Editing Magic and religion (section)

==Intersections==
Even in places and times where magic and religion are considered distinct, separate concepts there have been numerous historical intersections where aspects from one would be [[syncretized]] with or borrowed from the other.{{cn|date=October 2023}}<!-- [[renaissance magic]] is likely to have solid citations on this subject -->
=== Rituals ===
{{main|Ritual}}
{{See also|Ritual magic|Magic (supernatural)|Ritual purification}}
Both magic and religion contain [[ritual]]s.<ref name="Merrifield" /> Most cultures have or have had in their past some form of magical tradition that recognizes a [[shamanistic]] interconnectedness of spirit. This may have been long ago, as a folk tradition that died out with the establishment of a major world religion, such as [[Judaism]], [[Christianity]], [[Islam]] or [[Buddhism]], or it may still co-exist with that world religion.<ref>[http://whitemagicwitch.com/magic-and-religion/ Magic and Religion] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714235043/http://whitemagicwitch.com/magic-and-religion/ |date=14 July 2014}}</ref> [[Coptic Christians]] were writing magical spells from the 1st to 12th centuries.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Meyer |first1=Marvin W. |title=Ancient Christian Magic Coptic Texts of Ritual Power |date=1999 |publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=9780691004587 |url=https://archive.org/details/ancientchristian00marv |url-access=registration}}</ref>

=== Names of the gods as true names ===
{{main|Names of God|Magical formula}}
There is a long-standing belief in the power of [[true name]]s, this often descends from the magical belief that knowing a being's true name grants  power over it.<ref>{{cite book | title=The Necessity of Art: A Marxist Approach | last = Fischer | first = Ernst | author-link = Ernst Fischer (writer) | year = 1981 | publisher = Penguin Books | location = New York, NY | page = 31}}</ref>

If names have power, then knowing the name of a god regarded as supreme in a religion should grant the greatest power of all.  This belief is reflected in traditional [[Wicca]], where the names of the Goddess and the Horned God – the two supreme deities in Wicca – are usually held as a secret to be revealed only to initiates. This belief is also reflected in ancient Judaism, which used the [[Tetragrammaton]] (YHWH, usually translated as "<span style="font-variant: small-caps;">Lord</span>" in small caps) to refer to God in the [[Tanakh]]. The same belief is seen in [[Hinduism]], but with different conclusions; rather, attaining transcendence and the power of God is seen as a ''good'' thing.  Thus, some Hindus chant the name of their favorite deities as often as possible, the most common being [[Krishna]].<ref>{{cite book | last = Gonick | first = Larry | author-link = Larry Gonick | title = [[The Cartoon History of the Universe]] | publisher = Doubleday}}</ref><!-- Don't laugh, it's a scholarly, well-researched source.-->

===Magic and Abrahamic religions===
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{{main|Jewish magical papyri|Christian views on magic|Islam and magic|Practical Kabbalah}}
Magic and [[Abrahamic religions]] have had a somewhat checkered past. The [[King James Version]] of the Bible included the famous translation "Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live" (Exodus 22:18),<ref>{{cite book | title = [[King James Version of the Bible]] | year = 1611}}</ref> and [[Saul]] is rebuked by God for seeking advice from a [[Witch of Endor|diviner who could contact spirits]]. On the other hand, seemingly magical signs are documented in the Bible: For example, both the staff of Pharaoh's sorcerers as well as the [[staff of Moses]] and [[Aaron's rod|Aaron]] could be turned into snakes (Exodus 7:8-13). However, as Scott Noegel points out, the critical difference between the magic of Pharaoh's magicians and the non-magic of Moses is in the means by which the staff becomes a snake. For the Pharaoh's magicians, they employed "their secret arts" whereas Moses merely throws down his staff to turn it into a snake. To an ancient Egyptian, the startling difference would have been that Moses neither employed secret arts nor magical words. In the Torah, Noegel points out that YHWH does not need magical rituals to act.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Noegel |first=Scott B. |year=1996 |title=Moses and Magic: Notes on the Book of Exodus |journal=Journal of the Ancient Near Eastern Society |volume=24 |pages=45–59 |url=http://faculty.washington.edu/snoegel/PDFs/articles/Noegel%2019%20-%20JANES%201996.pdf |access-date=13 March 2022}}</ref>

The words 'witch' and '[[witchcraft]]' appear in some English versions of the Bible. Exodus 22:18 in the King James Version reads: "Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live." The precise meaning of the Hebrew word ''mechshepha'' (root ''kashaph'') here translated as 'witch' and in some other modern versions, 'sorceress', is uncertain. In the [[Septuagint]] it was translated as ''pharmakeia'', meaning 'pharmacy', and on this basis, [[Reginald Scot]] claimed in the 16th century that 'witch' was an incorrect translation and poisoners were intended.<ref>[[Reginald Scot|Scot, Reginald]] (c. 1580) ''The Discoverie of Witchcraft'' Booke VI Ch. 1.</ref>