In fiction, it does often tend to be for control, for the sake of ambition, or in pursuit of desired, even desperately needed (or believed so) results.
How often magic in fiction abides by real-life practice, Iâm not sure. Readers tonight might want to comment on that. My impression is that magic in fiction is most often going to just emulate, because writers need to adapt everything they present in ways their readers will recognize and enjoy. In this case, thatâs likely to be influenced by how itâs previously been portrayed in both classic and genre fiction, too. Which might differ radically from how practiced in the past or present real world.
h/t SandraLLAP
To begin,
...if a person does certain actions, in the correct way, in the correct order, and at the correct time, then [it should] cause a certain result in the natural world.
[It does not necessarily] depend on an appeal to gods, spirits, deities, or other entities [either]âŠ.
...âIn this sense, magic parallels science; the world is a natural one of cause-and-effect relationships. The magician, like the scientist, seeks mastery of the causes in order to produce desired effects.â âIf it can be said that religion is largely dependent on âwhomâ you know, then it can be said that magic relies on âwhatâ you know, for it is knowledge of the suitable thing to do that brings about the results intended â âŠ. âMagic is a form of [intellectual] property known only to those who have been given a right to share it by virtue of training, friendship, and the payment of gifts.â
Emphasis added.
Payment may be from requesters to the magic worker. It may also be what the worker and associates pay, more or less TO magic, possibly heavy payment, to enact respect or allegiance, or to balance in that sphere whatâs going to move into this reality, or simply bringing whatâs necessary from the mundane world that the unseen realm needs for things to happen. Payment might be as simple as acceptance that oneself gives up treasured life experiences or possessions or relationships in order to be able to work magic.
The aims vary. And so do the understandings.
h/t EcoLogicLee
â...most Witches and Neo-Pagans do not link âmagicâ with the âsupernatural.ââ ⊠â[They may be working] with techniques that alter consciousness in order to facilitate psychic activityâ [and insight].
Why insight? Because knowledge is wisdom! Traditionally, thatâs often what magic is seeking to bring.
Certain ideas may be shared among people involved in doing religion or doing magic. E.g., the Law of Similarity, the belief that thereâs a connection between similar things or acts. Interestingly, Gestalt psychologists, âthe first ... to systematically study perceptual groupingâ reported that
Organisms perceive some parts of their perceptual fields as "hanging together" more tightly than othersâŠ. as individuals perceive the world, they eliminate complexity and unfamiliarity so they can observe reality in its most simplistic form. Eliminating extraneous stimuli helps the mind create meaning. This meaning created by perception implies a global regularity,
The Law of Similarity facilitates Imitative Magic, that whatâs done in magic will happen in the material world.
Another, The Law of Contagion â that objects that had once been in contact always retain a relationship, so a change in one will cause change in the other.
Andââ
âthe Law of Opposites: opposite objects have a connection and thus what affects one can affect the other. For example, in order to bring rain, the ceremony may focus on dry earth or sand.
Words/speaking are involved in countless kinds of magic. George Wells writes in an article in Free Inquiry:
âIt is official Catholic teaching that when, at the Eucharistic celebration, the priest speaks the words of consecration, the substance of the bread and the wine is changed into the body and blood of Christ. It is thus supposed that the mere pronunciation of words in the ritual situation can effect a change in the character of material objectsâŠ.â
Word magic is also closely associated with tabooed wordsâwords [to be NOT] spoken in certain social contexts. Tabooed words include the irreverent use of sacred names and obscene language. By avoiding these words, speakers are attempting to avoid any bad consequencesâŠ
...In his book The Stuff of Thought: Language as a Window into Human Nature, psychologist Steven Pinker writes:
âIncantations, spells, prayers, and curses are ways that people try to affect the world through words, and taboos and euphemisms are ways that people try not to affect it.â
or to be able to escape it.
As to objects â the Sword in the Stone, the (usually purple) Onion of Othmar, the Duffel Bag of Least Resistance :) â
...According to one display on religions in ancient Scotland in the National Museum of Scotland:
âIt was important to have magic on your side in a world where luck, both good and bad, was a force affecting your life. People wore charms and amulets to bring good luck and ward off evil.â
<big>Khamsas for invoking peace, friendship, protection, welcome, generosity/abundance (e.g., propserity and sharing, or fertility & lactation, and so on) <big></big>
...âCharms and amulets were universally employed [in China, and almost everywhere else, too], placed in the home and worn on the person. Guardian figures were painted on the gates, and walls were paced across the entrance-ways beyond, in both temples and homes, to keep out evil spiritsâ
and to encourage good to come.
In a huge range of belief systems, music by the believers, or played to them, powerfully amplifies their sense of reliance and belief. And ya know what, it does that to unbelievers, too! Itâs like magic! :)
