A belief in
magicMagic, sometimes known as sorcery, is the practice of consciousness manipulation and/or autosuggestion to achieve a desired result, usually by techniques described in various conceptual systems...
as a means of influencing the world seems to have been common in all
cultureCulture is a term that has different meanings. For example, in 1952, Alfred Kroeber and Clyde Kluckhohn compiled a list of 164 definitions of "culture" in Culture: A Critical Review of Concepts and Definitions...
s. Some of these beliefs crossed over into nascent
religionA religion is a system of human thought which usually includes a set of narratives, symbols, beliefs and practices that give meaning to the practitioner's experiences of life through reference to a higher power, deity or deities, or ultimate truth...
s, influencing rites and religious celebrations. Over time, religiously-based supernatural events ("
miracleA miracle is a perceptible interruption of the laws of nature, such that can be attempted to be explained by divine intervention, and is sometimes associated with a miracle worker. Many folktales, religious texts, and people claim various events they refer to as "miraculous". People in different...
s") acquired their own flavor, separating themselves from standard magic. Some modern religions such as the
NeopaganismNeopaganism or Neo-Paganism is an umbrella term used to identify a wide variety of modern religious movements, particularly those influenced by pre-Christian pagan beliefs of Europe....
s embrace connections to magic, while others retain only echoes.
Unlike other magic (for this reason, it would be best to dub the other type
sorcerySorcery may refer to:* Magic * Maleficium * Witchcraft-See also:* Sorcerer * Sorcery , an album by Kataklysm* Sorcery , an album by Jack DeJohnette...
, as distinguished from both divine and nature-based sources, the latter of which may be loosely tied to divine agent(s) as in
TaoismDaoism refers to a variety of related philosophical and religious traditions and concepts that have influenced East Asia for over two millennia and the West for over two centuries. The word 道, Tao , means "path" or "way", although in Chinese folk religion and philosophy it has taken on more...
), religiously-based magic almost always involves requesting the intervention of a deity or deities to enact the desired effect It is up to the deity in question whether or not to grant the request; the supplicant is, individually, powerless (though some might claim a personal divine gift, such as
speaking in tongues-Etymology:'Glossolalia' is constructed from the Greek word γλωσσολαλιά, itself is a compound of the words γλῶσσα and λαλεῖν . The term 'speaking in tongues' is a translation of these two components of the same word...
).
Magical practices in prehistory
Appearing from
aboriginal tribesThe term indigenous peoples can be used to describe any ethnic group of people who inhabit a geographic region with which they have the earliest known historical connection, alongside more recent immigrants who have populated the region and may be greater in number...
in
AustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the continental mainland , the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans...
and
New ZealandNew Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses , and numerous smaller islands, most notably Stewart Island/Rakiura and the Chatham Islands. The indigenous Māori named New Zealand Aotearoa, commonly translated as The Land of the Long White Cloud...
to rainforest tribes in
South AmericaSouth America is the southern continent of the Americas, situated entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere...
,
bushThe Outback is the remote arid areas of Australia, although the term colloquially can refer to any lands outside of the main urban areas. The term "the outback" is generally used to refer to locations that are comparatively more remote than those areas deemed "the bush".-Overview:The outback is...
tribes in
AfricaAfrica is the world's second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area. With a billion people in 61 territories, it accounts for about 14.8% of the...
and pagan tribal groups in
Western EuropeWestern Europe is the collection of countries in the westernmost region of Europe, though this definition is context-dependent and carries cultural and political connotations. One definition describes Western Europe as a cultural entity—the region lying west of Central Europe...
and
BritainGreat Britain is an island lying to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island. With a population of about 59.6 million people, it is the third most populated island on Earth. Great Britain is surrounded by over 1000 smaller...
(as personified by Merlin), some form of
shamanismShamanism comprises a range of traditional beliefs and practices concerned with communication with the spirit world. It is a prominent term in anthropological research. A practitioner of shamanism is known as a shaman, , noun...
and belief in a spirit world seems to be common in the early development of human communities. According to Joseph Campbell, the ancient cave paintings in
LascauxLascaux is the setting of a complex of caves in southwestern France famous for its Paleolithic cave paintings. The original caves are located near the village of Montignac, in the Dordogne département. They contain some of the best-known Upper Paleolithic art. These paintings are estimated to be...
may have been associated with "the magic of the hunt." Much of the Babylonian and
EgyptianAncient Egypt was an ancient civilization of eastern North Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in what is now the modern country of Egypt. The civilization coalesced around 3150 BC with the political unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under the first pharaoh, and...
pictorial writing characters appear derived from the same sources.
Although indigenous magical traditions persist to this day, very early on some communities transitioned from nomadic to agricultural civilizations, and with this shift, the development of spiritual life mirrored that of civic life. Just as tribal elders were consolidated and transformed into
monarchA monarch is the person who heads a monarchy, a form of government in which the country or entity usually ruled or controlled by an individual who usually rules for life or until abdication...
s and bureaucrats, so too did shamans and
adeptAn adept is an individual identified as having attained a specific level of knowledge, skill, or aptitude in doctrines relevant to a particular author or organization.-H. P...
s evolve into priestesses,
priestA priest or priestess is a person having the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particular, rites of sacrifice to, and propitiation of, a deity or deities. Their office or position is the priesthood, a term which may also apply to such persons collectively.Priests and priestesses...
s, and a priestly
casteA caste is a combined social system of occupation, endogamy, culture, social class, and political power. Caste should not be confused with class, in that members of a caste are deemed to be alike in function or culture, whereas not all members of a defined class may be so alike.Although Indian...
.
This shift is not in nomenclature alone. It is at this stage of development that highly codified and elaborate rituals, setting the stage for formal religions, began to emerge, such as the funeral rites of the Egyptians and the sacrifice rituals of the Babylonians, Persians,
AztecThe Aztec people were certain ethnic groups of central Mexico, particularly those groups who spoke the Nahuatl language and who dominated large parts of Mesoamerica in the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries, a period referred to as the Late post-Classic period in Mesoamerican chronology.Often the term...
s, and
Maya civilizationThe Maya is a Mesoamerican civilization, noted for the only known fully developed written language of the pre-Columbian Americas, as well as its art, architecture, and mathematical and astronomical systems. Initially established during the Preclassic period , many Maya cities reached their highest...
s.
Psychological perspective
Some anthropologists have asserted that "
magical thinkingIn anthropology, psychology, and cognitive science, magical thinking is nonscientific causal reasoning that often includes such ideas as the ability of the mind to affect the physical world , and correlation mistaken for causation...
" is a form of proto-science or
pseudosciencePseudoscience is a methodology, belief, or practice that is claimed to be scientific, or that is made to appear to be scientific, but which does not adhere to an appropriate scientific methodology, lacks supporting evidence or plausibility, or otherwise lacks scientific status...
rather than a form of religious practice, most notable among them being Sir James George Frazer and
Bronisław MalinowskiBronisław Kasper Malinowski was a Polish anthropologist, widely considered one of the most important 20th-century anthropologists. His pioneering ethnographic fieldwork made a major contribution to the study of Melanesia and of reciprocity.-Life:Malinowski was born in Kraków, Poland, to an...
. By this line of thought, early magical beliefs developed through a
post-hoc fallacyPost hoc ergo propter hoc, Latin for "after this, therefore because of this", is a logical fallacy which states, "Since that event followed this one, that event must have been caused by this one." It is often shortened to simply post hoc and is also sometimes referred to as false cause, ...
— a supplication was made on the altar, and then it rained shortly afterward. Regardless of whether the supplication was the actual cause, it was credited with the change, and thus magical beliefs could grow.
One magician's response to this is that magic is unconcerned with establishing causality, only repeatability. Ramsey Dukes explains in his book S.S.O.T.B.M.E. that questions such as "Are you sure it was your magic that cured her?" are irrelevant to the magician. "If it was a coincidence, it doesn't matter just so long as he can bring about such coincidences"
Religious practices and Magic
Closely related to magic are most forms of religious
supplicationSupplication is the most common form of prayer, wherein a person asks a supernatural deity to provide something, either for the person who is praying or for someone else on whose behalf a prayer of supplication is being made....
, asking the divine for aid. Perhaps the most famous form is
prayerPrayer is the act of addressing a god or spirit for the purpose of worship or petition. Specific forms of this may include praise, requesting guidance or assistance, confessing sins, as an act of reparation or an expression of one's thoughts and emotions...
, which is often considered a spiritual duty in communing with the divine, even aside from any miraculous effects on the outside world.
Both magic and religion contain
ritualA ritual is a set of actions, performed mainly for their symbolic value, which is prescribed by a religion or by the traditions of a community. The term usually excludes actions which are arbitrarily chosen by the performers, or dictated purely by logic, chance, necessity, etc..A ritual may be...
s. Typically, there is a recognition that rituals do not always work; rather, it is thought to simply increase the likelihood of the desired result coming to pass. (Some practitioners of "natural" magic believe that their spells always work.) While many rituals focus on personal communion with the divine and spiritual purification, others often seek "magical" results, such as healing or good luck in battle.
Likewise, both can be divided by the effects they produce into perception and material changes. That is, whether prayer or some type of spell is used, it can either bring about an actual change (material) or a change in the way the subject feels (perception). The same prayer, for it to be "cooler" could therefore either actually raise the temperature, or simply alter the praying subject and any other targets feeling of the temperature. This is not to say that perception changes are not "real" as it could be used in healing to numb the sensation of pain, allowing healing to take place more easily.
The name of God
There is a long-standing belief in the power of "true names;" this often descends from the magical belief that knowing a being's true name grants you power over it. This is often seen as a requirement in
spiritualismSpiritualism is a monotheistic belief system or religion, postulating a belief in God, but the distinguishing feature is belief that spirits of the dead can be contacted, either by individuals or by gifted or trained "mediums", who can provide information about the afterlife.Spiritualism developed...
; knowing the identity of a spirit greatly aids in soliciting information from it.
If names have power, then knowing the name of God grants the greatest power of all. This belief is reflected in ancient Judaism, which used the
TetragrammatonTetragrammaton refers to the Hebrew term ', the name of the God depicted in the Bible....
(YHWH, usually translated as "
Lord" in small caps) to refer to God "safely" in the
TanakhThe Tanakh is a name for the Bible used in Rabbinic Judaism, also known as the Masoretic Text. The name "Tanakh" is a Hebrew acronym formed from the initial Hebrew letters of the Masoretic Text's three traditional subdivisions: The Torah , Nevi'im and Ketuvim —hence...
. Saying the name of God without good reason ("taking the Lord's name in vain," one of the
Ten CommandmentsThe Ten Commandments, or Decalogue, are a list of religious and moral imperatives that, according to Judeo-Christian tradition, were authored by God and given to Moses on the mountain referred to as "Mount Sinai" or "Horeb" in the form of two stone tablets...
) could result in
stoningStoning, or lapidation, refers to a form of capital punishment. For the method of metalworking using sharpening stones see stoning ....
.(Rabbi Joseph Telushkin has claimed that the commandment is simply to not use God's name to deceive or to bully.) The same belief is seen in
HinduismHinduism is the predominant religion of the Indian subcontinent. Hinduism is often referred to as ', a Sanskrit phrase meaning "the eternal law", by its adherents. Generic "types" of Hinduism that attempt to accommodate a variety of complex views span folk and Vedic Hinduism to bhakti tradition, as...
, but with different conclusions; rather, attaining transcendence and the power of God is seen as a
good thing. Thus, some Hindus chant the name of their favorite deities as often as possible, the most common being
KrishnaKrishna is a deity worshipped across many traditions in Hinduism in a variety of perspectives...
.
Religious artifacts
Some religions believe in transferring holiness to objects and places; this is often seen in even simple things like "christening" ceremonies for a new boat. Churches and certain religiously-minded individuals often consecrate the ground where a building will be constructed.
The practice was common during the Middle Ages, where a large market for spiritual trinkets existed. Fragments of the true cross and bones of saints were often brought back by Crusaders from the Holy Land, where they were sold to the peasantry as cure-alls. Most scholarly sources agree that the vast majority of these sales were frauds and simply a form of supplemental income for the Crusaders. . This practice somewhat fell into disrepute during the
ReformationThe Protestant Reformation was a Christian reform movement in Europe which is generally deemed to have begun with Martin Luther's Ninety-Five Theses in 1517 although a number of precursors such as Jan Hus predate that event...
; it became associated with
idol worshipIdolatry is usually defined as worship of any cult image, idea, or object, as opposed to the worship of a monotheistic God. It is considered a major sin in the Abrahamic religions whereas in religions where such activity is not considered a sin, the term "idolatry" itself is absent...
. As a result, this is less seen in
ProtestantismProtestantism is a branch within Christianity, containing many denominations with some differing practices and doctrines, that principally originated in the sixteenth-century Protestant Reformation. It is considered to be one of the major divisions within Christianity, together with the Roman...
than
Roman CatholicismThe Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church. With more than a billion members, over half of all Christians and more than one-sixth of the world's population, the Catholic Church is a communion of the Western, or Latin Rite Church, and...
or
Eastern OrthodoxyThe Orthodox Church, also officially called the Orthodox Catholic Church and commonly referred to in English speaking countries as the Eastern Orthodox Church, is the world's second largest Christian communion, estimated to number 225 million members...
.
Sacrifice
One of the more controversial practices in magic and religion both, this involves a
sacrificeSacrifice is commonly known as the practice of offering food, objects , or the lives of animals or people to the gods as an act of propitiation or worship...
to a supernatural being, such as a
godGod is a deity in theistic and deistic religions and other belief systems, representing either the sole deity in monotheism, or a principal deity in polytheism....
,
angelAngels are spiritual beings found in many religious traditions. They are broadly viewed as messengers of God, sent to do God's tasks. Traditions vary as to the precise nature and role of these messages and tasks...
, or
demonIn religion, folklore, and mythology a demon is a supernatural being that is generally described as a malevolent spirit. In Christian terms demons are generally understood as fallen angels, formerly of God. A demon is frequently depicted as a force that may be conjured and insecurely controlled...
, who is asked to intervene on behalf of the person performing the sacrifice.
Sacrifice can take many forms. The most common forms of supplication and sacrifice in pagan and neopagan religious practice involves the burning of oils or incense. Other common forms of supplication may include the offering of personal objects to a deity, offering chants, and the offering of drinks and food. Less used is blood sacrifice. In early history, blood sacrifice was common; a goat or calf would be sacrificed. Often, divination would be practiced via the reading of entrails (notably in
Ancient RomeAncient Roman religion encompasses the collection of beliefs and rituals practised in ancient Rome in the form of cult practices. It is therefore the practical counterpart of Roman mythology. Within the Roman world, religious practice varied enough so that one might speak of Roman religions. The...
).
LeviticusLeviticus or Vayikra is the third book of the Hebrew Bible/Christian Old Testament, and the third of five books of the Jewish Torah or Pentateuch....
contains detailed rules for proper blood sacrifice, used in early
JudaismJudaism is a set of beliefs and practices originating in the Hebrew Bible , as later further explored and explained in the Talmud and other texts...
. Blood sacrifice has been rejected by some
neopagansNeopaganism or Neo-Paganism is an umbrella term used to identify a wide variety of modern religious movements, particularly those influenced by pre-Christian pagan beliefs of Europe....
, but not all; both
Ásatrú in the United States is a form of Germanic Neopaganism, in particular inspired by the Norse paganism as described in the Eddas and as practiced prior to the Christianization of Scandinavia....
and Celtic/Irish Reconstructionists still practice blood sacrifice and burnt animal offerings. In hoodoo,
blood ritualA blood ritual is any ritual that involves the intentional release of blood.A common blood ritual is the blood brother ritual, which started in ancient Europe and Asia. Two or more people, typically male, intermingle their blood in some way. This symbolically brings the participants together into...
, or the giving of one's own blood in ritual practices, is not entirely uncommon. Most strands of modern Judaism believe that with the destruction of the
Temple in JerusalemThe Temple in Jerusalem or Holy Temple , refers to a series of structures located on the Temple Mount in the old city of Jerusalem. Historically, two temples were built at this location, and a future Temple features in Jewish eschatology. According to classical Jewish belief, the Temple acts as...
, there is no place to sacrifice to any more, and thus the need is negated (modern Samaritans disagree, and maintain the practice). In
ChristianityChristianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as presented by the revelations in the New Testament....
, it is believed that
JesusJesus of Nazareth —also known as Jesus Christ or occasionally Jesus the Christ—is the central figure of Christianity. Within most Christian denominations...
's final sacrifice renders any further sacrifices unnecessary. Some syncretic blends of
IslamIslam Islam Islam ( al-’islām,
[There are ten pronunciations of Islam in English, differing in whether the first or second syllable has the stress, whether the s is or , and whether the a is pronounced as in father, as in cat, or (when the stress is on the i) as in the a of sofa...]
and native practices in places such as
IndonesiaThe Republic of Indonesia is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia comprises 17,508 islands. With an estimated population of around 237 million people, it is the world's fourth most populous country, with the world's largest population of Muslims.Indonesia is a republic, with an...
feature sacrifice as an element of worship.
The most extreme form of sacrifice, and the one carrying the most negative taboo, is
human sacrificeHuman sacrifice is the act of killing human beings as part of a religious ritual . Its typology closely parallels the various practices of ritual slaughter of animals and of religious sacrifice in general. Human sacrifice has been practiced in various cultures throughout history...
. The
molochMoloch, Molech, Molekh, Molek, or Moloc, representing semitic מולך m-l-k, is either the name of a god or the name of a particular kind of sacrifice associated with fire...
is one famous but disputed example of the practice; the
CarthaginiansCarthage refers both to an ancient city in present-day Tunisia, and a modern-day suburb of Tunis. The civilization that developed within the city's sphere of influence is referred to as Punic or Carthaginian...
seemingly sacrificed young children when circumstances looked grim, hoping to regain
their gods'See also Religions of the Ancient Near EastThe foundation of Carthage at the end of the ninth century B.C. encouraged the more permanent establishment in the Western Mediterranean of members of the Phoenician pantheon. No longer did merchants set up temporary trading posts, many of them going back...
favor. Some historians attribute this as one reason for their downfall. Other cultures preferred to sacrifice only their enemies, offering up captured prisoners in supplication; the
DruidA druid was a member of the priestly and learned class active in Gaul, and perhaps in Celtic culture more generally, during the final centuries BCE...
s became one of the two religions banned by the Roman Empire due to their practice of (Roman) human sacrifice. The book Genesis contains the famous story of the "
Binding of IsaacThe Binding of Isaac, in Genesis , is a story from the Hebrew Bible in which God asks Abraham to sacrifice his son, Isaac, on Mount Moriah.The narration is referred to as the Akedah or Akedat Yitzchak in Hebrew and as the Dhabih in Arabic...
";
AbrahamAbraham is the founding patriarch of the Israelites, Ishmaelites, Midianites and Edomite peoples, as described in the book of Genesis. He is widely regarded as the patriarch of Jews, Christians, and Muslims....
is ordered to sacrifice his son
IsaacIsaac or Ishak ) was the only child of Abraham and Sarah, and the father of Jacob and Esau, described in the Hebrew Bible. He is regarded as one of the three patriarchs of the Jewish people...
by God, but it turns out that God was only performing a mysterious test, and a ram is sent instead. Human sacrifice is condemned afterward. The
Qur'anThe Qur’an is the central religious text of Islam...
contains strong condemnations of the Arabian pagans who would sacrifice babies who turned out to be unwanted girls by leaving them in pots in the desert to die of exposure, saying that such practice surely leads to hell.
Magic and Abrahamic religion
Magic and Abrahamic religions have had a somewhat checkered past. The King James Version of the Bible included the famous translation "
Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live" (Exodus 22:18), and
SaulSaul was the first king of the united Kingdom of Israel according to the Hebrew Bible. He was anointed by the prophet Samuel and reigned from Gibeah...
is rebuked by God for seeking advice from a diviner who could contact spirits. However, miracles from God are considered legitimate, such as
MosesMoses was, according to biblical texts, a religious leader, lawgiver, and prophet, to whom the authorship of the Torah is traditionally attributed. Also called Moshe Rabbeinu in Hebrew Moses was, according to biblical texts, a...
' staff turning into a snake. The Tanakh contains many condemnations of non-Jews and their practices; it is unclear how much it is simple heresy being condemned, and how much magic. Magic was seen as intricately tied up with
Baal' is a Northwest Semitic title and honorific meaning "master" or "lord" that is used for various gods who were patrons of cities in the Levant, cognate to Akkadian Bēlu...
-worship and other unacceptable forms of religion at the time. In the
New TestamentThe New Testament is the name given to the second major division of the Christian Bible, the first such division being the much longer Old Testament, both terms being associated with Supersessionism...
and later theology, it is thought that all seeming "magic" is actually powered by demons, making it even more unacceptable. Thus, magic was seen as taboo throughout much of the Middle Ages, unless draped in Christianity;
BeowulfBeowulf is an Old English heroic epic poem of unknown authorship, dating as recorded in the Nowell Codex manuscript from between the 8th and the early 11th century, set in Denmark and Sweden...
is an example of a story of likely pagan origin that was infused with religion to make it "acceptable." Occasional persecutions were made on the basis of witchcraft, or at least using witchcraft as the excuse to execute enemies with. A famous example is the
Salem Witch TrialsThe Salem witch trials were a series of hearings before local magistrates followed by county court trials to prosecute people accused of witchcraft in Essex, Suffolk and Middlesex counties of colonial Massachusetts, between February 1692 and May 1693...
.
The
Qur'anThe Qur’an is the central religious text of Islam...
contains references to both good and bad
jinnIn Islam, a Djinn is a supernatural creature which occupies a parallel world to that of mankind, and together with humans and angels makes up the three sentient creations of Allah...
, claiming that some submitted to God while others persist in disobedience. Soliciting the aid of a Muslim
jinnJinn may refer to:*Genie, a supernatural being in Islam; a creature of made of smokeless fire. *Jinn , a Japanese band*Qui-Gon Jinn, a Star Wars character...
might grant magic-like effects and be acceptable to God, such as that done by King Sulayman (Solomon). Evil jinn are, in essence, demons.
Some mainstream Protestant and Jewish theologies claim the age of miracles has passed, and "magic" is now ineffective (whether or not it actually worked in the past). Therefore, the point is moot and there is no need to hunt down witches, because there aren't any true ones. Many sects of Christianity still maintain a belief in demons and evil spirits, but normally believe that in accordance with Christ's commands, devil-worshippers should be saved, not slain. Judaism, after long years of persecution after the
DiasporaA diaspora is any movement of a population sharing common ethnic identity. While refugees may or may not ultimately settle in a new geographic location, the term diaspora refers to a permanently displaced and relocated collective.Diasporic cultural development often assumes a different course from...
, refrains from persecuting witches.
The words "witch" and "witchcraft" appear in some English versions of the Christian Holy Bible. One verse that is probably responsible for more deaths of suspected witches than any other passage from the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament) is Exodus 22:18. In the King James Version, this reads: "Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live." The precise meaning of the Hebrew word
kashaph, here translated as 'witch' and in some other modern versions, 'sorceress', is uncertain. In the
SeptuagintThe Septuagint , or simply "LXX", referred to in critical works by the abbreviation ...
it was translated as
pharmakeia, meaning 'poisoner', and on this basis,
Reginald ScotReginald Scot was the English author of The Discoverie of Witchcraft, which was published in 1584. It was written to show that witches did not exist, by exposing how feats of magic were done...
claimed in the 16th century that 'witch' was an incorrect translation and poisoners were intended. His theory still holds some currency, but is not widely accepted, and in Daniel 2:2
kashaph is listed alongside other magic practitioners who could interpret dreams: magicians, astrologers and Chaldeans.
The Judeo-Christian abhorrence of witches was not peculiar to them. The pagan Roman Empire, Egyptian Empire and Babylonian Empires all developed laws against malevolent witchcraft. The ancient
Code of HammurabiThe Code of Hammurabi is a well-preserved ancient law code, created ca. 1790 BC in ancient Babylon. It was enacted by the sixth Babylonian king, Hammurabi...
specifically called for death to witches, and also proscribed false accusations of witchcraft:
If a man has laid a charge of witchcraft and has not justified it, he upon whom the witchcraft is laid shall go to the holy river; he shall plunge into the holy river and if the holy river overcome him, he who accused him shall take to himself his house.
See also
- Magical thinking
In anthropology, psychology, and cognitive science, magical thinking is nonscientific causal reasoning that often includes such ideas as the ability of the mind to affect the physical world , and correlation mistaken for causation...
- Magic in the Greco-Roman World
The study of magic in the Greco-Roman world is a branch of the disciplines of classics, ancient history and religious studies. In the ancient post-hellenistic world of the Greeks and Romans , the public and private rituals associated with religion are accepted by historians and archaeologists to...
- Kabbalah
Kabbalah is a discipline and school of thought concerned with the mystical aspect of Judaism. It is a set of esoteric teachings that is meant to explain the relationship between an infinite, eternal and essentially unknowable Creator with the finite and mortal universe of His creation...
, a variety of mystic Judaism
- Christian mysticism
Christian mysticism refers to the practice and experiential knowledge of deep prayer involving the person of Jesus Christ and the Holy Ghost. This approach and lifestyle is distinguished from more "mainstream" forms of Christian practice by its aim and depth of devotion...
- Zionism (southern African religion), a syncretic blend of African beliefs and Christianity
- Sufism
Sufism or ' , also spelled as tasavvuf and tasavvof, is generally understood to be the inner, mystical dimension of Islam. A practitioner of this tradition is generally known as a ' , though some adherents of the tradition reserve this term only for those practitioners who have attained the goals...
, a variant of Islam
- Wicca
Wicca is a neopagan, nature-based religion. It was popularised in 1954 by Gerald Gardner, a retired British civil servant, who at the time called it a "Witch cult" and "Witchcraft", and its adherents "the Wica"....
, a modern reinterpretation of paganism
- Benedicaria
Benedicaria, which means "Craft or Way of Blessing," is a relatively new term for a number of loosely-related family-based folk traditions found throughout Italy, most notably in southern Italy and Sicily...
, Sicilian Catholic folk religious practice
- Anthropology of religion
The anthropology of religion involves the study of religious institutions in relation to other social institutions, and the comparison of religious beliefs and practices across cultures.-History:...
- Origin of religion
- Prehistoric religion
Prehistoric religion is a general term for the religious beliefs and practices of prehistoric peoples.-Burial:Intentional burial, particularly with grave goods may be one of the earliest detectable forms of religious practice since, as Philip Lieberman suggests, it may signify a "concern for the...
- Animism
Animism is a philosophical, religious or spiritual idea that souls or spirits exist not only in humans but also in other animals, plants, rocks, natural phenomena such as thunder, geographic features such as mountains or rivers, or other entities of the natural environment, a proposition also...
- Folk religion
Folk religion consists of ethnic or regional religious customs under the umbrella of an organized religion, but outside of official doctrine and practices...
- Religion and mythology
Religion and mythology differ, but have overlapping aspects. Both terms refer to systems of concepts that are of high importance to a certain community, making statements concerning the supernatural or sacred. Generally, mythology is considered one component or aspect of religion...
- Myth and ritual
In traditional societies, myth and ritual are two central components of religious practice. Although myth and ritual are commonly united as parts of religion, the exact relationship between them has been a matter of controversy among scholars...
- Esotericism
Esotericism or Esoterism is a term with two basic meanings. In the dictionary sense of the term, it signifies the holding of esoteric opinions, and derives from the Greek , a compound of : "within", thus "pertaining to the more inward", mystic. Its antonym is exoteric...