like sorcerers/sorceresses, or cunning folk.

Identities as a magician can stem from an individual's own claims about themselves, or it can be a label placed upon them by others. In the latter case, an individual could embrace such a label, or they could reject it, sometimes vehemently.There can be economic incentives that encouraged individuals to identify as magicians. In the cases of various forms of traditional healer, as well as the later stage magicians or illusionists, the label of magician could become a job description. Others claim such an identity out of a genuinely held belief that they have specific unusual powers or talents. Different societies have different social regulations regarding who can take on such a role; for instance, it may be a question of familial heredity, or there may be gender restrictions on who is allowed to engage in such practices.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 instance, in Hungary it was believe that a would be born with teeth or an additional finger.

In various parts of Europe, it was believed that being born with a would associate the child with supernatural abilities. In some cases, a ritual initiation is required before taking on a role as a specialist in such practices, and in others it is expected that an individual will receive a mentorship from another specialist.Davies noted that it was possible to 'crudely divide magic specialists into religious and lay categories'. He noted for instance that Roman Catholic priests, with their rites of, and access to and blessed herbs, could be conceived as being magical practitioners. Some historians have drawn a differentiation between those practitioners who engage in high magic, and those who engage in low magic. In this framework, high magic is seen as more complex, involving lengthy and detailed ceremonies as well as sophisticated, sometimes expensive, paraphernalia. Low magic is associated with simpler rituals such as brief, spoken charms.However, the most common method of identifying, differentiating, and establishing magical practitioners from common people is.

By means of 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).Mauss argues that the powers of both specialist and common magicians are determined by culturally accepted standards of the sources and the breadth of magic: a magician cannot simply invent or claim new magic. In practice, the magician is only as powerful as his peers believe him to be.Throughout recorded history, magicians have often faced scepticism regarding their purported powers and abilities.

For instance, in sixteenth-century England, the writer wrote, in which he argued that many of those accused of witchcraft or otherwise claiming magical capabilities were fooling people using illusionism. Suspicions and accusations of witchcraft. See also:Those regarded as being magicians have often faced suspicion from other members of their society. This is particularly the case if these perceived magicians have been associated with social groups already considered morally suspect in a particular society, such as foreigners, women, or the lower classes. In contrast to these negative associations, many practitioners of activities that have been labelled magical have emphasised that their actions are benevolent and beneficial.

This conflicted with the common Christian view that all activities categorised as being forms of magic were intrinsically bad regardless of the intent of the magician, because all magical actions relied on the aid of demons. There could be conflicting attitudes regarding the practices of a magician; in European history, authorities often believed that cunning folk and traditional healers were harmful because their practices were regarded as magical and thus stemming from contact with demons, whereas a local community might value and respect these individuals because their skills and services were deemed beneficial.In Western societies, the practice of magic, especially when harmful, was usually associated with women. For instance, during the witch trials of the early modern period, around three quarters of those executed as witches were female, to only a quarter who were men. That women were more likely to be accused and convicted of witchcraft in this period might have been because their position was more legally vulnerable, with women having little or no legal standing that was independent of their male relatives.

The conceptual link between women and magic in Western culture may be because many of the activities regarded as magical—from rites to encourage fertility to potions to induce —were associated with the female sphere. It might also be connected to the fact that many cultures portrayed women as being inferior to men on an intellectual, moral, spiritual, and physical level. See also. Coleman, Simon (2008). 'The Magic of Anthropology'. Anthropology News.

Pp. 8–11. Dickie, Matthew W. Magic and Magicians in the Greco-Roman World. London. Gusterson, Hugh (2004). 'How Far Have We Traveled? Magic, Science and Religion Revisited'.

Anthropology News. CS1 maint: ref=harv. Hammond, Dorothy (1970). 'Magic: A Problem in Semantics'. American Anthropologist. Pp. 1349–1356.

O'Keefe, Daniel (1982). Stolen Lightning: The Social Theory of Magic. Oxford. Wax, Murray; Wax, Rosalie (1963). 'The Notion of Magic'. Current Anthropology. Pp. 495–518.

Meyer, Marvin & Smith, Richard (1994) Ancient Christian Magic: Coptic Texts of Ritual Power, HarperSanFranciscoExternal links Quotations related to at Wikiquote.