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106-411: In modern representations, a succubus is often depicted as a beautiful seductress or enchantress , rather than as demonic or frightening. The male counterpart to the succubus is the incubus . The term derives from Late Latin succuba "paramour" from succubare "to lie beneath" ( sub - "under" and cubare "to lie"), used to describe this being's implied sexual position relative to

212-656: A sky deity . The worship of sacred stones constituted one of the most important practices of the Semitic speaking peoples , including Arabs . Cult images of a deity were most often an unworked stone block. The most common name for these stone blocks was derived from the Semitic nsb ("to be stood upright"), but other names were used, such as Nabataean masgida ("place of prostration") and Arabic duwar ("object of circumambulation", this term often occurs in pre-Islamic Arabic poetry ). These god-stones were usually

318-546: A British occultist , defined " magick " as "the Science and Art of causing Change to occur in conformity with Will", adding a 'k' to distinguish ceremonial or ritual magic from stage magic. In modern occultism and neopagan religions, many self-described magicians and witches regularly practice ritual magic. This view has been incorporated into chaos magic and the new religious movements of Thelema and Wicca . The English words magic , mage and magician come from

424-490: A category did not exist in ancient Mesopotamia, and a person legitimately using magic to defend themselves against illegitimate magic would use exactly the same techniques. The only major difference was that curses were enacted in secret; whereas a defense against sorcery was conducted in the open, in front of an audience if possible. One ritual to punish a sorcerer was known as Maqlû , or "The Burning". The person viewed as being afflicted by witchcraft would create an effigy of

530-514: A cure was not to be regarded superstitiously and there has been the widespread practice of medicinal amulets, and folk remedies ( segullot ) in Jewish societies across time and geography. Although magic was forbidden by Levitical law in the Hebrew Bible , it was widely practised in the late Second Temple period , and particularly well documented in the period following the destruction of

636-528: A form of early protective magic called incantation bowl or magic bowls. The bowls were produced in the Middle East, particularly in Upper Mesopotamia and Syria , what is now Iraq and Iran , and fairly popular during the sixth to eighth centuries. The bowls were buried face down and were meant to capture demons . They were commonly placed under the threshold, courtyards, in the corner of

742-556: A free-standing slab, but Nabataean god-stones are usually carved directly on the rock face. Facial features may be incised on the stone (especially in Nabataea), or astral symbols (especially in South Arabia). Under Greco-Roman influence, an anthropomorphic statue might be used instead. The Book of Idols describes two types of statues: idols ( sanam ) and images ( wathan ). If a statue were made of wood, gold, or silver, after

848-529: A goddess of love. Manāt ( Arabic : مناة) was the goddess of destiny. Al-Lāt's cult was spread in Syria and northern Arabia. From Safaitic and Hismaic inscriptions, it is probable that she was worshiped as Lat ( lt ). F. V. Winnet saw al-Lat as a lunar deity due to the association of a crescent with her in 'Ayn esh-Shallāleh and a Lihyanite inscription mentioning the name of Wadd , the Minaean moon god, over

954-537: A lesser impact in the remainder of the peninsula, but did secure some conversions. With the exception of Nestorianism in the northeast and the Persian Gulf , the dominant form of Christianity was Miaphysitism . The peninsula had been a destination for Jewish migration since Roman times, which had resulted in a diaspora community supplemented by local converts. Judaism had largely grown in South Arabia and

1060-513: A local community might value and respect these individuals because their skills and services were deemed beneficial. In Western societies, the practice of magic, especially when harmful, was usually associated with women. For instance, during the witch trials of the early modern period, around three quarters of those executed as witches were female, to only a quarter who were men. That women were more likely to be accused and convicted of witchcraft in this period might have been because their position

1166-531: A magical world view . Those regarded as being magicians have often faced suspicion from other members of their society. This is particularly the case if these perceived magicians have been associated with social groups already considered morally suspect in a particular society, such as foreigners, women, or the lower classes. In contrast to these negative associations, many practitioners of activities that have been labelled magical have emphasised that their actions are benevolent and beneficial. This conflicted with

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1272-422: A man with his patron deity or to reconcile a wife with a husband who had been neglecting her. The ancient Mesopotamians made no distinction between rational science and magic. When a person became ill, doctors would prescribe both magical formulas to be recited as well as medicinal treatments. Most magical rituals were intended to be performed by an āšipu , an expert in the magical arts. The profession

1378-409: A minor tradition in Jewish history. Its teachings include the use of Divine and angelic names for amulets and incantations . These magical practices of Judaic folk religion which became part of practical Kabbalah date from Talmudic times. The Talmud mentions the use of charms for healing, and a wide range of magical cures were sanctioned by rabbis. It was ruled that any practice actually producing

1484-520: A person's soul could only survive in the afterlife for as long as his or her physical body survived here on earth. The last ceremony before a person's body was sealed away inside the tomb was known as the Opening of the Mouth . In this ritual, the priests would touch various magical instruments to various parts of the deceased's body, thereby giving the deceased the ability to see, hear, taste, and smell in

1590-444: A pre-Islamic god called Ailiah and is similar to El , Il, Ilah , and Jehovah . They also considered some of his characteristics to be seemingly based on lunar deities like Almaqah, Kahl, Shaker, Wadd and Warakh. Alfred Guillaume states that the connection between Ilah that came to form Allah and ancient Babylonian Il or El of ancient Israel is not clear. Wellhausen states that Allah was known from Jewish and Christian sources and

1696-533: A soothsayer ( מְעוֹנֵ֥ן ) or a sorcerer ( וּמְכַשֵּֽׁף ) or one who conjures spells ( וְחֹבֵ֖ר חָ֑בֶר ) or one who calls up the dead ( וְדֹרֵ֖שׁ אֶל־הַמֵּתִֽים ) are specifically forbidden as abominations to the Lord. Halakha (Jewish religious law) forbids divination and other forms of soothsaying, and the Talmud lists many persistent yet condemned divining practices. Practical Kabbalah in historical Judaism

1802-536: A substantial corpus of texts which are products of the Egyptian tradition. While the category magic has been contentious for modern Egyptology, there is clear support for its applicability from ancient terminology. The Coptic term hik is the descendant of the pharaonic term heka , which, unlike its Coptic counterpart, had no connotation of impiety or illegality, and is attested from the Old Kingdom through to

1908-563: A succubus named Meridiana, who helped him achieve his high rank in the Catholic Church . Before his death, he confessed of his sins and died repentant. According to the Kabbalah and the school of Rashba , the original three queens of the demons, Agrat bat Mahlat, Naamah, Eisheth Zenunim, and all their cohorts give birth to children, except Lilith. According to other legends , the children of Lilith are called Lilin . According to

2014-531: Is a branch of the Jewish mystical tradition that concerns the use of magic. It was considered permitted white magic by its practitioners, reserved for the elite, who could separate its spiritual source from qlippothic realms of evil if performed under circumstances that were holy ( Q-D-Š ) and pure ( Biblical Hebrew : טומאה וטהרה , romanized:  tvmh vthrh ). The concern of overstepping Judaism's strong prohibitions of impure magic ensured it remained

2120-540: Is a major component and supporting contribution to the belief and practice of spiritual, and in many cases, physical healing throughout the Middle Ages. Emanating from many modern interpretations lies a trail of misconceptions about magic, one of the largest revolving around wickedness or the existence of nefarious beings who practice it. These misinterpretations stem from numerous acts or rituals that have been performed throughout antiquity, and due to their exoticism from

2226-468: Is also closely associated with sorcery and witchcraft . Anthropologist Susan Greenwood writes that "Since the Renaissance, high magic has been concerned with drawing down forces and energies from heaven" and achieving unity with divinity. High magic is usually performed indoors while witchcraft is often performed outdoors. Historian Owen Davies says the term "white witch" was rarely used before

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2332-588: Is doing the defining." Gray magic , also called "neutral magic", is magic that is not performed for specifically benevolent reasons, but is also not focused towards completely hostile practices. The historian Ronald Hutton notes the presence of four distinct meanings of the term witchcraft in the English language. Historically, the term primarily referred to the practice of causing harm to others through supernatural or magical means. This remains, according to Hutton, "the most widespread and frequent" understanding of

2438-420: Is known by the dreams". They are said to be invisible, but a person with " second sight " can see them, often in the form of a cat, dog, or other household pet. "In Omdurman it is a spirit which possesses. ...Only certain people are possessed and such people cannot marry or the qarina will harm them." In Upper Egyptian folk belief, the qarînah can be appeased by sacrificing an all-black animal to her. The animal

2544-590: Is limited. One early attestation of Arabian polytheism was in Esarhaddon 's Annals, mentioning Atarsamain , Nukhay , Ruldaiu , and Atarquruma. Herodotus , writing in his Histories , reported that the Arabs worshipped Orotalt (identified with Dionysus ) and Alilat (identified with Aphrodite ). Strabo stated the Arabs worshipped Dionysus and Zeus . Origen stated they worshipped Dionysus and Urania . Muslim sources regarding Arabian polytheism include

2650-702: Is slaughtered without prayers, and it is cooked without salt. No one speaks during the meal and it is buried in the house of those it has afflicted. Magician (supernatural) Magic , sometimes spelled magick , is the application of beliefs, rituals or actions employed in the belief that they can manipulate natural or supernatural beings and forces. It is a category into which have been placed various beliefs and practices 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

2756-413: Is therefore a special gift from God , while the latter is achieved through help of Jinn and devils . Ibn al-Nadim held that exorcists gain their power by their obedience to God, while sorcerers please the devils by acts of disobedience and sacrifices and they in return do him a favor. According to Ibn Arabi , Al-Ḥajjāj ibn Yusuf al-Shubarbuli was able to walk on water due to his piety. According to

2862-619: The Malleus Maleficarum , or Witches' Hammer , written by Heinrich Kramer (Institoris) in 1486, succubi collect semen from men they seduce. Incubi, or male demons, then use the semen to impregnate human females, thus explaining how demons could apparently sire children, despite the traditional belief that they were incapable of reproduction. Children so begotten— cambions —were supposed to be those that were born deformed, or more susceptible to supernatural influences. King James in his dissertation titled Dæmonologie refutes

2968-556: The jinn of west and central Arabia. Unlike jinn in modern times, ginnaye could not hurt nor possess humans and were much more similar to the Roman genius . According to common Arabian belief, soothsayers , pre-Islamic philosophers, and poets were inspired by the jinn. However, jinn were also feared and thought to be responsible for causing various diseases and mental illnesses. Aside from benevolent gods and spirits, there existed malevolent beings. These beings were not attested in

3074-583: 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. During the late-sixth and early-fifth centuries BCE, the term goetia found its way into ancient Greek , where it was used with negative connotations to apply to rites that were regarded as fraudulent, unconventional, and dangerous; in particular they dedicate themselves to

3180-505: The Dharani Sutra of Amoghapāśa , promises to those who pray that "you will not be attacked by demons who either suck your energy or make love to you in your dreams." In Arabian mythology , the qarînah ( قرينة ) is a spirit similar to the succubus, with origins possibly in ancient Egyptian religion or in the animistic beliefs of pre-Islamic Arabia . A qarînah "sleeps with the person and has relations during sleep as

3286-598: The Kaaba with them, erected them, and circumambulated them like the Kaaba. This, according to al-Kalbi led to the rise of idol worship. Based on this, it may be probable that Arabs originally venerated stones, later adopting idol-worship under foreign influences. The relationship between a god and a stone as his representation can be seen from the third-century Syriac work called the Homily of Pseudo-Meliton where he describes

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3392-759: 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 *M ag (mage or shaman ). The Old Persian form seems to have permeated ancient Semitic languages as the Talmudic Hebrew magosh ,

3498-603: The Middle Kingdom , commoners began inscribing similar writings on the sides of their own coffins, hoping that doing so would ensure their own survival in the afterlife. These writings are known as the Coffin Texts . After a person died, his or her corpse would be mummified and wrapped in linen bandages to ensure that the deceased's body would survive for as long as possible because the Egyptians believed that

3604-453: 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 primitive mentality and also commonly attributed it to marginalised groups of people. Aleister Crowley (1875–1947),

3710-595: The Sinai Peninsula . Allāt ( Arabic : اللات) or al-Lāt was worshipped throughout the ancient Near East with various associations. Herodotus in the 5th century BC identifies Alilat ( Greek : Ἀλιλάτ) as the Arabic name for Aphrodite (and, in another passage, for Urania ), which is strong evidence for worship of Allāt in Arabia at that early date. Al-‘Uzzá ( Arabic : العزى) was a fertility goddess or possibly

3816-676: The jinn —comparable entities in Islamic mythology —were perceived as more ambivalent figures by Muslims. The model of the magician in Christian thought was provided by Simon Magus , (Simon the Magician), a figure who opposed Saint Peter in both the Acts of the Apostles and the apocryphal yet influential Acts of Peter . The historian Michael D. Bailey stated that in medieval Europe, magic

3922-491: The sociologist Marcel Mauss (1872–1950) and his uncle Émile Durkheim (1858–1917), employs the term to describe private rites and ceremonies and contrasts it with religion, which it defines as a communal and organised activity. By the 1990s many scholars were rejecting the term's utility for scholarship. They argued that the label drew arbitrary lines between similar beliefs and practices that were alternatively considered religious, and that it constituted ethnocentric to apply

4028-399: The "Lord of heaven and Earth". Aaron W. Hughes states that scholars are unsure whether he developed from the earlier polytheistic systems or developed due to the increasing significance of the Christian and Jewish communities, and that it is difficult to establish whether Allah was linked to Rahman. Maxime Rodinson , however, considers one of Allah's names, "Ar-Rahman", to have been used in

4134-435: The 20th century. White magic is understood as the use of magic for selfless or helpful purposes, while black magic was used for selfish, harmful or evil purposes. Black magic is the malicious counterpart of the benevolent white magic. There is no consensus as to what constitutes white, gray or black magic, as Phil Hine says, "like many other aspects of occultism, what is termed to be 'black magic' depends very much on who

4240-646: The Meccans and the other settled inhabitants of the Hejaz worshiped their gods at permanent shrines in towns and oases, the Bedouin practiced their religion on the move. In South Arabia, mndh’t were anonymous guardian spirits of the community and the ancestor spirits of the family. They were known as 'the sun ( shms ) of their ancestors'. In North Arabia, ginnaye were known from Palmyrene inscriptions as "the good and rewarding gods" and were probably related to

4346-563: The Middle Ages more powerful than the singular commoner, the Christian Church, rejected magic as a whole because it was viewed as a means of tampering with the natural world in a supernatural manner associated with the biblical verses of Deuteronomy 18:9–12. Despite the many negative connotations which surround the term magic, there exist many elements that are seen in a divine or holy light. The divine right of kings in England

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4452-535: The New Testament as well. Some commentators say that in the first century CE, early Christian authors absorbed the Greco-Roman concept of magic and incorporated it into their developing Christian theology , and that these Christians retained the already implied Greco-Roman negative stereotypes of the term and extended them by incorporating conceptual patterns borrowed from Jewish thought, in particular

4558-506: The Persian Empire. In this context, the term makes appearances in such surviving text as Sophocles ' Oedipus Rex , Hippocrates ' De morbo sacro , and Gorgias ' Encomium of Helen . In Sophocles' play, for example, the character Oedipus derogatorily refers to the seer Tiresius as a magos —in this context meaning something akin to quack or charlatan—reflecting how this epithet was no longer reserved only for Persians. In

4664-558: The Quran 2:102, magic was also taught to humans by devils and the angels Harut and Marut . The influence of Arab Islamic magic in medieval and Renaissance Europe was very notable. Some magic books such as Picatrix and Al Kindi 's De Radiis were the basis for much of medieval magic in Europe and for subsequent developments in the Renaissance. Another Arab Muslim author fundamental to the developments of medieval and Renaissance European magic

4770-408: The Roman era. heka was considered morally neutral and was applied to the practices and beliefs of both foreigners and Egyptians alike. The Instructions for Merikare informs us that heka was a beneficence gifted by the creator to humanity "in order to be weapons to ward off the blow of events". Magic was practiced by both the literate priestly hierarchy and by illiterate farmers and herdsmen, and

4876-414: The act of cunnilingus . In later folklore, a succubus took the form of a siren . Throughout history, priests and rabbis , including Hanina ben Dosa and Abaye , tried to curb the power of succubi over humans. However, not all succubi were malevolent. According to Walter Map in the satire De nugis curialium ( Trifles of Courtiers ), Pope Sylvester II (999–1003) was allegedly involved with

4982-475: The afterlife. The use of amulets ( meket ) was widespread among both living and dead ancient Egyptians. They were used for protection and as a means of "reaffirming the fundamental fairness of the universe". The oldest amulets found are from the predynastic Badarian Period, and they persisted through to Roman times. In the Mosaic Law, practices such as witchcraft ( Biblical Hebrew : קְסָמִ֔ים ), being

5088-477: The ancient Greeks—and subsequently for the ancient Romans—"magic was not distinct from religion but rather an unwelcome, improper expression of it—the religion of the other". The historian Richard Gordon suggested that for the ancient Greeks, being accused of practicing magic was "a form of insult". This change in meaning was influenced by the military conflicts that the Greek city-states were then engaged in against

5194-425: The archangel Samael . In Zoharistic Kabbalah , there were four succubi who mated with the archangel Samael. The four original queens of the demons were Lilith , Eisheth Zenunim , Agrat bat Mahlat , and Naamah . A succubus may take a form of a beautiful woman, but closer inspection may reveal deformities of her body, such as bird-like claws or serpentine tails. Folklore also describes men being forced to perform

5300-410: The broader category of superstitio ( superstition ), another term borrowed from pre-Christian Roman culture. This Christian emphasis on the inherent immorality and wrongness of magic as something conflicting with good religion was far starker than the approach in the other large monotheistic religions of the period, Judaism and Islam. For instance, while Christians regarded demons as inherently evil,

5406-413: The choices which lay outside the range of cults did not just add additional options to the civic menu, but ... sometimes incorporated critiques of the civic cults and Panhellenic myths or were genuine alternatives to them. Katadesmoi ( Latin : defixiones ), curses inscribed on wax or lead tablets and buried underground, were frequently executed by all strata of Greek society, sometimes to protect

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5512-540: The common Christian view that all activities categorised as being forms of magic were intrinsically bad regardless of the intent of the magician, because all magical actions relied on the aid of demons. There could be conflicting attitudes regarding the practices of a magician; in European history, authorities often believed that cunning folk and traditional healers were harmful because their practices were regarded as magical and thus stemming from contact with demons, whereas

5618-499: The commoner's perspective, the rituals invoked uneasiness and an even stronger sense of dismissal. In the Medieval Jewish view, the separation of the mystical and magical elements of Kabbalah, dividing it into speculative theological Kabbalah ( Kabbalah Iyyunit ) with its meditative traditions, and theurgic practical Kabbalah ( Kabbalah Ma'asit ), had occurred by the beginning of the 14th century. One societal force in

5724-602: The connotations of magic—rooted in Western and Christian history—to other cultures. Historians and anthropologists have distinguished between practitioners who engage in high magic, and those who engage in low magic . High magic, also known as theurgy and ceremonial or ritual magic, is more complex, involving lengthy and detailed rituals as well as sophisticated, sometimes expensive, paraphernalia. Low magic and natural magic are associated with peasants and folklore with simpler rituals such as brief, spoken spells. Low magic

5830-539: The daughters of Allah. Regional variants of the word Allah occur in both pagan and Christian pre-Islamic inscriptions. References to Allah are found in the poetry of the pre-Islamic Arab poet Zuhayr bin Abi Sulma , who lived a generation before Muhammad, as well as pre-Islamic personal names. Muhammad's father's name was ʿAbd-Allāh , meaning "the servant of Allah". Charles Russell Coulter and Patricia Turner considered that Allah's name may be derived from

5936-424: The divine world reflected the society of the time. Trade caravans also brought foreign religious and cultural influences. A large number of deities did not have proper names and were referred to by titles indicating a quality, a family relationship, or a locale preceded by "he who" or "she who" ( dhū or dhāt respectively). The religious beliefs and practices of the nomadic Bedouin were distinct from those of

6042-521: The dominant form of religion in pre-Islamic Arabia , was based on veneration of deities and spirits. Worship was directed to various gods and goddesses, including Hubal and the goddesses al-Lāt , al-‘Uzzā , and Manāt , at local shrines and temples such as the Kaaba in Mecca . Deities were venerated and invoked through a variety of rituals, including pilgrimages and divination, as well as ritual sacrifice. Different theories have been proposed regarding

6148-597: The eighth-century Book of Idols by Hisham ibn al-Kalbi , which F.E. Peters argued to be the most substantial treatment of the religious practices of pre-Islamic Arabia, as well as the writings of the Yemeni historian al-Hasan al-Hamdani on South Arabian religious beliefs. According to the Book of Idols , descendants of the son of Abraham ( Ishmael ) who had settled in Mecca migrated to other lands carried holy stones from

6254-407: The entire polis . Communal curses carried out in public declined after the Greek classical period, but private curses remained common throughout antiquity. They were distinguished as magical by their individualistic, instrumental and sinister qualities. These qualities, and their perceived deviation from inherently mutable cultural constructs of normality, most clearly delineate ancient magic from

6360-465: The epigraphic record, but were alluded to in pre-Islamic Arabic poetry, and their legends were collected by later Muslim authors. Commonly mentioned are ghouls . Etymologically, the English word "ghoul" was derived from the Arabic ghul , from ghala , "to seize", related to the Sumerian galla . They are said to have a hideous appearance, with feet like those of an ass. Arabs were said to utter

6466-464: The evocation and invocation of daimons (lesser divinities or spirits) to control and acquire powers. This concept remained pervasive throughout the Hellenistic period, when Hellenistic authors categorised a diverse range of practices—such as enchantment, witchcraft , incantations , divination , necromancy , and astrology —under the label "magic". The Latin language adopted this meaning of

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6572-497: The first century BCE, the Greek concept of the magos was adopted into Latin and used by a number of ancient Roman writers as magus and magia . The earliest known Latin use of the term was in Virgil 's Eclogue , written around 40 BCE, which makes reference to magicis ... sacris (magic rites). The Romans already had other terms for the negative use of supernatural powers, such as veneficus and saga . The Roman use of

6678-554: The flight of birds and astrology. He also mentioned enchantment and ligatures (the medical use of magical objects bound to the patient) as being magical. Medieval Europe also saw magic come to be associated with the Old Testament figure of Solomon ; various grimoires , or books outlining magical practices, were written that claimed to have been written by Solomon, most notably the Key of Solomon . In early medieval Europe, magia

6784-402: The following couplet if they should encounter one: "Oh ass-footed one, just bray away, we won't leave the desert plain nor ever go astray." Christian Julien Robin notes that all the known South Arabian divinities had a positive or protective role and that evil powers were only alluded to but were never personified. Some scholars postulate that in pre-Islamic Arabia, including in Mecca, Allah

6890-489: The form of Rahmanan earlier. Al-Lāt , Al-‘Uzzá and Manāt were common names used for multiple goddesses across Arabia. G. R. Hawting states that modern scholars have frequently associated the names of Arabian goddesses Al-lāt , Al-‘Uzzá and Manāt with cults devoted to celestial bodies, particularly Venus , drawing upon evidence external to the Muslim tradition as well as in relation to Syria , Mesopotamia and

6996-432: The fourth century, almost all inhabitants of Arabia practiced polytheistic religions at which point pre-Islamic Arabian monotheism had begun to spread. From the fourth to sixth centuries, Jewish , Christian , and other monotheistic populations developed. Until recent decades, it was believed that polytheism remained the dominant belief system in pre-Islamic Arabia, but recent trends suggest that henotheism or monotheism

7102-553: The gods, snnw ntr (images of the god), the same power to use words creatively that the gods have is shared by humans. The interior walls of the pyramid of Unas, the final pharaoh of the Egyptian Fifth Dynasty, are covered in hundreds of magical spells and inscriptions, running from floor to ceiling in vertical columns. These inscriptions are known as the Pyramid Texts and they contain spells needed by

7208-524: The guilt for all their misdeeds onto various objects such as a strip of dates, an onion, and a tuft of wool. The person would then burn the objects and thereby purify themself of all sins that they might have unknowingly committed. A whole genre of love spells existed. Such spells were believed to cause a person to fall in love with another person, restore love which had faded, or cause a male sexual partner to be able to sustain an erection when he had previously been unable. Other spells were used to reconcile

7314-405: The homes of the recently deceased and in cemeteries . A subcategory of incantation bowls are those used in Jewish magical practice. Aramaic incantation bowls are an important source of knowledge about Jewish magical practices. In ancient Egypt ( Kemet in the Egyptian language), Magic (personified as the god heka ) was an integral part of religion and culture which is known to us through

7420-477: The last decade of the century, however, recognising the ubiquity and respectability of acts such as katadesmoi ( binding spells ), described as magic by modern and ancient observers alike, scholars have been compelled to abandon this viewpoint. The Greek word mageuo (practice magic) itself derives from the word Magos , originally simply the Greek name for a Persian tribe known for practicing religion. Non-civic mystery cults have been similarly re-evaluated:

7526-556: The magician Osthanes , who accompanied the military campaigns of the Persian King Xerxes . Ancient Greek scholarship of the 20th century, almost certainly influenced by Christianising preconceptions of the meanings of magic and religion , and the wish to establish Greek culture as the foundation of Western rationality, developed a theory of ancient Greek magic as primitive and insignificant, and thereby essentially separate from Homeric , communal ( polis ) religion. Since

7632-731: The northwest Hijaz . Additionally, the influence of the Sasanian Empire resulted in Iranian religions being present in the peninsula. Zoroastrianism existed in the east and south, while there is evidence of either Manichaeism or Mazdakism being possibly practiced in Mecca. Features Types Types Features Clothing Genres Art music Folk Prose Islamic Poetry Genres Forms Arabic prosody National literatures of Arab States Concepts Texts Fictional Arab people South Arabian deities Until about

7738-564: The opposition of magic and miracle . Some early Christian authors followed the Greek-Roman thinking by ascribing the origin of magic to the human realm, mainly to Zoroaster and Osthanes . The Christian view was that magic was a product of the Babylonians, Persians, or Egyptians. The Christians shared with earlier classical culture the idea that magic was something distinct from proper religion, although drew their distinction between

7844-589: The pagan faiths of Syriac-speakers in northern Mesopotamia, who were mostly Arabs. However, mythologies and narratives elucidating the history of these gods, as well as the meaning of their epithets, remains uninformative. The pre-Islamic Arabian religions were polytheistic, with many of the deities' names known. Formal pantheons are more noticeable at the level of kingdoms, of variable sizes, ranging from simple city-states to collections of tribes. Tribes , towns, clans, lineages and families had their own cults too. Christian Julien Robin suggests that this structure of

7950-511: The people a magician ... should be apprehended in my retinue, or in that of the Caesar, he shall not escape punishment and torture by the protection of his rank. Magic practices such as divination, interpretation of omens, sorcery, and use of charms had been specifically forbidden in Mosaic Law and condemned in Biblical histories of the kings. Many of these practices were spoken against in

8056-477: The pharaoh in order to survive in the afterlife . The Pyramid Texts were strictly for royalty only; the spells were kept secret from commoners and were written only inside royal tombs. During the chaos and unrest of the First Intermediate Period , however, tomb robbers broke into the pyramids and saw the magical inscriptions. Commoners began learning the spells and, by the beginning of

8162-414: The possibility for angelic entities to reproduce and instead offered a suggestion that a devil would carry out two methods of impregnating women - the first, to steal the sperm out of a dead man and deliver it into a woman. If a demon could extract the semen quickly, the substance could not be instantly transported to a female host, causing it to go cold. This explains his view that succubi and incubi were

8268-413: The principle of heka underlay all ritual activity, both in the temples and in private settings. The main principle of heka is centered on the power of words to bring things into being. Karenga explains the pivotal power of words and their vital ontological role as the primary tool used by the creator to bring the manifest world into being. Because humans were understood to share a divine nature with

8374-468: The religious rituals of which they form a part. A large number of magical papyri , in Greek , Coptic , and Demotic , have been recovered and translated. They contain early instances of: The practice of magic was banned in the late Roman world, and the Codex Theodosianus (438 AD) states: If any wizard therefore or person imbued with magical contamination who is called by custom of

8480-626: The role of Allah in Meccan religion. Many of the physical descriptions of the pre-Islamic gods are traced to idols , especially near the Kaaba, which is said to have contained up to 360 of them, including the Buddha statue. Other religions were represented to varying, lesser degrees. The influence of the adjacent Roman and Aksumite civilizations resulted in Christian communities in the northwest, northeast, and south of Arabia . Christianity made

8586-402: The same demonic entity, only to be described differently based on the tormented sexes being conversed with. The second method was the idea that a dead body could be possessed by a devil, causing it to rise and have sexual relations with others. However, no mention has been found of a female corpse being possessed to elicit sex from men. A Buddhist scripture regarding prayer to Avalokiteśvara ,

8692-436: The settled tribes of towns such as Mecca . Nomadic religious belief systems and practices are believed to have included fetishism , totemism and veneration of the dead but were connected principally with immediate concerns and problems and did not consider larger philosophical questions such as the afterlife. Settled urban Arabs, on the other hand, are thought to have believed in a more complex pantheon of deities. While

8798-454: The sleeper's position. The English word "succubus" dates from the late 14th century. The succubus is also known as the earth wanderer. As depicted in the Jewish mystical treatise Zohar and the medieval Jewish satirical text Alphabet of Ben Sira , Lilith was Adam 's first wife, who later became a succubus. She left Adam and refused to return to the Garden of Eden after she mated with

8904-412: The sorcerer and put it on trial at night. Then, once the nature of the sorcerer's crimes had been determined, the person would burn the effigy and thereby break the sorcerer's power over them. The ancient Mesopotamians also performed magical rituals to purify themselves of sins committed unknowingly. One such ritual was known as the Šurpu , or "Burning", in which the caster of the spell would transfer

9010-460: The spirits of those they had wronged, they would leave offerings known as kispu in the person's tomb in hope of appeasing them. If that failed, they also sometimes took a figurine of the deceased and buried it in the ground, demanding for the gods to eradicate the spirit, or force it to leave the person alone. The ancient Mesopotamians also used magic intending to protect themselves from evil sorcerers who might place curses on them. Black magic as

9116-492: The temple into the 3rd, 4th, and 5th centuries CE. During the late sixth and early fifth centuries BCE, the Persian maguš was Graecicized and introduced into the ancient Greek language as μάγος and μαγεία . In doing so it transformed meaning, gaining negative connotations, with the magos being regarded as a charlatan whose ritual practices were fraudulent, strange, unconventional, and dangerous. As noted by Davies, for

9222-663: The term maleficium applied to forms of magic that were conducted with the intention of causing harm. The later Middle Ages saw words for these practitioners of harmful magical acts appear in various European languages: sorcière in French, Hexe in German, strega in Italian, and bruja in Spanish. The English term for malevolent practitioners of magic, witch, derived from the earlier Old English term wicce . Ars Magica or magic

9328-407: The term in the first century BCE. Via Latin, the concept became incorporated into Christian theology during the first century CE. Early Christians associated magic with demons , and thus regarded it as against Christian religion. In early modern Europe , Protestants often claimed that Roman Catholicism was magic rather than religion, and as Christian Europeans began colonizing other parts of

9434-433: The term magic but have defined it in different ways and used it in reference to different things. One approach, associated with the anthropologists Edward Tylor (1832–1917) and James G. Frazer (1854–1941), uses the term to describe beliefs in hidden sympathies between objects that allow one to influence the other. Defined in this way, magic is portrayed as the opposite to science. An alternative approach, associated with

9540-700: The term was similar to that of the Greeks, but placed greater emphasis on the judicial application of it. Within the Roman Empire , laws would be introduced criminalising things regarded as magic. In ancient Roman society, magic was associated with societies to the east of the empire; the first century CE writer Pliny the Elder for instance claimed that magic had been created by the Iranian philosopher Zoroaster , and that it had then been brought west into Greece by

9646-421: The term. Moreover, Hutton also notes three other definitions in current usage; to refer to anyone who conducts magical acts, for benevolent or malevolent intent; for practitioners of the modern Pagan religion of Wicca ; or as a symbol of women resisting male authority and asserting an independent female authority. Belief in witchcraft is often present within societies and groups whose cultural framework includes

9752-494: The title of fkl lt . René Dussaud and Gonzague Ryckmans linked her with Venus while others have thought her to be a solar deity. John F. Healey considers that al-Uzza actually might have been an epithet of al-Lāt before becoming a separate deity in the Meccan pantheon. Paola Corrente, writing in Redefining Dionysus , considers she might have been a god of vegetation or a celestial deity of atmospheric phenomena and

9858-433: The two in different ways. For early Christian writers like Augustine of Hippo , magic did not merely constitute fraudulent and unsanctioned ritual practices, but was the very opposite of religion because it relied upon cooperation from demons , the henchmen of Satan . In this, Christian ideas of magic were closely linked to the Christian category of paganism , and both magic and paganism were regarded as belonging under

9964-421: The world in the sixteenth century, they labelled the non-Christian beliefs they encountered as magical. In that same period, Italian humanists reinterpreted the term in a positive sense to express the idea of natural magic . Both negative and positive understandings of the term recurred in Western culture over the following centuries. Since the nineteenth century, academics in various disciplines have employed

10070-801: Was Ahmad al-Buni , with his books such as the Shams al-Ma'arif which deal above all with the evocation and invocation of spirits or jinn to control them, obtain powers and make wishes come true. These books are still important to the Islamic world specifically in Simiyya , a doctrine found commonly within Sufi - occult traditions. Religion in pre-Islamic Arabia Religion in pre-Islamic Arabia included indigenous Arabian polytheism , Buddhism , ancient Semitic religions , Christianity , Judaism , Mandaeism , and Zoroastrianism . Arabian polytheism,

10176-435: Was a "relatively broad and encompassing category". Christian theologians believed that there were multiple different forms of magic, the majority of which were types of divination , for instance, Isidore of Seville produced a catalogue of things he regarded as magic in which he listed divination by the four elements i.e. geomancy , hydromancy , aeromancy , and pyromancy , as well as by observation of natural phenomena e.g.

10282-601: Was a term of condemnation. In medieval Europe, Christians often suspected Muslims and Jews of engaging in magical practices; in certain cases, these perceived magical rites—including the alleged Jewish sacrifice of Christian children —resulted in Christians massacring these religious minorities. Christian groups often also accused other, rival Christian groups such as the Hussites —which they regarded as heretical —of engaging in magical activities. Medieval Europe also saw

10388-420: Was considered to be a deity, possibly a creator deity or a supreme deity in a polytheistic pantheon . The word Allah (from the Arabic al-ilah meaning "the god") may have been used as a title rather than a name. The concept of Allah may have been vague in the Meccan religion. According to Islamic sources, Meccans and their neighbors believed that the goddesses Al-lāt , Al-‘Uzzá , and Manāt were

10494-678: Was devised, taught, and worked by demons would have seemed reasonable to anyone who read the Greek magical papyri or the Sefer-ha-Razim and found that healing magic appeared alongside rituals for killing people, gaining wealth, or personal advantage, and coercing women into sexual submission. Archaeology is contributing to a fuller understanding of ritual practices performed in the home, on the body and in monastic and church settings. The Islamic reaction towards magic did not condemn magic in general and distinguished between magic which can heal sickness and possession , and sorcery. The former

10600-550: Was dominant from the fourth century onwards. The contemporary sources of information regarding the pre-Islamic Arabian religion and pantheon include a growing number of inscriptions in carvings written in Arabian scripts like Safaitic , Sabaic , and Paleo-Arabic , pre-Islamic poetry, external sources such as Jewish and Greek accounts, as well as the Muslim tradition, such as the Qur'an and Islamic writings. Nevertheless, information

10706-463: Was generally passed down from generation to generation and was held in extremely high regard and often served as advisors to kings and great leaders. An āšipu probably served not only as a magician, but also as a physician, a priest, a scribe, and a scholar. The Sumerian god Enki , who was later syncretized with the East Semitic god Ea, was closely associated with magic and incantations; he

10812-535: Was invoked in many kinds of rituals and medical formulae, and to counteract evil omens. Defensive or legitimate magic in Mesopotamia ( asiputu or masmassutu in the Akkadian language) were incantations and ritual practices intended to alter specific realities. The ancient Mesopotamians believed that magic was the only viable defense against demons , ghosts , and evil sorcerers. To defend themselves against

10918-405: Was known to pagan Arabs as the supreme god. Winfried Corduan doubts the theory of Allah of Islam being linked to a moon god , stating that the term Allah functions as a generic term, like the term El- Elyon used as a title for the god Sin . South Arabian inscriptions from the fourth century AD refer to a god called Rahman ("The Merciful One") who had a monotheistic cult and was referred to as

11024-516: Was more legally vulnerable, with women having little or no legal standing that was independent of their male relatives. The conceptual link between women and magic in Western culture may be because many of the activities regarded as magical—from rites to encourage fertility to potions to induce abortions —were associated with the female sphere. It might also be connected to the fact that many cultures portrayed women as being inferior to men on an intellectual, moral, spiritual, and physical level. Magic

11130-402: Was the patron god of the bārȗ and the ašipū and was widely regarded as the ultimate source of all arcane knowledge. The ancient Mesopotamians also believed in omens , which could come when solicited or unsolicited. Regardless of how they came, omens were always taken with the utmost seriousness. A common set of shared assumptions about the causes of evil and how to avert it are found in

11236-421: Was thought to be able to give them " sacred magic" power to heal thousands of their subjects from sicknesses. Diversified instruments or rituals used in medieval magic include, but are not limited to: various amulets, talismans, potions, as well as specific chants, dances, and prayers . Along with these rituals are the adversely imbued notions of demonic participation which influence of them. The idea that magic

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