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Article THE HISTORY OF MAGIC. ← Page 4 of 15 →
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The History Of Magic.
phics . " These very hieroglyphics were known only to a certain grade among the priests , called the Chartomi . The books of instruction were guarded in the most secret places of the sanctuary ; and all their invocations were clothed in the most metaphorical garb . Thus we may trace an analogy between the experimental pursuit of the ancient occult arts and that of
alchemy in later ages—both now alike uncared for and unknown , no records having been transmitted by their followers of their principles and results for the instruction of their fellow men . Of the latter we can discover no example of any kind for nearly a century . Such , however , were the methods by which scientific pursuit
was rendered mystic among the older professors—formularies chanted in verse forming their only fixed method of instruction , much in the same way that precepts of morality and religion have found preservation in the garb of proverbs . This plan was subsequently disused under the Themgists , who derived the arts from the Egyptians , through Zoroaster . From the occult science of the Egyptians , which we have thus particularized , arose the art called that of magic—a name given to it by the Greeks , and comprising those mysteries in
winch they had been instructed by the Magi , or sacerdotal class of ancient Persia , who worshipped the sun and fire as emblems of Ormuzd , or the good spirit , and whose religion existed 2000 years before the Christian era . Though the invention of magical art was thus attributed to Zoroaster , the leader of the Magi , he only added to , and improved it , as
practised by the Chaldeans and Egyptians . We have other authority for affixing an earlier date to the origin of magic . St . Epiphanius , Bishop of Salamis , relates , that when Nimrod founded Bactria , he there established this science , and also that of astronomy , the first ever cultivated by man . In his time existed the worship of Baal at Babel—the tower of
Belus , 800 feet in height , being the most ancient observatory in the world . Cassein speaks of a treatise on magic in the fifth century , attributed to Ham- —and St . Epiphanius refers the origin of enchantments to the time of Jared , fourth from Seth . Quittinghoweverthese distant epochsauthentic research
, , , commences with the priest-aristocracies of India and Egypt , powerful enough , as w e have said , to limit even the kingly authority . At this era , we find magic prominent among the Canaanitish and Hebrew nations . Of the former we read , that they did " most odious works of witchcraft and wicked
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The History Of Magic.
phics . " These very hieroglyphics were known only to a certain grade among the priests , called the Chartomi . The books of instruction were guarded in the most secret places of the sanctuary ; and all their invocations were clothed in the most metaphorical garb . Thus we may trace an analogy between the experimental pursuit of the ancient occult arts and that of
alchemy in later ages—both now alike uncared for and unknown , no records having been transmitted by their followers of their principles and results for the instruction of their fellow men . Of the latter we can discover no example of any kind for nearly a century . Such , however , were the methods by which scientific pursuit
was rendered mystic among the older professors—formularies chanted in verse forming their only fixed method of instruction , much in the same way that precepts of morality and religion have found preservation in the garb of proverbs . This plan was subsequently disused under the Themgists , who derived the arts from the Egyptians , through Zoroaster . From the occult science of the Egyptians , which we have thus particularized , arose the art called that of magic—a name given to it by the Greeks , and comprising those mysteries in
winch they had been instructed by the Magi , or sacerdotal class of ancient Persia , who worshipped the sun and fire as emblems of Ormuzd , or the good spirit , and whose religion existed 2000 years before the Christian era . Though the invention of magical art was thus attributed to Zoroaster , the leader of the Magi , he only added to , and improved it , as
practised by the Chaldeans and Egyptians . We have other authority for affixing an earlier date to the origin of magic . St . Epiphanius , Bishop of Salamis , relates , that when Nimrod founded Bactria , he there established this science , and also that of astronomy , the first ever cultivated by man . In his time existed the worship of Baal at Babel—the tower of
Belus , 800 feet in height , being the most ancient observatory in the world . Cassein speaks of a treatise on magic in the fifth century , attributed to Ham- —and St . Epiphanius refers the origin of enchantments to the time of Jared , fourth from Seth . Quittinghoweverthese distant epochsauthentic research
, , , commences with the priest-aristocracies of India and Egypt , powerful enough , as w e have said , to limit even the kingly authority . At this era , we find magic prominent among the Canaanitish and Hebrew nations . Of the former we read , that they did " most odious works of witchcraft and wicked