Supernatural And Satanic Magic In Early Modern Europe
612 Words3 Pages
In Early Modern Europe, there was a widespread belief in magic, astrology, and the supernatural; mostly due to a lack of any scientific, or elsewise, explanation. Two prominent categories of magic were believed to exist: natural magic; and satanic magic. Natural magic’s were the unexplained phenomenon that occurred within nature, e.g. magnetic forces; considered by most to be harmless, if not beneficial. While, satanic magic’s were the unexplained phenomenon’s that were supernatural, unnatural and typically considered to be malicious in nature. The widespread belief of witchcraft, amongst all classes, within Early Modern Europe, was mostly due to the biblical references in both the Old and New Testament. These references make note that ‘you