Post by Sable Thanasis-Pontin on Jul 12, 2012 17:15:08 GMT -5
Welcome to History of Magic- Ancient Years to the Victorian Era. Today we will do a quick overview of the earliest days of magic, and we will, over the year, cover the various histories of the arcane arts around the world.
In this first lecture,you will be introduced to the first recorded instances of magic. The shamans of Ur and the conjurers of Egypt were among the earliest recorded, particularly Dedi, the Egyptian wizard who would frighten muggles with displays of seemingly 'decaptiating chickens' and then 'ressurrecting' them, as well as inventing the Gemini spell, which allowed him to multiply balls and cups for various money-making ventures. This led to the Acetabularii in ancient Rome, who, in the years 50 CE to 300 CE, used this method to both swindle muggles with illusions, as well as sell pottery and other goods. Moving along, in Asia, there were more 'religiously' bound sorcerers who associated their abilities and gifts with connections to deities and spirits. Diviners and Astronomers in China are the most noted, giving us the earliest star-charts and predictions using the skies. In Japan there was a slight division between the sects of Shinto shrine priests and their maidens, and the Onmyodo- who practice esoteric cosmology.The two most famous of these are the grand wizard Omnyodo, Kamo no Yasunori, and his pupil, the half-blood Abe no Seme.
Before the colonization of the American continents, magic was performed by shamans and 'medicine men' among the various native tribes. These men, and sometimes women, were not only regarded as conjurers, but as spiritual leaders, healers, and consultants before wars and battles. Some with enough power among their tribes could become elevated to the poisition of chief, and it was considered an honor among the tribes to marry in to a powerful shaman family, especially when the children born to them proved to either be equally powerful in magic, or to possess strength and bravery to become warriors.
In what would become the European landscape, especially among the British Isles, magic was a bit wilder. Occasionally those with strong magical abilities would become either guides for leaders of each Germanic Tribe, or considered enemies to be defeated for glory and fame, as well as to assert their own strength against those of rivals for leadership. In these days, to cast spells, one did not use a wand, but their hands and their own concentration and physical strength. However, this method eventually proved unstable, and it was discovered that by using woods with magical properties, one could fashion a stave or staff that could help harness both a human's inner magical power, as well as the powers surrounding them in nature, making it easier and more potent. In time there came the addition of rune carvings on staves, and decorating them with feathers or hairs from magical animals for more amplified spellwork, until the earliest ancestors of our modern wands were crafted, taking the outer decorations and placing them inside as cores, though some modern wand
makers still incorporate runes for effect and aesthetics.
Next Thursday we shall be looking at the invasion of the Romans in to Europe, the mingling of Roman, Greek, and Germanic magics, and the birth of Merlin.
This concludes this week's lecture on Ancient History of Magic. Drop in Sunday for the first lecture on Modern History of Magic.
In this first lecture,you will be introduced to the first recorded instances of magic. The shamans of Ur and the conjurers of Egypt were among the earliest recorded, particularly Dedi, the Egyptian wizard who would frighten muggles with displays of seemingly 'decaptiating chickens' and then 'ressurrecting' them, as well as inventing the Gemini spell, which allowed him to multiply balls and cups for various money-making ventures. This led to the Acetabularii in ancient Rome, who, in the years 50 CE to 300 CE, used this method to both swindle muggles with illusions, as well as sell pottery and other goods. Moving along, in Asia, there were more 'religiously' bound sorcerers who associated their abilities and gifts with connections to deities and spirits. Diviners and Astronomers in China are the most noted, giving us the earliest star-charts and predictions using the skies. In Japan there was a slight division between the sects of Shinto shrine priests and their maidens, and the Onmyodo- who practice esoteric cosmology.The two most famous of these are the grand wizard Omnyodo, Kamo no Yasunori, and his pupil, the half-blood Abe no Seme.
Before the colonization of the American continents, magic was performed by shamans and 'medicine men' among the various native tribes. These men, and sometimes women, were not only regarded as conjurers, but as spiritual leaders, healers, and consultants before wars and battles. Some with enough power among their tribes could become elevated to the poisition of chief, and it was considered an honor among the tribes to marry in to a powerful shaman family, especially when the children born to them proved to either be equally powerful in magic, or to possess strength and bravery to become warriors.
In what would become the European landscape, especially among the British Isles, magic was a bit wilder. Occasionally those with strong magical abilities would become either guides for leaders of each Germanic Tribe, or considered enemies to be defeated for glory and fame, as well as to assert their own strength against those of rivals for leadership. In these days, to cast spells, one did not use a wand, but their hands and their own concentration and physical strength. However, this method eventually proved unstable, and it was discovered that by using woods with magical properties, one could fashion a stave or staff that could help harness both a human's inner magical power, as well as the powers surrounding them in nature, making it easier and more potent. In time there came the addition of rune carvings on staves, and decorating them with feathers or hairs from magical animals for more amplified spellwork, until the earliest ancestors of our modern wands were crafted, taking the outer decorations and placing them inside as cores, though some modern wand
makers still incorporate runes for effect and aesthetics.
Next Thursday we shall be looking at the invasion of the Romans in to Europe, the mingling of Roman, Greek, and Germanic magics, and the birth of Merlin.
This concludes this week's lecture on Ancient History of Magic. Drop in Sunday for the first lecture on Modern History of Magic.
