Magic spell

A spell, charm, invocation, or hex is a set of words, spoken or unspoken, which are considered by its user to invoke some magical effect. Historical attestations exist for the use of some variety of incantations in many cultures around the world. Spells can be used in calling upon or summoning a spirit, demon, god or other supernatural agent (evocation), or to prevent a person from taking some action or in forcing them to remain on some path of action (binding spells).

Surviving written records of whole magic spells were largely obliterated in many cultures by the success of the major monotheistic religions, Islam, Judaism and Christianity, which label some magic activity as immoral or associated with evil. Spells would generally be distinguished from magic symbols, words, patterns, recipes, practices and other forms of magic that were not directly exercised by a collection of words. However, some spells were combinations or repetitions of words that were considered to have magic power, but which were not in sentences or verse.

Surviving examples from northern Europe include For a Swarm of Bees, the Nine Herbs Charm and the Merseburg Incantations.

Due to the surviving written record of ancient Egyptian culture, a number of references to magic and complete examples exist. In particular the embalming and interring process involved the use of many documented spells, for example from the Book of the Dead.

The performance of magic almost always involves the use of language. Whether spoken out loud or unspoken, words are frequently used to access or guide magical power. In "The Magical Power of Words" (1968) S. J. Tambiah argues that the connection between language and magic is due to a belief in the inherent ability of words to influence the universe. Bronisław Malinowski, in Coral Gardens and their Magic (1935), suggests that this belief is an extension of man's basic use of language to describe his surroundings, in which "the knowledge of the right words, appropriate phrases and the more highly developed forms of speech, gives man a power over and above his own limited field of personal action." Magical speech is therefore a ritual act and is of equal or even greater importance to the performance of magic than non-verbal acts.

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