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 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.

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 believed 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==

==Use as a Pejorative Label==

==Use as a Pejorative Label==

The word "magic" has become somewhat synonymous with [[deception]]. As a result, by using the label "magic", a person can negatively characterize ritual practices or beliefs that he wishes to condemn. For example, the last Roman Emperor to practice the traditional Roman religion, [[Julian]], characterized the apostles [[Paul]] and [[Peter]] as the greatest magicans who ever lived, in an attempt to reduce the wonders of [[Christianity]] to mere wizardry. Because it invokes evil or false supernatural powers, Christians themselves are also mistrustful of magic; for example, in [[Dante's Inferno]], sorcerers are punished in the eighth circle of [[Hell]] - lower than [[tyrants]], [[usury|usurers]] and [[simony|simoniacs]].

The word "magic" has become somewhat synonymous with [[deception]]. As a result, by using the label "magic", a person can negatively characterize ritual practices or beliefs that he wishes to condemn. For example, the last Roman Emperor to practice the traditional Roman religion, [[Julian]], characterized the apostles [[Paul]] and [[Peter]] as the greatest magicians who ever lived, in an attempt to reduce the wonders of [[Christianity]] to mere wizardry. Because it invokes evil or false supernatural powers, Christians themselves are also mistrustful of magic; for example, in [[Dante's Inferno]], sorcerers are punished in the eighth circle of [[Hell]] - lower than [[tyrants]], [[usury|usurers]] and [[simony|simoniacs]].

The term magic was commonly used to describe ritual practices practised outside of the control of state authorities, so that, for example, practitioners of [[healing]] and [[exorcism]] in Classical Greek culture who were not associated with the temples of a Greek city state were commonly, as by [[Plato]], criticized as magicians.

The term magic was commonly used to describe ritual practices practiced outside of the control of state authorities, so that, for example, practitioners of [[healing]] and [[exorcism]] in Classical Greek culture who were not associated with the temples of a Greek city state were commonly, as by [[Plato]], criticized as magicians.

==Modern Stage Magic==

==Modern Stage Magic==