Magick Past

The actual word ‘magic’ comes from a Greek word ‘magea’ which is derived from ‘magoi’. The Magoi were Persian priests who practiced divination and studied astrology. Not only in Persia (more recently known as Iran), magic was performed through out the world and has been for thousands of years. People have been looking at the spirit world for inspiration with the help of a Shaman and gazing at the stars for guidance.

A Shaman is what we call a person who is able to communicate with ancestral spirits and this would include rituals and magick. The rituals allowed to focus the attention on the cosmic process which was believed to control every aspect of life.  Lots of the rituals still are performed today by other religions whose roots could be traced back to some aspects of shamanic practice.

The religions of Ancient Egypt, Classical Greece and Ancient Rome, Scandinavian countries and those from a Celtic world all have magick at their roots. There is no homeland to magick but Egypt does seem to be the cradle. The sun god Ra  is believed to die in the western sky every night and spend the darkness in the underworld only to be reborn every morning in the eastern sky. Many believe that 9/10’s of the world’s magic stems from Egypt.

Egyptians knew their place in society. Magic was performed by priests and others who studied sacred books. Anybody was allowed to perform magic on a small scale as long as they abide by the conditions laid down. According to the tomb paintings and papyri that survived over thousands of years, magic was part of everyday life. These records include spells to escape death, rid disease, warn off evil, avoid storms and cures such as snakebites.

The Graeco-Roman world worshipped their gods, believing as the gods looked down using their magical powers to help the favoured and hinder the ones they didn’t. The same belief was shared by Germanic and Scandinavian people.

All of these people celebrated the same concepts and ideals. They honoured the natural world of rivers, trees, plants and animals, not to mention the wind and the rain, the sun and the moon.

There are no written records or archaeological records to confirm that pagan Celts played a very important part in religious rituals. Many sites have been found which suggest the Celts performed religious rites at natural sites of significance such as on the tops of mountains and at the banks of important rivers.