by Thomas Mayne

Created on: August 01, 2009   Last Updated: August 02, 2009

Throughout history a belief in magic has been the tool through which certain individuals have influenced the masses. This has been a common phenomenon common to many societies and cultures over time. Such a belief has also been documented as crossing over into a religious setting, taking on the guise of miracles usually affected by requesting intervention from the deity in question through the form of rites and ceremonies.

First documented amongst aboriginal tribes in Africa and South American and continuing through to Europe with the likes of Merlin, shamanism and other forms of belief in a spiritual existence appears to be a common feature of most developing societies. This doesn't appear to be confined to tribal cultures either, as even the great civilizations, such as, Egypt and Babylon have provided evidence of a panoply of gods requiring appeasement and other acts of worship.

Even to this day indigenous magical traditions persist in tribal cultures, particularly in South America and some regions of Africa. However the nature of the magic and the people who controlled it showed signs of development over time, reflecting the more established state of society as cultures shifted from the nomadic to the agricultural. Thus as chieftains became monarchs, so too did witchdoctors become priests, establishing an ecclesiastic caste within most cultures.

This was not merely a shift in title alone however, as to reflect the more complex nature of society and religion so do did the magic evolve, developing into ever more complex and dogmatically ingrained rituals and ceremonies. This change can be evidenced in the development of funeral rites in ancient Egypt or the human sacrifices affected by South American cultures.

Another aspect of the development of magic involves attributing events to some form of ritual or spell. For example, if the crops failed societies would seek to blame their misfortune upon either the work of the devil, or an individual in area whom they would accuse of the practice of witchcraft.

This form of explanation was very harmful as it would result in the persecution of weak, isolated individuals. Strong examples of the role of magic in persecutions include the Spanish Inquisition, the Salem Witch hunts and the purging of pagan shaman during the Christianisation of Lithuania and Norway.

This sort of magic was inextricably linked with evil, said to derive from worship of the devil, or the society in question's version of the devil. In Europe

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