Kirkrapine
Literotica Guru
- Joined
- Sep 24, 2018
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In the West, there are two traditions of magic: The high, or ceremonial, magic, and folk magic.
The high magic is the magic of educated people -- it involves elaborate theories, connected to the theories of alchemy and astrology, and altars and swords and magic circles drawn on the ground, and invocations in dead languages. This is the magic of Aleister Crowley, not of Harry Potter.
Folk magic involves no clearly articulated theory, only the gut-sense of a voodoo doll, and spells in vernacular language, and no equipment that would not be available to a medieval serf.
In medieval England, there was a recognized class of "cunning folk" -- legitimate folk magicians who used their magic beneficially, or at least harmlessly, and who among other things hired out as witchfinders.
Of course, neither kind of magic actually works, except as neural programming.
The high magic is the magic of educated people -- it involves elaborate theories, connected to the theories of alchemy and astrology, and altars and swords and magic circles drawn on the ground, and invocations in dead languages. This is the magic of Aleister Crowley, not of Harry Potter.
Folk magic involves no clearly articulated theory, only the gut-sense of a voodoo doll, and spells in vernacular language, and no equipment that would not be available to a medieval serf.
In medieval England, there was a recognized class of "cunning folk" -- legitimate folk magicians who used their magic beneficially, or at least harmlessly, and who among other things hired out as witchfinders.
Of course, neither kind of magic actually works, except as neural programming.