Whatever people may think of magic, it has been around for many thousands of years, and in all countries and cultures of the world. It is probably the only thing that is as wide-spread and universal throughout mankind's history as religion and the concept of God. (In fact, some might even say that they are one and the same).
So, if
the subject of Magic is so all-pervasive throughout mankind's existence, then
what exactly is Magic? In the most basic
sense, magic is something that cannot be explained by science or technology,
and this is the foundation of everything we call magic today.
Imagine
life not so many centuries ago, when people had no knowledge or understanding
of bacteria, for example. An air or
water-borne contagion infects many people, but no one can explain how they got
sick. It is easy to grasp for the
nearest plausible explanation, such as the ugly old crone down the road who
despises people and therefore cast a spell to make them sick.
Other
people living close to nature came to believe that spirits guided, helped or
even attacked them, and performing certain rituals could either appease these
spirits or call upon them for some assistance.
There are many examples of how the idea of something supernatural and
magical came to be the popular explanation for events that were not understood
in the past.
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| Image by Enrique Meseguer on Pixabay |
Myths,
folklores and tales from every country, race and group of people are full of
superstitions, belief in the supernatural and in magic.
But then
magic began to be deliberately practiced by an organized group of people, and
magic became a belief system like religion.
The foremost example of this is Ancient Egypt, and it spread to the rest
of the ancient world such as Greece, Persia, Mesopotamia and beyond. Such organized magic made belief in such
things like protection amulets, curses and supernatural powers a common and
everyday thing: maybe just like we take
for granted that lights come on when we flick a switch, or we see an image on
our screens, without understanding the exact nature of electricity or the
functions of a microchip.
But did
the magic of the past really work, like our lights and computers work in our
day? For magic and the people who
performed it to flourish for centuries, if not even millennia down to our day,
there must have been something to it. Or
was it because there was no other knowledge available to replace the belief in
magic, according to what the priests and other practitioners of magic were
saying?
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| Image by Enrique Meseguer on Pixabay |
Magic did not seem to fade away as civilizations advanced, but rather seemed to become more established in the age of books, science and medicine. The scientists, physicists and doctors of the Middle Ages were alchemists who studied astrology and believed they could turn lead to gold. Some of their books still exist today, and are full of conjurations (spells) and mystical symbolism.
The
confusing language and codes were meant to protect the knowledge of performing
magic from being misused or abused by people unworthy of wielding it, and this
led to secret societies, initiations and masters who trained apprentices in the
works of magic.
This led
to the concept of hidden knowledge and
activity, which is the meaning of the word occult, while the word esoteric means something is known to
only a select, elite few people.
Thanks to
the Internet and an open society nowadays, most of these occult and esoteric
traditions are well known, and no doubt gaining many new members all the
time. You’ve probably heard of the main
ones such as Jewish mysticism called The Kabbalah or Qabalah, Hermeticism,
The Rosicrucians and even the Freemasons whose traditions go back to Ancient
Egypt.
The
general teaching of these secret societies that is made public in many books is
the
path to
personal enlightenment, empowering each person to have control of one’s life
and destiny. But another much less-known theory about the
purpose of these societies is that ancient knowledge must be kept secret and
only revealed to a chosen few. This
ancient knowledge could contain science and technology not commonly known
today, and which has been suppressed over millennia.
Whatever
the case may be, magic is as popular as ever, judging by the endless variety of
Fantasy books and films as well as the ever-growing range of non-fiction books
about ancient magic, New Age themes, mysticism, esoteric societies and even the
occult.
But why
is this so? Do people just need an
escape? Is it an alternative to belief
in a deity? Is magic just another form
of religion? Or is there really
something to it? After all, research and
study of the Paranormal has been undertaken by governments and other serious
establishments, and the latest books on the subject are bestsellers!
Real Magic: Ancient Wisdom,
Modern Science, and a Guide to the Secret Power of the Universe
Are these some of the ancient secrets that
have been carefully guarded down the ages?
Like many people, I have been fascinated
by magic and the paranormal since my childhood, and I have based my Fantasy
series on some research into ancient magic.
For instance, books 2 & 3 are set in Ancient Egypt, and Rhuna, The Star Child deals with the use of amulets, curses and illnesses believed to be
performed by people with special powers.
The fifth book in the series, Rhuna, The Snow Dreamer features Tibetan lamas with supernormal abilities, as described in another
popular book:
Supernormal: Science, Yoga,
and the Evidence for Extraordinary Psychic Abilities
