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We have, so far, provided an overview of some of the major terms associated with magic and speech. We have not been exhaustive, but we have only promised a survey. There are certainly more words which could be dredged out for our point. We have not, for instance, had much to say about the obscure Scottish word for magician, "reim kenner," which literally translates to "knower of rhymes," referring obviously to "spells" and "incantations." We can now see that a very high majority of words dealing with magical operation are rooted in the idea of speech. The remaining words associated with magic that do not deal with speech generally deal with some specific operation of magic, such as divination. The word "sorcery," for example, comes from a Latin word meaning to cast or draw lots. In times of old, magic and the occult was heavily intertwined with the concepts of divination and astrology in particular. Many old words for "magician" were based on this, such as "astralogamage." The terms "mage" and "magic" themselves, come from the Persian Magi, who were known for their astrology, which they inherited from the conquered Mesopotamian peoples. The term "witchcraft" and "witch" are rooted in the Anglo-Saxon word "wicce." There is much debate over the etymological meaning of this word, but it most likely refers to "seeing," and may also possibly be thrown into the divinatory category. Other terms such as "healer" are more obviously function based. We touched slightly on the concepts of "binding" and "fascination," which are also based on action and function. "Occult" simply means hidden, but the definition of "occult" refers not to magical practice, but hidden knowledge. All of these ideas, and more, will be fleshed out in the upcoming work, Magic Words: The Etymology of Magical Terminology, which we hope to have available in print soon. |