Hand magic..

[Ꮙℓἇ∂ἇ..aka Reɪvən ღ]

Hand magic..

The term magic derives from the Old Persian magu, a word that applied to a form of religious or supernatural functionary about which little is known. 

 Since the nineteenth century, academics in various disciplines have employed the term magic but have defined it in different ways and used it in reference to different things. 

 Throughout Western history, there have been examples of individuals who engaged in practices that their societies called magic and who sometimes referred to themselves as magicians. Within modern occultism, there are many self-described magicians and people who practice ritual activities that they term magic.

In this environment, the concept of magic has again changed, usually being defined as a technique for bringing about changes in the physical world through the force of one's will. This definition was pioneered largely by the influential British occultist Aleister Crowley.

Concepts of magic generally serve to sharply demarcate certain practices from other, otherwise similar practices in a given society. 

 "In many cultures and across various historical periods, categories of magic often define and maintain the limits of socially and culturally acceptable actions in respect to numinous or occult entities or forces. Even more basically they serve to delineate arenas of appropriate belief.

The concept and term "magic" developed in European society and thus using it when discussing non-Western cultures or pre-modern forms of Western society raises problems, as it may impose Western categories that are alien to them.

While "magic" remains an emic term in the history of Western societies, it remains an etic term when applied to non-Western societies.

"Magic has often been dismissed as either primitive and irrational and therefore alien to modern society, as inherently opposed to the Judeo-Christian traditions of the West, or as incompatible with religion in general.

These antipathetic sentiments are deeply embedded in Western culture, and the term magic has typically been used to describe non-mainstream beliefs and practices — non-Christians, heretics, non-Westerners, indigenous, ancient or 'primitive' cultures — any that might be considered 'Other.'

The image of magic as inherently linked with the Other has functioned as an important factor in the construction of the self-identity of Western culture, for by defining magic as something alien, exotic, primitive, evil, deviant or even ridiculous, our society also makes a tacit statement as to its self-perceptions."

– Historian of religion Henrik Bogdan

Blue ray mist..