During the Middle Ages, magic was an underground movement standing in ideological opposition to the ruling Church. Into the colorful tapestry of medieval magic, the Church banished all spontaneous expressions of human magical thinking that have manifested in human nature since the era of cave cults. Yet, the Church itself utilized magic too—blessings, excommunication, exorcism, and the Eucharist are magical techniques whose equivalents can be found in both folk witchcraft and older eras, such as antiquity, ancient Egypt, and Mesopotamia.
Given that the Church suppressed magic, and as soon as its power waned, the Age of Enlightenment and later the Industrial Revolution arrived—which in turn viewed magic as a delusion and folk nonsense—the sources of knowledge regarding medieval magic are very limited. In fact, the only way we can learn more is through the negative imprint of ecclesiastical prohibitions. Throughout the Middle Ages, Church bans were repeatedly issued, chastising surviving pagan customs and magical techniques. It is precisely from what was forbidden that we can learn about what was practiced.
As a small demonstration of the classification of magic, we present an excerpt from a book by a zealous Christian. If we wade through the layers of demonization and refuse to let this zealot convince us of what he wishes to—namely, that magic is nonsense or a monstrous copulation with the Devil—we might catch a glimpse of the outlines of an ancient doctrine that is as old as humanity itself.
Mat. Konečný: The Book of Christian Duties, published 1612, p. 95:
Devilish Illusions are the most harmful and cleverest of all, occurring through various superstitions, spells, and sorcery; and the Lord God, specifically enumerating them to His people, saw fit to strictly forbid them, saying: There shall not be found among you a diviner, an astrologer, a sorcerer, a magician, a caster of lots, a conjurer, a soothsayer, or a necromancer. In this prohibition of His, the Lord God recalls eight distinct types of devilish and sorcerous illusions:
I. Diviners are those who, predicting secret or future things through devilish inspiration, act so cautiously that people do not realize they have a pact and understanding with the Devil, but instead believe them to be God’s messengers, prophets, or prophetesses…
II. Astrologers are those who predict future things, lands, kingdoms, and cities from observing the signs of heavenly planets, thereby leading the human mind—prone to superstition—away from God’s guidance and trust, turning them instead toward created things contrary to God’s commandment…
III. Sorcerers are those who offer themselves as servants to the Devil in many of his wicked deeds against people, to their grief and harm. These people superstitiously use certain figures, characters, circles, lines, words taken irreverently even from Holy Scripture, and various other superstitious blessings devised by the Devil, whether to discover secret things, for some bodily benefit of the sorcerer, or to harm others in their health, livestock, and other matters, both secret and manifest, even extending to the marriage of certain people, especially newlyweds. Such as these, among others, are worthy of the fiery scourge.
IV. Magicians are those who specifically deceive human sight, so that it appears to the onlookers and those present that these and other wondrous, unbelievable, and impossible things are happening, precisely as these instruments of the Devil desire; however, it is merely trickery, deception, and the simple hoodwinking of people. Such are called jugglers.
V. Casters of Lots, so named after the lot, who meet at specific times with the Devil, entering into strange lots and points with him, taking counsel and instruction from him, and then display their art. Through the meddlesome use of lots—throwing or placing them this way or that, or when it happens that they hear this or that, or meet this or that person—they attribute to all of this the discovery of secret things from God, possessing nothing but an understanding with the Devil and his training to deceive.
VI. Conjurers employ Satan as their servant in their biddings. For their sake, he also gives answers out of fire, water, earth, and through other creations, standing at their command, managing things for them, and making himself useful. They keep him inside a chest, a glass, a ring, or always in something enclosed, holding him like a prisoner (as it seems to them), questioning him and using him for whatever they wish…
VII. Soothsayers have a custom of promising future and secret things to people, or terrifying and frightening them, using dreams, lines on hands, features on faces, as well as the chattering of birds and their flight…
VIII. Necromancers summon people from graves, charnel houses, and from the dead, questioning them about secret things and announcing them to people. The Devil fully lends himself to them in this, under the guise of someone’s name and in the likeness of those whom superstitious people command them to summon…
