I was always curious about the origin of the word magic. Through my research for local funeral home directory I learned, that the prototypical “magicians” were a class of priests. These priests were known as the Magi of the ancient religion Zoroastrianism. The reputation of Magi in ancient Persia together with that of Ancient Egypt influenced to a great degree Hellenistic religion. The ancient Greek mystery religions had strongly magical components, and in Egypt, a large number of magical papyri, in Greek, Coptic, and Demotic, have been recovered. These sources contain early instances of much of the magical lore that later became part of Western cultural expectations about the practice of magic, especially ceremonial magic. For example, among all, they contain early instances of the use of “magic words” said to have the power to command spirits. They also first describe the use of “magic” wands and other ritual tools. In these documents we also encounter the use of a magic circle to defend the magician against the spirits he is invoking or evoking and the use of mysterious symbols or sigils thought useful to invoke or evoke spirits.

These ancient documents also in details tell about the use of spirit mediums. For example, many of the spells call for a child to be brought to the magic circle to act as a conduit for messages from the spirits. In the time of the Roman emperor Julian, marked by a reaction against the influence of Christianity, there was a temporary a revival of magical practices. And, of course, all those practices mentioned, above, happily moved into our horror movies and became a great part of sci-fi thrillers and even action movies.