Magic (supernatural)

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 various beliefs and practices have been placed, 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.

Etymology

The English words magic, mage and magician come from the Latin term magus, through the Greek μάγος, which is from the Old Persian maguš. (𐎶𐎦𐎢𐏁|𐎶𐎦𐎢𐏁, magician). The Old Persian magu- is derived from the Proto-Indo-European megʰ-*magh (be able). The Persian term may have led to the Old Sinitic *Mγag (mage or shaman). The Old Persian form seems to have permeated ancient Semitic languages as the Jewish Babylonian Aramaic magosh, the Aramaic amgusha (magician), and the Chaldean maghdim (wisdom and philosophy); from the first century BCE onwards, Syrian magusai gained notoriety as magicians and soothsayers.