Magic Vs Religion

There has been a historical narrative regarding religious institutions and occult groups as being perpetually in conflict. This historical narrative claims that religion and magic are separate and opposite ways of understanding. However, while there are political, theological, and cultural reasons to have a clear boundary between magic and religion, there is no functional nor conceptual difference between them, and to that end, both have no rational place in the modern world.

Magical thinking is separate from what is rational thinking. It does not rely on cause and effect or empirically-based evidence. Instead, it allows for a duality and multiplicity of truths in the way that all things are interrelated and have the capacity to influence one

The system of astrology used the reasoning and tools that were available at that time, however we can track the stars and planets better now. It sought to explain how the position of the planets and stars in the sky affect human health and behavior, in addition to their impact on natural earth. Astrology is a geocentric system, which made sense for the ancient Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans, but once mathematics and telescope observations developed enough, it became irrefutable that the earth revolves around the sun. A system that relies on incorrect premises is not an adequate system for understanding the world. Science is the best way to explain the natural world. The use of amulets and talismans is another inferior substitute for modern medicine. “Medicine men” throughout history have instructed the ill to wear a particular stone around their neck to heal them, but there is no observable proof that the can cure an ailment, and no consistent, rational understanding of how an amulet can cure an ailment. The use of talismans is even more absurd. The belief is that the inscriptions and images on the stone will initiate communication between the person and a celestial or intelligent being --- possibly demons, possibly angels, or maybe God. There is no coherent causality for magic doers, and so there is no reason to take it seriously. In fact, medicine men can actually harm people because they are

The most prominent occult writer and astrologer in Renaissance Florence was Marsilio Ficino, a Catholic priest. He wrote famously about the proper ways to use magic and understand celestial entities in relation to the Christian God. The occult was not a minority hiding in the shadows; for many intellectuals, magic was an integral part of their religious practices. The Christian Bible explicitly forbids the making of idols. A big cultural distinction between paganism and both the Jewish and Christian tradition is that followers of God must not worship idols. Pagans had all sorts of statues that they worshipped, but in the 1500s, there were no practicing pagans in Italy. Alexander Nagel discusses the Christian attitudes towards paintings and sculptures in relation to forbidden idolatry during, particularly with Renaissance art. Christians were permitted to paint, as painted images were fictitious and not idols. (106) But then Christians ventured into sculptures, initially with a cross, then with Jesus on the crucifix. It was justified theologically as that pagan idols are freestanding figures, and Christ is not presented as an idol because he is hanging from the cross. Christians are still praying to a statue, worshipping a statue, building statues. They are no different from pagans worshipping idols, and the hypocrisy becomes more apparent with saints. The occult