Changes

Common uses of magic have included spells to gain influence over government officials, to obtain the love of an unwilling person, to win legal cases, and to prevail in cases of uncertainty, for example in horse-racing or other forms of gambling. Rituals which attempt in general to harm another person of a protected or superior social status have also been a common form of magic. Magic has also been frequently used by businessmen to divert trade and customers away from their rivals.

Common uses of magic have included spells to gain influence over government officials, to obtain the love of an unwilling person, to win legal cases, and to prevail in cases of uncertainty, for example in horse-racing or other forms of gambling. Rituals which attempt in general to harm another person of a protected or superior social status have also been a common form of magic. Magic has also been frequently used by businessmen to divert trade and customers away from their rivals.

The  term 'magic' derives from the name of the [[priest]]ly caste of the [[Iranian]] religion, ''Magoi'' in [[Greek]], which at the time of the Graeco-Persian wars in the fifth century BC were commonly beleived in Greece to have practiced religious rituals hostile to Greek Freedom and victory in the wars of that time. The Greek word μαγοι is the one used in the [[Gospel of Matthew]] to describe the three ''[[Wise Men]]'' who come to visit Jesus at his birth.

The  term 'magic' derives from the name of the [[priest]]ly caste of the [[Iranian]] religion, ''Magoi'' in [[Greek]], which at the time of the Graeco-Persian wars in the fifth century BC were commonly beleived in Greece to have practiced religious rituals hostile to Greek Freedom and victory in the wars of that time. The word ''Magoi'' (μαγοι) is the one used in the [[Gospel of Matthew]] to describe the three ''[[Wise Men]]'' who come to visit Jesus at his birth.

==Magicians in Primitive Cultures==

==Magicians in Primitive Cultures==