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Black magic (Middle English:nigromancy), sometimesdark magic, traditionally refers to the use ofmagic orsupernatural powers forevil and selfish purposes.[1]
The links and interaction between black magic and religion are many and varied. Beyond black magic's historical persecution byChristianity and its inquisitions, there are links between religious and black magic rituals. For example, 17th-century priestÉtienne Guibourg is said to have performed a series ofBlack Mass rituals with alleged witchCatherine Monvoisin forMadame de Montespan.[2][failed verification] During his period of scholarship,A. E. Waite provided a comprehensive account of black magic practices, rituals and traditions inThe Book of Ceremonial Magic (1911).[3]
The influence of popular culture has allowed other practices to be drawn in under the broad banner of black magic, including the concept ofSatanism. While the invocation of demons or spirits is an accepted part of black magic, this practice is distinct from the worship or deification of such spiritual beings.[4] The two are usually combined in medieval beliefs aboutwitchcraft.[5]
The first known appearance of "black magic" in English isEdmund Spenser's epic poemThe Faerie Queene, where he anglicizes the contemporary term "nigromancy", derived from Latinnigromantia, a medieval variant ofnecromantia "necromancy" influenced by Latinniger "black".[6]
For he the tyraunt, which her hath in ward
By strong enchauntments and blacke Magicke leare
Hath in a dungeon deepe her close embard,
And many dreadfull feends hath pointed to her gard.
— Book III, Canto XI[7]
The lowest depths of black mysticism are well-nigh
as difficult to plumb as it is arduous to scale
the heights of sanctity. The Grand Masters of
the witch covens are men of genius – a foul genius,
crooked, distorted, disturbed, and diseased.
Robert M. Place's 2009 book,Magic and Alchemy describes the origins of black magic as being like its counterpartwhite magic: traced to the primitive, ritualistic worship of spirits.[8] Unlike white magic, in which Place sees parallels with primitiveshamanistic efforts to achieve closeness with spiritual beings, the rituals that developed into modern black magic were designed toevoke those same spirits to produce beneficial outcomes for the practitioner. Place also provides a broad modern definition of both black and white magic, preferring instead to refer to them as "high magic" (white) and "low magic" (black) based primarily on intentions of the practitioner employing them. He acknowledges, though, that this broader definition (of "high" and "low") suffers from prejudices because good-intentionedfolk magic may be considered "low" whileceremonial magic involving expensive or exclusive components may be considered by some as "high magic", regardless of intent.[9]
During theRenaissance, many magical practices and rituals were considered evil or irreligious and by extension, black magic in the broad sense.Witchcraft and non-mainstreamesoteric study were prohibited and targeted by theInquisition.[10] As a result,natural magic developed as a way for thinkers and intellectuals, likeMarsilio Ficino, abbotJohannes Trithemius andHeinrich Cornelius Agrippa, to advance esoteric and ritualistic study (though still often in secret) without significant persecution.[10]
While "natural magic" became popular among the educated and upper classes of the 16th and 17th century,ritualistic magic and folk magic remained subject to persecution. Twentieth-century writerMontague Summers generally rejects the definitions of "white" and "black" magic as "contradictory", though he highlights the extent to which magic in general, regardless of intent, was considered "black" and citesWilliam Perkins posthumous 1608 instructions in that regard:
All witches "convicted by the Magistrate" should be executed. He allows no exception and under this condemnation fall "all Diviners, Charmers, Jugglers, all Wizards, commonly called wise men or wise women". All those purported "good Witches which do not hurt but good, which do not spoil and destroy, but save and deliver" should come under the extreme sentence.[11]
In particular, though, the term was most commonly reserved for those accused of invokingdemons and otherevil spirits, those hexing orcursing their neighbours, those using magic to destroy crops, and those capable of leaving their earthly bodies andtravelling great distances in spirit (to which theMalleus Maleficarum "devotes one long and important chapter"), usually to engage in devil-worship. Summers also highlights the etymological development of the termnigromancer, in common use from 1200 to approximately 1500, (Latin:niger, black;Greek:μαντεία, divination), broadly "one skilled in the black arts".[11]
In a modern context, the line between white magic and black magic is somewhat clearer and most modern definitions focus on intent rather than practice.[8] There is also an extent to which many modernWicca andwitchcraft practitioners have sought to distance themselves from those intent on practising black magic. Those who seek to do harm or evil are less likely to be accepted into mainstream Wiccan circles orcovens in an era where benevolent magic is increasingly associated withnew-age beliefs and practices, and self-helpspiritualism.[4]
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| Artes Prohibitae |
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Sevenartes prohibitae orartes magicae were arts prohibited by canon law as expounded byJohannes Hartlieb in 1456. Their sevenfold partition reflecting that of theartes liberales andartes mechanicae.[12] While the term nigromancy broadly construed includes the six associated divinatory practices, it more specifically refers to thedemonic magic of theLate Middle Ages. Demonic magic was performed in groups surrounding a leader in possession of agrimoire. Practitioners were typically members of the educated elite, as most grimoires were written in Latin. One such case in 1444, Inquisitor Gaspare Sighicelli took action against a group active in Bologna. Marco Mattei of Gesso and friar Jacopo of Viterbo confessed to taking part in magical practices. Nigromancy may include, but is not a synonym for,necromancy ("death magic").[13]
Voodoo has been associated with modern black magic; drawn together in popular culture and fiction. However, while hexing or cursing may be accepted black magic practices, Voodoo has its own distinct history and traditions.[14][4]
Voodoo tradition makes its own distinction between black and white magic, with sorcerers like thebokor known for using magic and rituals of both. But practitioners' penchant for magic associated with curses, poisons andzombies means they, and Voodoo in general, are regularly associated with black magic.[15]
In the2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine,Russian state media accused Ukraine of using black magic to fend off the Russian military, specifically accusingOleksiy Arestovych of enlisting sorcerers and witches as Ukrainian soldiers who were consecrating "weapons with blood magick".[16][17]
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