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2024年3月29日 · sorcerer. sorcery, the practice of malevolent magic, derived from casting lots as a means of divining the future in the ancient Mediterranean world. Some scholars distinguish sorcery from witchcraft by noting that it is learned rather than intrinsic.
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- Nature and scope
magic, a concept used to describe a mode of rationality or way of thinking that looks to invisible forces to influence events, effect change in material conditions, or present the illusion of change. Within the Western tradition, this way of thinking is distinct from religious or scientific modes; however, such distinctions and even the definition ...
Practices classified as magic include divination, astrology, incantations, alchemy, sorcery, spirit mediation, and necromancy. The term magic is also used colloquially in Western popular culture to refer to acts of conjuring and sleight of hand for entertainment. The purpose of magic is to acquire knowledge, power, love, or wealth; to heal or ward off illness or danger; to guarantee productivity or success in an endeavour; to cause harm to an enemy; to reveal information; to induce spiritual transformation; to trick; or to entertain. The effectiveness of magic is often determined by the condition and performance of the magician, who is thought to have access to unseen forces and special knowledge of the appropriate words and actions to manipulate those forces.
Phenomena associated or confused with magic include forms of mysticism, medicine, paganism, heresy, witchcraft, shamanism, Vodou, and superstition. Magic is sometimes divided into the "high" magic of the intellectual elite, bordering on science, and the "low" magic of common folk practices. A distinction is also made between "black" magic, used for nefarious purposes, and "white" magic, ostensibly used for beneficial purposes. Although these boundaries are often unclear, magical practices have a sense of "otherness" because of the supernatural power that is believed to be channeled through the practitioner, who is a marginalized or stigmatized figure in some societies and a central one in others.
2024年3月29日 · witchcraft, traditionally, the exercise or invocation of alleged supernatural powers to control people or events, practices typically involving sorcery or magic.
2024年5月21日 · Ralph Waldo Emerson, American lecturer, poet, and essayist, the leading exponent of New England Transcendentalism, by which he gave direction to a religious, philosophical, and ethical movement that stressed belief in the spiritual potential of every person. Learn more about his life and beliefs in this article.
2024年4月15日 · Roald Dahl (born September 13, 1916, Llandaff, Wales—died November 23, 1990, Oxford, England) was a British writer who was a popular author of ingenious and irreverent children’s books. His best-known works include Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (1964) and Matilda (1988), both of which were adapted into popular films.
2024年5月10日 · Transcendentalism, 19th-century movement of writers and philosophers in New England who were loosely bound together by adherence to an idealistic system of thought based on belief in the essential unity of all creation, the innate goodness of humanity, and the supremacy of insight over logic and experience.
2024年4月12日 · Ralph Ellison (born March 1, 1914, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, U.S.—died April 16, 1994, New York, New York) was an American writer who won eminence with his first novel (and the only one published during his lifetime), Invisible Man (1952). Ellison left Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute (now Tuskegee University) in 1936 after three years ...
