Humans have believed in magic since the first thing happened which they didn’t understand. Can you imagine how a tribe of cavemen must have felt when one of them developed the art of sleight-of-hand? They probably thought that this guy was a wizard or should I say this girl? I suppose not all of the wizards even knew how to perform tricks, some of them probably had heightened powers of persuasion which they used on their tribes. This could be how the very first religion was born. Picture this, you were sitting in a cave and you are not too bright since about all you know is how to hunt and maybe you’re not even that great with that. There is a man in your tribe who everyone believes is the smartest man among you and he states he has been seeing spirits and explains to the tribe these spirits are gods and the tribe should pray to them if they want to make their life better. There is a good chance under these circumstances the tribe would begin to pray.

Today we know a magician is somebody who can perform acts which trick us, but in ancient times it was thought these magicians had true magical powers. If we go back to ancient Egypt there was a magician named Dedi who had performed many different tricks. Some of these tricks are disputed today, but not all of them. One of his most famous tricks was decapitating a bird, reattaching the head and letting the bird fly off. His name was mentioned in several papyrus. Many believe he might have been responsible for the game we see on some city streets, where people bet on finding out which cup a ball or nut is under. The cup and ball game, which was considered a magic trick in ancient times, gain so much notoriety groups of ancient magicians specialized in it. Today we call these kind of people con men and the game is considered a violation of the law in many places.

When people have a lot of tragedy in their lives and they are living in a time when most people are uneducated they tend to get confused between a trick and reality much easier. Many say in the Dark Ages this is what happened, but there is precious little documentation from that period. We do know something which is kind of surprising and that is people who lived before the Renaissance in this period were not as likely to believe in witches and such as were those who did live in the Renaissance period. This was rather surprising to me to find out and I think it might be to you also. Women were not connected to the satanic until the publication in 1487 by Heinrich Kramer, titled Maleficarum (or, Hammer of Witches). This book is responsible for many women being executed over the centuries. Kramer had said women were particularly susceptible to evil because they had a natural proclivity for it and therefore fell easily to the temptations of the devil. There weren’t a lot of people who knew how to write and read so I imagine if something was written in a book it was taken as gospel.

In 1584 another book about witchcraft was written by Reginald Scott who had been an English country gentlemen and Member of Parliament. His book was written to disprove the fact that witches actually existed. The problem with the book was said to be the fact it had conjuring spells in it and it doesn’t seem the book had the desired effect, since it had been burned many times. Some believe the book was only purchased for the spells and not for the message. The title of the book was The Discouerie of Witchcraft. The book also contained a treatise on spirits and devils and their nature and substance. The book was rejected by many in the religious community.

Isaac Fawkes was a mathematician and also became a famous magician. He was said to have performed before the king. He appeared at fairs and did card tricks and was the hit of society until he died. What is interesting to note is he rejected the association of his magical arts with black magic and other satanic forces and he would let his audiences know he was not there to defraud them, but to entertain them. It is said it was such a fine magician he managed to amass a fortune of 10,000 pounds, which in those days was incredible. He was extremely popular until the day he died.

There have been many magicians throughout the ages and a lot of them we will never know anything about. In ancient Babylon magic was a way of life. In those times magicians were accepted, but they were also feared. It is thought even some of the common people were not above using spells. People in ancient Babylon believed magic connected to either the gods or the heavens. It was believed herbalists were also magicians and they dealt in plant magic and medicines. It was thought plants came in two varieties male and female and male plants had a higher potency. The herbalist not only had to know which plants for which disease, but he also had to know when to pick the plants. The Babylonians had two kinds of magicians you would consult, one was for rituals and incantations and the other was for treatments. Sometimes herbs were not enough and other things would be prescribed including amulets and exorcisms.

I remember a Native American shaman being asked how come the Native Americans were so good at discovering which plants to use for certain diseases. He replied we just tried them all until one worked. Today magicians are just ordinary entertainers and their position in society is no higher than anyone else’s. Everyone knows magic is just trickery. There can be some very clever tricks which leave us scratching our heads, but I don’t think anyone of us would accredit these tricks with true magic, that is magic from the dark side. There will always be a tiny minority who believe there is such a thing as a true witch. There is probably no way to dissuade them from this. Not one person has been able to prove they have gained powers from anywhere without someone showing it was just another trick. Houdini spent much of his life showing up mediums who tried to claim they could contact the dead and he succeeded every time. There should be a lesson in this for all of us.