Oriental Magic

119 Pages·1993·11.4 MB·English

by  Idries Shah

ORIENTAL MAGIC
!DRIES SHAH
CONTE TS
POUWOU) by Dr. Louis Marin
xv
~kEPACE
The DHlUslon of M.gk; origins in High Asan shamanism;
among the Firuls. Lapps and Amerindians; communication
betweenpeoplesinprelilitorictimes:Celticlegendsandthedrift
fromAsiaandEgypt. Gteek:slndRom:msandthisdrift.Isthere
•&upcmatutalpowerofmagic?Field£0..fust:hcrscientificinveso
~tioJ:l.
':J.Pkr
I, MAGIC IS INTERNATIONAL I
Mco', minds work a!.J.ke in widely sepatated communities. The
Ma~ of C~ittal.: the sor~cS$ ~ita of t~ Chinese bolder.
AetlVlOes oflitis W1tch. Mediumisncand clairvoyanttf1lnccs of
theMongolianpeoples.The:Mexicaosnake-godanditSreflection
in India. Uruguay and A1iatic Turlccy. Tabu and propitiation.
rites; the'Forbiddenspot"': similaritiesofthisbellainme WC1t.
'!'he
Object$ofnug~c. Hindus and the iZWiZ(life-force)theolf'
TheWOStcIfi.s:rUt.K>!res('BlackBoobofthe.$oreeren')lmdthen
~r.·win ouc:otal magic. Diffusion ofthe Wax·Jtrulge of
. ~pe~~l\$tsorcery. Establishedreligion and ma.g~tyc.peT. he
• st:1a.niZauon' ofthe K!J ofSolo",~", bram and magic. The
pa11phemalillofmagic; the question ofthe Compact.
1, IEW·ISH WAOIC II
Role ofJewish magiciam. The Book ofSi,glfs. and the ~ of
~"J.1nnsmusionto Noah and Solomon. Figuresand spells
ofthe book. The .&0.4 of&/Nh; rabbini~ hostility to magic.
TheBH.uofHm"u:ThothandTheuth.Ciceroandthethirty-su
thoUS$.D.dvolumes. 11J£Zobttr: devilsandspirits. RitesofJewish
lJlagic. Ab~m. sonofSimon. Sacredandprofanemagic. T~
TrillGrilJl(li"andits]ewishasct:iption.Othersourc~ofWes.tero
occultism supposed to derive from Hehrewsourccs. Magic in
the: Bible; t~~ of JIiagic~ and their a.Ctivities. )c~ish
d~.onology. Lilith. The sacred 'Word of Power'. HI toocaJ
instllnCCS ofmagic: $al,lllmd the Witch 0 En-Dor. Elijah and
the King ofDamascus. The strange story ofNostradamus tho
Seer.l'h.CtetminologyofCabWism.ThePlawnists.Themethod
bywhichmagicisrevealedtomankind,llC<:OCdingto theM4gllt.
b1er.dlll.{:
,. SOLOMON: UNG .-\ND MAGICIAN %1
lIl!lI:ifis Solomocic nngic 11.11 important bridge between sevetal occult
systerm. LegeDdsandbooks ofthe SOD ofDa.vid. His powerof
vi CONTENTS
CONTENTS
Chapter
Chapter
commandingthe Genii; the magical ring; thepoweroverwinds
and knowledge of the language of the birds. Solomon in the 7. THE FAKIRS ANI;> THEIR DOCTRINES
Valley ofthe Ants, according to the Koran. What was the Seal ThenatureofthemysticalpracticeofTasawwuf-one ofthemost
ofSolomon? The Most Great Name ofGod; the Testament of widespread ofall orientalcults. The organization ofthe Orders;
Solomon; conjuration of all 7v~ spirits. The Kry of Solomon, the Brethren ofPurity and the Mahdist warriors. Origins ofthe
th~ Book of Asmodells ~nd their,Influence <:>n the magic of the cult; beliefs of the Sufis: the mission of the Fakir. 'Man is
Middle East. The Clecle; ChlOese magic; contribution of destined to live a social life'. Origin of the term 'Fakir'. The
Solomon. halo ofinvulnerability, infallibility and supernatural manifesta
tions. Miracles and powers reported of the saintship of the
4. THE OCCULT IN BABYLONIA orders: Shahab-el-Din and his conjuration of fruits, etc.; the
Night Journey to Heaven and Hell; the non-existence oftime;
~h7,de~on~and sp~rits,ofthe Babylonians: importance ofthis
walking on water; miracles and kardmdt; the orders. The Four
C7vilizatlOn 10 the di!fuslOn ofmagic arts. The much-neglected
Orders; theory ofthe creed; the Invisible Rulership; entry and
rites of ~e Accadlans, founders of Babylonian occultism.
initiation; the Path; stages and degrees ofadvancement; recita
Assur-banl-~al'slibrary:tabletsofincantations.Rootsofmagical
tions; Sufi mystical poem ofMirza Khan. Diagrammatic repre
arts ~o~n10 the ~est. P~ocess for the healing ofa sick man.
sentationofthe Sufi Pathand occultphenomena; diagramofthe
Descrlp~lOn oftheRiteAgamsttheEclipse.Victoryoverenemies
organizationofthe'stagesofpower'; organizationoftheChishti
and thele gods. Scope ~f t?e Me~opotamian magic arts. The
Order; the world Sufi hierarchy. The Eleven Secret Rules.
gods and godde~ses: their llflks With demons and adoption by
otherpeoples. Rites ofexorcism. Thepowerwords. Conjuration
from the Accadiantablets. Thelink withtheFinns. 8. THE ARABIAN CONTRIBUTION 76
Pre-Islamic Arabia; later contribution of the Arabs; spread of
S. EGYPTIAN MAGIC occultism under the Arab Empire; the system of magic of
H
Connection between Jewishand ancient Egyptianmagic. Moses Rhazes; other Arab authorities; the genii and the lycanthropes.
and the duel,ofthe s?akes. Alc~emy traced to Egypt. Legends Ibn ~haldun and magic: Pure Magic, Talismans; the 'power
ofthePyranuds. MagiCnotconsideredBlackArt unlessdirected from withinthe magician'-mana-akasaagain. Thefirst scientific
against the State. The purposes of official m;gic in dynastic commentary on magic. The making and use of talismans of
Egypt. Country ofEgypt andits effect on the rites: the ritualof metal according to certain aspects ofthe stars. Power and Talis-
the Nile. The mira~les of Khufu's magician Teta: His raising mans. The Swastika and its adaptations by the Arabs. The
of the dead and ma~med. Ac~ount of the experiments ofTeta. making and use ofthe knot in cursing. Fairies and compelling
Thebe~ a~d MemphiS as magical centres. Greek papyri and the the power ofjinni. The Word ofPower. Important treatises on
Egyptian lOfluence. Porphyry on Egyptian magic. The ritual of magicamong the Arabs. '
the boy with the lamp. The Book ofthe Dead. The Scarab and
its uses. 'Binding' and 'compelling' the gods. Actual names of 9· LEGENDS OF THE SORCERERS 84
power quoted. Protection against hostile animals. The rites of The story ofEI-Arab: his strange activities. Was he in control
the dead: embalming and 'opening the mouth'. Experiences of lightning? What can be learned from oriental tales about
ofone student ofthe occult in Egypt. The Singing Sands and ma~cians? Sadoma, the magician of Baghdad. His converse
similar phenomena: Colossi of Amunoph III. Lucky and un wit spirits in the trackless desert. The magical Roc; travellers
lucky days ofthe Month ofThoth. and the magical repasts. Emotion and mental powers raised to
higher pitch. Unbalance or greater balance? The Golden River
6. JU-JU LAND OF THE TWIN NILES So and its spirit. SiItim, the sorcerer, taking any form he chose.
Author's yearin the Sudan, unravelling magical rites there. The The story ofSiltimand his beloved. The searchfor the Elixirof
Nyam-Nyam a?~ their i~iti~tion,into t~e sphere of magic. Life. Story ofthe locksmith and the hearts. HimalayanLeopard
Methods oftra1;01ng and diSCipleship. Casting spells for clients. Powder against hunger and disease. Story ofthe English Vam-
The Spell ofVictory. The use ofthe magical whistle. A plant piress. Encounter with a magician. EI Ghirby and the Golden
collectin~ expedition. Love charms, how they are cast. Badges Head.
and eqUIpment of the student-sorcerer. The Fish Tabu as a
mag~c~l rite. Auto-hypnosis in th~ Sudan. How to identify a
10. CALLING THE SPIRITS 93
~aglc1an. ,Mungo-the ect~plasffi1c force. Men and girls in
Evocation of spirits comes within a strangely identical system
ritual danclOg. Solomon's MlOes. Rites ofthe Kafirs.
amongmanypeoples.ItisthesameinallsystemsofHighMagic.
ix
CONTENTS
Pag'
Chapt,r Chapt,r
reproduced in full detail. The second alchemi~t: Aquil Kh:m.
The stages in .the Evocation. Raising spirits, according to Meeting, apprenticeship. The process. Collectln~ the magIcal
shamans, witch-doctors, sorcerers of China and Japan. The
juice' the discipline of the goldmaker; collecung the clay.
Chaldeansystem.WordsofPowerforcallingthespirits.Formula
Making the fire and the crucible ofclay. Silverinto gold. What
to call spirits, according to a Graeco-Egyptian document. The
the alcheniist thoughtofhis powers.
oldest known formula for consecrating the circle ofevocation.
African methods of calling departed magicians. Names of the
Hours, names ofthe Signs, rulerships ofthe hours ofday and A NEW THOUGHT-FORCE?
n,ight. Asiansorcerers and sorceresses in their calling the devils. The connection between akasa and life-force. Hypnosis, mag
The method of calling the King of the North, traced from netism and related phenomena. The experiments in the West:
Smomomcma~~ , Roucous and the faith-healers. Electrical discharge from the
fingers. us MtJladilS ,t I, Magnliis11l; generat!ng current; .the
paial1d. with the activities ofFakirs; the nec:essttyfor controll~
II. IRANIAN MAGIC rOJ
scientific investigation; report on an experIment; the hypnotlc
Persia and the effect of the Arab conquest. The influence of
trance. The work ofProfessor Rhine; Louis de Wohl an.d the
neighb?uring magical beliefs on the Persians. The O(,an oj
dangers ofcharlatan.ism. Sunspots and the Harvard Comnuttee.
Mystlrlll, and the preparation of the magician. Description of
the dedication and rites ofthe sorcerer; formulae and names of
thespiritsto becalled.Materializationofthespirit; dealingwith 16. LOVE-MAGIC 143
thespirit; methodof'flyingbymagic'; storms raised; rich made Strikarmani; venerealmagic. Rite to arouse passionate lovein a
poor; ugly made beautiful; arguments against alchemy. The woman; spell for arousing the passion ofa mll?; estran~~ment
dillS; the magical mountains; the Tobo trees, like those of and the possibilities of magic: the 'forty-rone re~etItlOt;ls':
Paradise. MethodtosecuretheReturnofaWoman;Spellto obtatnawife;
to t>rocure a husband; charms again~t riv.als in love; a ~harm
agatnst a rival; spell to prevent miscartlage;. spell to cause
n. MAGICAL RITES OF THE ATHARVA VEDA IIO
sterility'; spell against jealousy; charm to lncrease beauty;
The Secret Book of the Brahmins; the Veda is White Magi~
hymnsfor virility; the use ofcertainplants.
Spell for Everlasting Life; Charm for lengthen.ing life; health
charms.and invocat}ons: the Inv?cation to the Plants; panacea
for alltIls; the making ofthe Talisman ofForce; the Protection THE OCCULT ART IN CHINA 149
spe!l ofthe Srakv:a Charm; <?ccult~edic~e ofthe Veda: Spell TaoandMagic;thekindsofsorcerers;?atureanduseof.~agical
agatnst sores; agatnst All Evtl; agatnst pOlson; charms against mirrors; charms and spells; the .magical pen; the wrmng of
demons: thespelland charm ofthe Gangida tree; the borrowed charms; 'Celestial Calligraphv'; charms us~ by ~omen; t?e use
powersofthegods; theexorcismofthetree;hymntothePlants. ofbells in magic; charms ofthunder and hghtnlng; the Great
Umversal Amulet" Wizards of China: Spiritualism and auto
maticwriting;theMagicalPencil;makingt~einstrum~nts;other
13. INDIA: RITES OF THE PRIEST-MAGICIANS 120 forms of the pencil; nature of the medIum~; devtl-dancers.
Similarities between Indian and other schools of magic. The RitualsofMagic;theBlackArtoftheAmoy w~tches;~heDeath
Pitris, Sadhus and Fakirs; scope ofHindu occult study. Actual
Spell; Rainmaking, Eternal Life. Folklore hnks wlth other
experiencesoftheauthorwithoneHindumagician. Whatarethe
systems,Dragons and Monsters.
sources of the power? Rites and invocations of the Magician,
according to the Agrusadapariksay: The reading of the Book;
the seeker; how he proceeds to gain power; the Supreme For 18. WONDER-WORKERS OF TIBET
mula; the Conjuration ofVishnu; Invocation to the Sun; Rite Tibet and the background ofits supernatural and religious arts.
ofthe Tree; Sacrificial Rites ofthe Magician; evocation ofthe Theculture-driftinTibetandits conversionto Buddhism. Most
spirits; Aktna,theforce behind all. ofTibet unknown: onlycertainparts penetrated by Wester~ers.
The struggle between systems inTibet. The ~pe.ctreof ~Onlsm.
Thecreedandthesubversiveactivityofthearomlsts.Thelnvoca
14. INDIAN ALCHEMY TODAY 128
tion of the demon; devil-propitiation and power through.evil.
The alchemical industry of modern India; encounter with an
Some ideas and ideals ofLamaism. The path ofthe Lamalst of
alchemist; negotiations with him. 'Formulafor the Manufacture
theorthodoxorder.Theringandthejewels;thescopeandnature
ofGold'; details ofthe process and the ingredients. A magical
oftheworkofthelama;MoragMurrayAbdullahandthemission
rite, but more chemical than anything else. Several formulae
...
CONTENTS
Chapter Page
ofthelamaists.Thetrainingofthe wonder-worker.Fire-walking
rite as observed by the author. The actual rite. apparent results
and interpretationaccordingto Bon-ists and Buddhistsources.
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
19. MAGIC ART OF JAPAN 184
The twin divisions of Japanese magic. Shinto and the Norilo Half-tones
rites;coincidences orparallelswithWestern.ChineseandJewish
magic. Black and White magic determined byits intentions. not Frontispiece
House-decorationin Northern Sudan
its rites. Thekamispiritsandtheiractivities.Emotion-concentra-
Betweenpages 78-79
tion and a method ofmaking a hate-spell. Concentrated power TheFoam ofVenus
in trees. Sympatheticmagicand the restoration ofvirility. Love Shrine ofBabaWall Saheb " "
charm from newts. Reptilian remains in love the world over.
"
Life-force(mana-akasa)andthebringingofabelovedtothelover Kurdish ritual sword dance
by magical means. Entire ritual described and commented upon
Grey monolith ofPaphos
withits Western parallels. The dog-charm and the guest. Hate
"
magic and the making ofahate-charm. Coin ofBylbus
"
Chinese spirit-writinginstrument
BIBLIOGRAPHY 191 "
Aqil Khan, the alchemist
MghanFakir
LIST OF NOTES 197
"
Indian Sadhu
GLOSSARIAL INDEX 201 Himalayanmagician "
"
Persianwizard
Sudanese sorcererin magical regalia Betweenpages I10-III
Indian cave-temple atAjanta "
Pre-Islamic cave-shrine at Petra
Where the cloak ofthe ProphetMohammed is kept "
Ritual magical dance at Kordofan "
TiksayLamasery
Chung:Khwei, the demon-destroyer "
Chinese ritual sword ofexorcism
Shoki, the JapaneseChung-Khwei
Stupa. where the demon Yama is invoked "
Une
Page 3
GeographicaldiffusionofTuranian magic
.Greek amulet againstenemies ~
Xl1 LIST OF ILI.USTRATIONS
Diffusion ofcross and circle symbolin magical \1sage Pag, 7
Oriental talismans from the author's collection
9 FQREWQRQ
Greek talismans containing Hebrew names 14
Secret Seal ofSolomon :u By DR. LOUIS MARIN
Memberofthe Inslitutde France
Accadian-Assyrian god-spirits 29 Directorofthe EcoletfAnthropologie de Paris
The amulet ofthe Soul 36 Deputy-Presidentofthe InternationalInstitute ofAnthropology
Seal ofRameses II 38
Magical design on the coffin ofPriestess Ta-Ahuti 40 THE organization of the academic disciplines which we in France
associatewithDescarteshas,inthecourseofthecenturies,sodeveloped
Anubis, God ofthe Dead 42
that today the scientific method permeates every aspect of h\lmane
Osiris
44 studies.
Fourteen Egyptian amulets 47 No longer does the scholar faced with some new, strange and
The Sufi Path (Tariqa-Sujiyya) 72 hitherto unexplained phenomenon turn away from its study. In our
time, he takes full account ofit, keeping it under observation, in the
The world Sufi hierarchy
74
hope offinding a way ofexplaining it.
Arab spell to dry up a well or dstern
77 Magic is a subject which was long considered to be outside the
Chinese power-spell ofArabic influence 78 ambit ofacademic study. Yet it is ofimportance in the discipline of
Magical square of.AI-Ghazzali 8z anthropology. Curiously enough, magic has greatly intrigued eth
nographers on account ofthe strangeness ofits practices in all parts
Table ofangels' rulership ofthe hours
95
of the world, while at the same time it has been frowned \lpon by
Solar Swastika charm 'to grant any wish'
139 them as being hardly susceptible to scientific study and as repugnant
Character for 'felicity' with 100 forms 151 to religion and the social order. Yet witchcraft used to be widespread
The 'all-powerful' Seal ofLao-Tze 155 in the western world, and even at the Court ofLouis XIV and in the
age ofVoltaire; it has not died out even today.
Medical charm
159
There used to be some confusion of religion and magic, it being
Spirit-revealed charm against plague 161 thought that the latter was simply a primitive form of religion. We
Characters for Chinese invocations 165 know better now, and can distinguish between religion, which is
Talisman ofFortune 169 submissionto an almighty Creatorto whom we raise our prayers, and
magic which consists ofrites intended to compel supernatural forces,
Charmto attract wealth to the wearer 115
whatever they may be, to do the sorcerer's bidding.
Charm used in cursing an enemy 177 We must admit that almost all the religious ideas of primitive
Talisman ofVictory 181 peoples are comprised in magic. This raises another great difficulty
Talisman to attract money 185 for the scholar, for it requires an effort of the imagination to enter
into the mentality ofprimitive peoples who in their ignorance ofthe
Charm to ensure safety 188
workingsofnaturefeelcompelledtoconstructfortheirownprotection
Charm to secure happiness 188
a system ofmagical observances.
Talisman forlong life 188 One must try to discover what primitive peoples are really think
Talisman ofsuccess 188 ing by observing them directly, without allowing one's fancy to run
away with itself. However backward the particular people whose
magic is under description may seem to be, it will often be noticed
xiii
XlV FOREWORl)
that their practices are survivals, sometimes of so distant an origin
that the practitioner himselfcan no longer understand the words he
speaks or explain the gestures he performs.
. A further complication is created by the fact that most magical
PREFACE
rltes are enshrouded by the reticence of the initiates. The arcana
present a particularly difficult obstacle to the researcher when as
nearly always the case, the magic formulae are in the possession ofan
her~ditary c~ste of magicians who regard the SOCRta as their special THE DIFFUSION OF MAGIC
herl.tage. Thisleadstothemagiciansasabodydeliberatelyencouraging IT IS only as recendy as Victorian times that archaeological science
~~~gno~anceoftheirfollowers,who,intheirtum,feartheangerofthe has established the remarkable fact that magical origins in High
1n1tiates Ifthey should reveal anything. Asia have influenced communities halfway across the world. Thereis
The fact that mag~cal rites res~mble each other in all parts ofthe a fascinating story, too, in the westward sweep of the prehistoric
w~rld leads t~ the difficult question as to whether they came into Accadians, the Turanian people who brought Asian ways to the
eXistence first Ul.any one p~ce, ~nd ifso~ by ~hat means, whether by Mediterranean, founding the civilizations of Assyria and Babylonia.
cultural borrOWings, by mIgrations or UlvaSlOns they were carried Very many of the frightening thaumaturgic rites of the magicians
to such distant regions? ' duringthe developmentofthe pre-Semitic (1)* age here are preserved
,!hese ~e th~ lines of ~nquirywhich Idries Shap has followed in in the Maqlu ('Burning') Tablets, and the vast library ofKing Assur
dealing WIth orIental magIC. Of Afghan origin, he spent five years bani-Pal(2.).
studying his subjectin the Middle and Far East. The type of 'witch-doctoring' (shamanism) practised by allied
His book is a serious contribution to knowledge and deserves to Turanian. tribes took root in the East, in China and Japan. These
find a wide audience ofeducated readers. rituals include psychic phenomena familiar to Western mediums
and they are duplicated, again through Turanian-Mongolian in
spiration (3), among the Finns, Lapps and even the American Indians
of North and South America. Naturally there is no documentary
evidenceofthe westwarddrift ofthese peoples. Painstaking deduction
carried out within the confines of a host of sciences has established
that there is every likelihood that such migrations did in fact take
place.
It is not, however, only the people of Turanian origins who
practisedthemagical arts oft;heirforebears. As Dr. Schutteandoth~rs
have shown,insome ofthemostintriguing ofscientific deduction(4),
the prehistoric Scandinavians, for example, inherited a considerable
lorefromthef:e peoples. Anotherimportantfactoristhe discoverythat
prehistoric communication between peoples was far closer than is
generally assumed. It is common to imagine that early societies were
more or less independent and developed apart from each other:
some in remote mountains, deserts and plains, otr.ers in towns and
villages. It is not commonly known that in addition to trading, both
intellectual and social intercourse between peoples widely separated
by culture, speech and distance, was considerable. The difference
between this contact and the relationship between peoples familiar in
• The references willbefound onpages 191 to 196.
xv
AVI PREFACE
our day was simply that geographical factors made communication superstitiously rooted in man's mind, that the only way to control
slower. The same considerations probably accounted for greater itwastodivertitinto'legalized'channels? .
sympathybetweenpeoples,as thereseemstohavebeenless 'inevitable' Organized religions tended to absorQ spells and charms, belief
hostiUty between di,fferent groups. in which was very deeply entrenched. Among the southern Sudanese
For centuries, perhaps thousands of years, magic Bowed slowly andothernegroesIhavemyselfseenthatChristianityhas~eenadopted
but powerfully through the human race. In its most ritualistic form sidebysidewithtraditionalmagic: onlyin rarecaseshas Itsupplanted
the Bow was distinctly from east to west. ' the demons and powers of the supernatural. Often, again, miracles
At.adate.alle~edlydur~gOldTestame~ttimes, afterthe supposed related of earlier native sorcerers have been simply brought forward
Turaroan 1IUgra~ons, Celtic legend has It that Aryan migrations intime and added to the new beliefs. Evidence ofthis psychology is
from Central ASIa passed through the present Middle East area and abundantandhasbeenexhaustivelystudiedelsewhere.
Egypt, certainlyimbibingmythologyandmagicontheway(5). Whether we like it or not, magic and religion, all over the world,
~~e early Gree~s and R~mans, too, played their part in adopting are linked as are few other human phenomena. If you believe that,
Semltic ~d Egyptian magIcal lore, and transmitting it to Europe. say, cures ca.n be effected by touch, then you are beli~v~g in magic;;
Later Latin and Greek magic was a mixture offormulae and inca.nta by its widest definitions-and in some forms.of religl?n. <?n ~he
tions whichca.noftenbetraced totheseroots. other hand there is a striking development m occultist thinking
Th~ i~terrelation of ~e magic of Egypt and the surrounding which ca.n just be discerned today, ~t its .inception. T~s is the third
~oun~les IS less clear. !t IS thought, however (as pointed out later possibility. Magic is a field where IntenSIve and creative study may
In this book), that AfrIca and later Southern Arabia influenced the showthat many so-called supernaturalpowersareinfact reBections of
m,iracle-makersofthevalleyoftheNile. hithertolittle~understoodforces, whichmayverypossiblybeharn~ssed
With ~he rise ?f.su~h comparatively recent systems of thought to individual and collective advantage. This is a part of the basIS of
as ~uddhism, ChrIStianity and Is.~, the religio-magical bellefs of this book.
earlier cults underwent a nowfamiliar relegation: their deities became Ifthere were in reality certain truths known to those nebulously
inferior spiritS-even their priesthoods took on a more markedly referred to as the 'ancients' thereis only oneway to rediscover them:
magical and secretive character: the scientific method. Anlthe scientific method demands the sifting
ofevery fact, every hint, every clue, back along the chain of trans
"Religion may su;cceed religion, butthe change onlymultiplies mission. In the magical context this means that we must.have a~ our
the me~~ds by which man seeks to supplement his impotence disposal the actual materials from which W~stern ~ccult1sm sprmgs.
by obtalnlng ~o?trol over.supernatural powers, and to guard his Hence a rite which is found in, say, a Latin verSlOn of the Key of
weakness by lifting the veil ofthe future. The secret rites ofthe Solomon (7) may prove to be merel~ a tran~cription o~ som~ s~ell
superseded faith become the forbidden magic of its successor. designed to combat, perhaps, a BoodIn Assyria. Furth~r Inv~st1gation
Its gods become evil spirits, as the Devas or deities of the Beda may show that the spell was based upon some e~t1rely lrr~le:v:mt
become the Daevas or demons ofthe Avesta, as the bull worship thing such as invoking the name of a supposed geme whose InItialS
of the early Hebrews became idolatry under the prophets, as the by some happy chance spelt the word for 'drought'. And so the
gods ofGreece and Rome were malignant devils to the Christian searchmustgo onanew. Whether youare, therefore, a general reader,
Fathers". (6) an anthropologist, or just interested in ~e oc~ult-here are some of
the materials. Theyare not generally aVailable m any o~er book. .
. In some cases, superseded processes lingered on as purely magical Grateful acknowledgement is made to the followmg for theu
rites: toler~ted and even adapted to newer cults. Was this because, generous co-operation:
as somebelieve, there were secrets known to the older systemswhich Mme Morag Murray Abdullah, for.allowing ~e.to consult her
re~y did produce some strange evidence of supernatural power, unpublished notes on Indian and Tibetan maglC1ans;. Profess~r
which could be harnessed by humanity for its own use? Or as the R. Drobutt (China), and Commander Dav~d Lu C~ung-Slan ~or his
alternative contention holds, was it because magic had bec~me so help with Chinese ideographs; Sayeda Amina Hanlm, for adVice on
B
Egyptian beliefs; Dr. John Grant for .
MS. onBabylonia; IbrahimYusufM •J;ss:g and a?00tating my
Paulin:s~ O~D' advl~e S~mitic
Magic and ethnology; Miss for on
Thanks are also due to the Dir t 'f th o;ovan (llJustratlons).
~ e.se~ch CHAPTER 1
Ethnography, for allowin me to or 0 e Institute of
produced~tenal1n
givenbeforetheInstitutegandfor three lectures
MAGIC IS INTERNATIONAL
Bibliographical research 'and checcking~nstant a V!cean~ encouragement.
bymyfriendRustumKhan-Urff. were very kindly undertaken
"If a man has laid a charge of witchcraft upon another man
and has not justified it, he upon whom the witchcraft is laid shall
Cairo. SAYED fuRIES EI-Hashil1li. go to the holy river, and if the holy river overcome him, he
who accused him shall take to himself his house."-CoDE OF
HAMMl,1RABI, circa 2000 B.C. (8).
THEdeeperonegoesintothestudyofthesupernaturalanditsdevotees,
the clearerit is that similar trends ofthought have made men's minds
work alike among communities so diverse that they might belong to
different worlds.
According to the occultist this strange identity of magical rituals
and beliefs means that there is one single arcane science, revealed to
itsadepts,andhandeddowntoeverypeople. Advocatesoftheculture
drifttheorywillhaveitthatoccultismis justoneofthosethingswhose
spread followed with the natural social intercourse ofpeoples.
Whatever the truth may be, the study of miracle-workers in
many countries is one of the most fascinating occupations. Near
Chitral, in Pakistan, there lived some years ago a holy man, believed
to possess mystic powers. None cared to pass his cave lest he cast an
evil spell over them for trespassing-the general beliefbeing that he
was a familiar of Satan himself. Sometimes frontier brigands, whose
depredations took them near his home, saw him. To these he became
one whose good opinion they sought, to ensure their success in
thieving.
The strength ofhis name became such-he was variously termed
the Spirit ofthe Mountains or Spirit of the Air-that when he died
the cave became a shrine. That hermit's nest was shown to me when
I passed that way. In common with his Western counterparts, he had
collected stocksofdriedserpentsandapileofwaxfigures piercedwith
pinslitteredonecornerofthecave. Eventodayhopefuldevotees say a
prayer or utter a wish over a piece of rag, which is then tied to a
solitary tree outside the saint's abode. Buried face downwards, in
order that any evilthat might be in him would pass right thrcugh the
earth, his body lies, as is the customfrom China to Morocco, interred
whereitwasfound.
About the same time, on the Indo-Chinese border, a noted witch
1
MAGIC IS INTERNATIONAL 3
__•__..............,;, A.U~U~\oJ
That there may well be a continuity of transmitted occult lore
who might have come straight out ofMacbeth flourished as a spell ~s accep~ed
amon st the Mongollan peoples been by more than
dealer and general wonder-worker. She took violent and unaccount a~thority. C~ese,Ja~esef
one The shamanistic praCUces ofthe :d
able dislikes to people. It was said that she knew everything about
other Far Eastem magIcians have clear parallels With the rites 0 e
people's private lives-whichmayor may not have accounted for her
Eskimos and some mongoloid Amerindian tribes: a notable example
predilections. Her chief delight; however, was to punish those who
caused unhappiness to others, and for that reason she was venerated
by many as a saint. This Sita claimed to be over a hundred and fifty
years old: a conclusion that was said to have been independently
reached also by the oldest inhabitant of the nearest village. The
centenarian told how the earliest among her recollections included
ORif1lia
memories ofSitaas a verydecrepitand shrivelled sight: exactlyas she
appeared a hundred years later.
LJAPAN
The method of summoning the witch was as follows: people in
CHINA~
trouble, henpecked husbands, wives whose husbands were cruel, the
Finland --
sickandneedy, wentto the roofoftheirhouse,andcalledthename of
Tdl~
Sita three times. The local owls, acting as her familiar spirits, swiftly
Amerillliilllll
carriedthemessage toher. Bythenext morning the offenderwouldbe
N. and S.
taken ill with severe pains in the head. Alternatively, some stroke of
America
goodluck would comethe way ofthe invocant. "WhenI reached her
brushwood lean-to hut, provided with the fruit cake which seemed
to be her consuming passion, she seemed very little different from W.Euro~
t INDIA
any ordinary old woman ofthat part ofthe world. Most ofthe time
she talked, freely enough, ofthe valuable work she was always doing,
HHngary ,'- ..Malaysia
in warning yoUng women about the true characters oftheir menfolk.
Though she appeared to be ofa great age, her eyes were strangely L.JL---~~iONl~
BABYLONIA:
clear. Instead of the sunken shoulders and hollow cheeks of the RoME, AttaJians
classical witch, she stood well over medium height, and moved with GREECE and Semites
surprising agility. Some of her frank monologue, however, seemed _----ll.=:::~r---
to be confused; and when I asked her about the wayin which super
natural effects were obtained, she looked at me like a naughty child, W. Africa
.t..__--EGYPT
andsaidthatI couldnotpossiblyunderstand. Arabia
There seemed to be no doubt that Sita, in common with many
magicians, really believedinherpowers. She denied that her successes
could be attributed to autosuggestion on the part of clients, while SCHEMATIC DIAGRAM ILLUSTRATING THE SupPOSED GEOGRAPHICAL
agreeing that this was awell-knownphenomenon. Shealso claimed to DIFFUSION OF TURANIAN MAGIC
have been taught all her knowledge by her mother, and repudiated
occultbooks and allformal religion as fraudulent deception. I cannot reas ofMongol-Turanian population (Italics)
I. A . 1)
saythatherpersonalitywasmagnetic, orcompelling, orhadanyofthe 1. Centres ofmagical synthesis and rediffusion (Capitas
strange features usually felt by mere ordinary mortals in the presence redifl"usion
3. Turanian-Mongol centres of magical development and
ofhidden power. The only thing that really impressed me about her
(ItalicCapitals)
was the fact that she described things which would happen to me:
Pre-Islamicperiod: (up toVIIthcentury,A.D.)
andthesethings did subsequentlyoccur." (9)