MAGI C. 
©S 
This feft (till fubfifts in Perfia under the denomination 
■of gaurs, where they watch the facred fire with the greateft 
•care, and never fuffer it to be extinguilhed. 
The prielts of the Magi were the mod ikilful mathema¬ 
ticians and philofophers of the ages in which they lived, 
infomuch that a learned man and a magian became equi¬ 
valent terms. The vulgar looked on their knowledge as 
fupernatural; and hence thofe'who pra&ifed wicked and 
mifchievous arts, taking upon themfelves the name of 
magians, drew on it that ill fignification which the word 
magician now bears among us. 
MA'GIA, a town of Italy, in the bailiwic of Bellin- 
zona : feven miles weft-fouth-w'eft of Bellinzona. 
MA'GIA, a river of Italy, which runs into Lake Ma¬ 
jor at Locarno. 
MA'GIA (Valley of), or MeynTiial, an Italian bai¬ 
liwick, belonging to the Swifs cantons, containing twen¬ 
ty-two parilhes, and 24,000 inhabitants. It is bounded 
by the duchy of Milan, and the bailiwicks of Livenen 
and Locarno. 
MA'GIAN, f. A wife man 3 one of the magicians or 
philofophers of the eaft. 
MA'GIAN, adj. Belonging to the magi. 
MAG'IC, f. \_magia, Lat. from petytia., Gr.J In its an¬ 
cient fenfe, the fcience or difcipline and dodtrine of the 
magi, or wife men of Perfia. See Magi. In a more mo¬ 
dern fenfe, it is a fcience which teaches to perform won¬ 
derful and furprifing effedts. 
The word magic originally carried with it a very inno¬ 
cent, nay laudable, meaning 3 being ufed purely to fignify 
the ftudy of the more fublime parts of knowledge; but, 
as the ancient magi engaged themfelves in altrology, divi¬ 
nation, forcery, &c. the term magic in time became odious, 
and was only ufed to fignify an unlawful and diabolical 
kind of fcience, depending on the afliftance of the devil and 
departed fouls. If any wonder how fo vain and deceitful 
a fcience fhould gain fo much credit and authority oven 
men’s minds, Pliny gives the reafon of it. It is, fays he, 
becaufe it has poffeffed itfelf of three fciences of the moft 
efteem among men : taking from each all that is great 
and marvellous in it. Nobody doubts but it had its firft 
origin in medicine; and that it infinuated itfelf into the 
minds of the people, under pretence of affording extraor¬ 
dinary remedies. To thefe fine promifes it added every 
thing in religion that is pompous and fplendid, and that 
appears calculated to blind and captivate mankind. Laft- 
]y, it mingled judicial aftrology with the reft ; perfuading 
people, curious of futurity, that it faw every thing to 
come in the heavens. Agrippa divides magic into three 
kinds ; natural, celeftial, and ceremonial or fuperflitious. 
Natural Magic is no more than the application of na¬ 
tural active caufes to paffive fubjefts ; by means whereof 
many furprifing, but yet natural, effe&s are produced. 
In this way many of our experiments in natural philofo- 
phy, efpecially thofe of eleftricity, optics, and magnetifm, 
have a kind of magical appearance, and among the igno¬ 
rant and credulous might eafily pafs for miracles. Such, 
without doubt, have been fome of thofe miracles wrought 
by ancient magicians, whofe knowledge of the various 
powers of nature, there is reafon to believe, was much 
greater than modern vanity will fometimes allow. Bap- 
ulta Porta has a treatifeof natural magic, or of fecrets for 
performing very extraordinary things by natural caufes. 
The natural magic of the Chaldeans was nothing but the 
knowledge of the powers of fimples and minerals. The 
magic which they called ikeurgia, confifted wholly in the 
knowledge of the ceremonies to be obferved in the wor- 
fhip of the gods, in order to be acceptable. By virtue of 
thele ceremonies they believed they could converfe with 
fpiritual beings, and cure difeafes. 
Ctlejlial Magic borders nearly on judiciary aftrology : 
jt attributes to fpirits a kind of rule or dominion over the 
planets, and to the planets a dominion over men; and on 
thofe principles build a kind of lyftem. See Astrology. 
SuperJlitioUs or Gaelic Magic- confifts in the Invocation 
of devils. Its effects are ufually evil and wicked, though 
very ftrange, and feemingly furpafiing the powers of na¬ 
ture; fuppofed to be produced by virtue of fome compact, 
either tacit or exprefs, with evil fpirits: but the truth is, 
thefe have not all the power that is ufually imagined, nor 
do they produce thofe effects ordinarily afcribed to them. 
This fpecies of magic, there is every reafon to believe, 
had its origin in Egypt, the native country of paganifm. 
The firft magicians mentioned in hiftory were Egyptians; 
and that people fo famed for early wifdom believed not 
only in the exiftence of daemons, the great agents in ma¬ 
gic ; but alfo that different orders of thofe fpirits prefided 
over the elements of earth, air, fire, and water, as well as 
over the perfons and affairs of men. Hence they afcribed 
every difeafe with which they were afflifled to the imme¬ 
diate agency of fome evil daemon. When any perfon was 
feized with a fever, for in fiance, they did not think it 
necefiary to fearch for any natural caule of the difeafe ; it 
was immediately attributed to fome daemon which had 
taken pofTeffion of the body of the patient, and which 
could not be ejefted but by charms and incantations. 
Thefe fuperftitious notions, which had fpread front 
Egypt over all the eaft, the Jews imbibed during their 
captivity in Babylon. Hence we find them, in the writings 
of the New Teftament, attributing almoft every, difeafe to 
which they were incident to the immediate agency of de¬ 
vils. Many of the fame impious fuperftitions were brought 
from Egypt and Chaldea by Pythagoras, and tranfinitted 
by him and his followers to the Platonilts in Greece. 
This is apparent from the writers of the life of Pythago¬ 
ras. Jamblicus, fpeaking of the followers of that phflo- 
foplier, fays exprefsly, that they cured certain difeafes by 
incantations ; and Porphyry adds, that they cured difeafes 
both of the mind and of the body by fongs and incanta¬ 
tions. This was exadtly the praftice of the Egyptian 
priefts, who were all fuppofed to keep up a conltant in- 
tercourfe with daemons, and to have the power of con- 
trouling them by magical charms and facred fongs. Agree¬ 
ably to this practice of his matters, we are told that Py¬ 
thagoras directed certain difeafes of the mind, doubtlefs 
thofe which he attributed to the agency of daemons, to be 
cured partly by incantations , partly by magical hymns , and 
partly by mujtc. 
That there are different orders of created fpirits, whe¬ 
ther called daemons or angels, whofe powers intelleftual 
and aftive greatly furpafs the powers of man, reafon makes 
probable, and revelation certain. Now it was the univer¬ 
sal belief of the ancient nations, fays the learned Molheim, 
and efpecially of the orientals, that certain founds and 
words, for the moft part barbarous, were highly grateful, 
and that others were equally difagreeable, to thefe fpirits. 
Hence, when they wiftied to render a daemon propitious, 
and to employ him on any particular office, the magicians 
compofed their facred fongs of the words which were be¬ 
lieved to be agreeable to him ; and, when it was their in¬ 
tention to drive him from themfelves or others, they fung 
in a ftrain which they fancied a daemon could not hear 
but with horror. From the fame perfuafion arofe the 
cuftom of fufpending from the neck of a lick perfon, 
whofe difeafe was fuppofed to be inflidted by a daemon, 
an amulet, fometimes made of gold and fometimes of 
parchment, on which was written one or more of thofe 
words which daemons could not bear either to hear or 
to fee: and in a didadtic poem on the healing art Hill ex¬ 
tant, we are taught by Serenus Sammonicus, that the word 
Abracadabra is an infallible remedy for a femitertian 
fever or ague; and to banilh grief of heart, Marcellinus 
thinks nothing more effectual than the word nu^iocynav. 
In more modern times, as we are informed by Agrippa, 
the words ufed by thofe in compact with the devil, to 
invoke him, and to fucceed in what they undertake, are. 
Dies, mies, jcfquet, benedoefet, douvima, enitemaus. There 
are a hundred other formulas of words compofed at plea- 
lure. 
