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If a distinction is made between divination and fortune-telling, divination has a more formal or ritualistic element and often contains a more social character, [citation needed] usually in a religious context, as seen in traditional African medicine. Fortune-telling, on the other hand, is a more everyday practice for personal purposes.
Toufic Fahd describes the difference between divination and magic as blurred. Both share a "practical and nontheoretical character"; use "supernatural means to predict natural elements", and share the technique of obtaining knowledge from "demonic inspiration"; but in "Islamic magical literature", the two "run parallel without mingling". [18]
The exact difference between the three forbidden forms of necromancy mentioned in Deuteronomy 18:11 is a matter of uncertainty; yidde'oni ("wizard") is always used together with ob ("consulter with familiar spirits"), [7] and its semantic similarity to doresh el ha-metim ("necromancer", or "one who directs inquiries to the dead") raises the ...
However using the word 'magic' alongside 'religion' is one method of trying to understand the supernatural world, even if some other term can eventually take its place. [4] It is a postulate of modern anthropology, at least since early 1930s, that there is complete continuity between magic and religion. Robert Ranulph Marett (1932) said:
Keith Thomas: "Spiritual magic or theurgy was based on the idea that one could reach God in an ascent up the scale of creation made possible by a rigorous course of prayer, fasting and devotional preparation." [6] Pierre A. Riffard: "Theurgy is a type of magic. It consists of a set of magical practices performed to evoke beneficent spirits in ...
The scope of fortune telling is in principle identical with the practice of divination. The difference is that divination is the term used for predictions considered part of a religious ritual, invoking deities or spirits, while the term fortune telling implies a less serious or formal setting, even one of popular culture, where belief in ...
Black magic as a category did not exist in ancient Mesopotamia, and a person legitimately using magic to defend themselves against illegitimate magic would use exactly the same techniques. [39] The only major difference was that curses were enacted in secret; [ 39 ] whereas a defense against sorcery was conducted in the open, in front of an ...
African magic is the form, ... Ancient African culture was in the habit customarily of always discerning difference between magic, ... divination, witchcraft and ...