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Sorcery

Sorcery

A sorcerer is a person who practices magic and thus has the ability to make the unexplainable happen. However, sorcery does not just refer to any type of magic. According to Copenhaver, sorcery is also known as a “magical wrongdoing” (Copenhaver 2015, 93). Another word for harmful sorcery is “Maleficium”, which is seen as a criminal offense (Apuleius 2015, 143). It is said that even Moses, after bringing about the Ten Commandments, claimed that sorcery was evil and should be illegal (Copenhaver 2015, 17). This practice is commonly associated with witches, who were seen as evil because of their suspected relations with the devil. Witches were believed to be able to manipulate the feelings or actions of others as well as cause damage using mysterious methods of magic (Burchard 2015, 273). This kind of sorcery was feared by all and the suspicion that resulted often led to the accused women being put to death.

Sorcery was not only associated with witches, but with other kinds of malicious works as well. Porphyry accounts of a time where a man’s jealously towards another “showed itself in continual insolence, and finally he grew so bitter that he even ventured sorcery, seeking to crush Plotinous by star-casting” (Porphyry 2015, 171), therefore demonstrating this practice being used for evil in order to defeat someone. This is one of many accounts of sorcery being used to avenge or harm others. Also, Plato explained that people should be weary of those who participate in trickery and magic, for “those malicious cheats use ‘chants and sorcery to attack and utterly destroy individuals and whole houses and states’” (Copenhaver 2015, 95). From this, it is clear that many wanted little to do with the workings of sorcerers as they were seen to cause widespread destruction.

Key words: maleficium, magician, supernatural, superstition, witchcraft, witch.

Bibliography
Apuleius. 2015. "The Dangerous and Forbidden Sorceries: Apuleius, The Defense" from The Book of 
            Magic: from Antiquity to the Enlightenment. Published by Penguin Classics. 
Burchard. 2015. “Have You Believed? Burchard of Worms, Corrector” from The Book of
Magic: From Antiquity to the Enlightenment. Published by Penguin Classics.
Copenhaver, B. 2015. The Book of Magic: From Antiquity to the Enlightenment. Published by
Penguin Classics.
Porphyry, M. 2015. “An Indwelling Spirit of the More Divine Degree: Porphyry, Life of
Plotinus” from The Book of Magic: From Antiquity to the Enlightenment. Published by
Penguin Classics.


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