A History of Magic

As Homecoming approaches, many students find themselves caught up in the rush of planning for the events for their clubs. The theme this year, "The Magical World of WU," allows for plenty of creative license, but the question nobody has answered is, what is magic?

Magic has been a belief and/or practice as long as humans have had imaginations. Perhaps its strongest roots are in the medieval renaissance, when "magick" practicers ruled with almost as much authority as the church, and certainly with more than scientists. In traditional magic, the one who practiced could choose if they were a witch or wizard. 

Magical abilities could be learned, if the person held “the gift,” or more commonly, they were born with a hereditary power. Natural-born witches have a stronger grip on their powers, and can more easily create spells. Witches traditionally belong to a coven, a sort of family of witches with similar beliefs or practices, and are most commonly female. They tend to use herbology, homeopathic medicine, and other alternative remedies in their practices.

Males often choose to become wizards, although either gender can choose to be either. Wizards use spells that call upon gods and goddesses to harness their power. They often belong to a “Wizard’s Circle,” which is similar to a witch’s coven.

An evil male witch is called a Warlock, while an evil female is usually called a dark witch or wicked witch. A person born into a line of Warlocks will not necessarily be evil, although that is the tendency, in a true monkey see, monkey do fashion. Warlocks tend to call on demons for their power.

Modern magical practices are most commonly found in wiccan religions, which uses incantations, rituals, divination, summoning, charms, potions, and calling on dieties.

The most famous wizard is probably Merlin, who was an advisor to King Arthur. He is rivaled by Albus Dumbledore, Voldemort, Gandalf, Sauron and Saruman thanks to modern literature.