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Thaumaturgy (/ ˈ θ ɔː m ə t ɜːr dʒ i / ⓘ) is the practical application of magic to effect change in the physical world. Historically, thaumaturgy has been associated with the manipulation of natural forces, the creation of wonders, and the performance of magical feats through esoteric knowledge and ritual practice.
[67]: 54 Karenga explains the pivotal power of words and their vital ontological role as the primary tool used by the creator to bring the manifest world into being. [68] Because humans were understood to share a divine nature with the gods, snnw ntr (images of the god), the same power to use words creatively that the gods have is shared by humans.
' hidden ' or ' secret ') is a category of esoteric or supernatural beliefs and practices which generally fall outside the scope of organized religion and science, encompassing phenomena involving a 'hidden' or 'secret' agency, such as magic and mysticism. It can also refer to paranormal ideas such as extra-sensory perception and parapsychology.
The other ritual, The Gnostic Mass, is a very popular public ritual (although it can be practiced privately) that involves a team of participants, including a Priest and Priestess. This ritual is an enactment of the mystical journey that culminates with the Mystic Marriage and the consumption of a Cake of Light and a goblet of wine (a process ...
The act of speaking a ritual formula was an act of creation; [41] there is a sense in which action and speech were one and the same thing. [40] The magical power of words extended to the written word. Hieroglyphic script was held to have been invented by the god Thoth, and the hieroglyphs themselves were powerful.
Fire was used in rituals of protection in many parts of Europe up to the early modern era. The need-fire or force-fire was a special fire kindled to ward off plague and murrain (infectious diseases affecting livestock) in parts of western, northern and eastern Europe.
Ritual is secondary: just as technology is an application of science, so ritual is an application of myth—an attempt to produce certain effects, given the supposed nature of the world: "For Tylor, myth functions to explain the world as an end in itself.
Magic is an attempt to understand, experience and influence the world using rituals, symbols, actions, gestures and language. Modern theories of magic may see it as the result of a universal sympathy where some act can produce a result somewhere else, or as a collaboration with spirits who cause the effect.