Blackwell Reference Online

Extract

[xxiv] Ritual activity intended to produce results without using the recognized causal processes of the physical world. Present in all cultures and ranging from folk magic worked by simple traditional rules to sophisticated magical systems backed by complex metaphysics, magic generally depends upon a world-view in which things of one order are felt to correspond to things of another, so that operations performed symbolically in one realm will take practical effect elsewhere. The Azande sorcerer (see Zande religion) depriving a popular man of his friends by the use of twigs from a tree which loses its leaves rapidly when cut [10], and the Renaissance courtier-magician seeking to compel a lady's love by a talisman (an object ritually constructed to bring special powers to its possessor; see Amulets and talismans) of Venus, constructed of copper at astrologically appropriate hours, both create a ‘model’ of a force which they seek to project.Distinctions between magic operating ‘mechanically’ and magic inducing a spirit or god to act are not always useful. The man who ill-treats a lock of his enemy's hair to harm him probably expects automatic results; the Renaissance magician conjuring up a spirit to reveal celestial wisdom probably does not. But in medieval Europe holy water cured illness. Was virtue inherent in the consecrated substance, or were cures granted through faith and God's ... log in or subscribe to read full text