But besides the many forms of these two kinds of magic, there is a later variety of magic which grew up with what is not a primitive belief, namely, the belief in the existence of spiritual beings inhabiting trees, rocks, waters, and animals. It developed further with the later belief in the existence of ghosts or spirits of the dead. Fear and the desire to control hostile unseen forces was the motive of all magic. The magician invented "spells," "rites," and "ceremonies" for controlling and bending these spirits to his will. But as a still later development, we find more and more definitely separated from the magician and his spells--the priest, who learnt humility in the face of might greater than his own, and, abandoning the attempt to coerce, adopted the attitude of propitiation and prayer, and prostrated himself before a higher power. Thus (as Dr. Marret writes) religion gradually became separated from magic, though often mixed with it, and often retaining magical elements. Religious cults became publicly recognized, established, and respectable, whilst "magic" became private, secret, disreputable, and at last openly condemned and suppressed by the priests of religion. The history of magic in Europe, Asia, Africa, and America presents an almost unlimited field of study. We find remarkable agreements in the fundamental notions on which magic is based in all parts of the world and also important differences in details and special developments.
Divination is that branch of magic which attempts to _discover_ secrets or to foresee events, whilst magic in general is an attempt to _influence_ the course of events. Divination is the process of attempting to obtain knowledge of secret or future things by means of oracles, omens, or astrology. One of its methods is "necromancy," the supposed communication with the spirits of the dead. This word is formed from the Greek words "nekros," a corpse, and "manteia," divination; but in Latin it was erroneously written "nigromantia," and so gave rise to the application of the name "the black art" to sorcery and witchcraft in general. By the ancient Greeks and Romans all omens, as well as oracles, were regarded as sent by the gods, and in ancient Rome a large and wealthy corporation of augurs who were constantly consulted by private individuals as well as by the State existed. They received regular "fees" for their services in interpreting and seeking for omens. The orthodox belief has always been either that the soothsayer is directly controlled by a god or a spirit, or, on the other hand, that the material objects inspected and regarded as signs of the future are controlled by the gods or by spirits, so as to afford information. Divination is, and has been, practised in all grades of civilization and culture, from the Australian "black fellow" to the American medium. Amongst its many varieties are (1) crystal gazing, a method similar to that of dreams, excepting that the vision is set up voluntarily by gazing into a crystal ball or a basin of water; (2) shell-hearing; (3) the divining-rod in its various forms; (4) sieve, ring, and Bible swinging; (5) automatic writing; (6) sand divination, widely practised in Africa; (7) trance-speaking; (8) the examination of the hand, or palmistry; (9) card-laying; (10) the interpretation of dreams; (11) the casting of lots, or sortilege; (12) the drawing of texts from the Bible or from Virgil (the 'sortes Virgilianæ' of old times); (13) the inspection of the entrails of animals freshly killed (haruspication), and the study of footprints; (14) augury by omens, such as the behaviour and cry of birds, and the meeting with ominous animals; and lastly (15 and 16), the two highly elaborated and pretentious systems of astrology (divination by the stars) and geomancy (divination by the lie of hills and rivers). In the case of astrology the stars are believed not merely to prognosticate the future, but also to influence it, and the latter is the special feature of geomancy, practised in China, where no house or other building can be erected without a certificate as to its favourable position in regard to "magic" by the professional "geomancer," who has to be paid his fee, and thus takes the place of the local government surveyor and sanitary officer of Western Europe.