"We can see no easy origin to magic," Chris Gosden writes in Magic—A History, "because it has always been with us." Every culture that we know of has had magical beliefs and practices. Sometimes, as ...

Here are some viewpoints: Both religion and magic solicit the supernatural. It is said that magic uses "mysterious or supernatural forces,” while miracles manifest "divine intervention in human ...

What does a miracle mean in a deeply religious society? Is it a wonder to celebrate and show the power of a god? Or is it dangerous – a challenge to a religious order, one that could mean imprisonment ...