What is the definition of a wizard in the west?

A magician has many names. We can call them wizards, witches, wizards, fortune tellers, prophets and so on.

Magicians are those who can do magic, whether it's magic taught by Professor Dumbledore in the magic school, magic tricks such as incantations read by village wizards, or magic performed by Houdini, the master of stage escape magic. There are such magical magicians in all cultures in the world.

They can fly high in the sky, suddenly disappear, or conjure up a bunch of flowers from the air. They claim to have magical powers and can use many skills. Although we can't catch all the magic in the world, we have listed several basic categories here. Legendary Wizards The most legendary wizards are the people in fairy tales, and nothing can beat them.

They can fly in the air, appear and disappear in two different places at the same time, change at will, transform into animals and so on. They can also predict the future, cure diseases and travel through time and space. Some legendary magicians are also very good at curses and poisons. But this is not necessary. Most of the time, all they need to do is wave a magic wand or say a spell. The story of this legendary magician can be traced back to thousands of years ago. In ancient Egypt, magic rituals were part of daily cultural life.

People never tire of hearing the stories of magicians with magical powers. In the era of King Hops (2600 BC), the story about a legendary magician Gaga Mennon was very popular. Once, a woman accidentally dropped the ornaments on her head into the lake of the palace. Gagamennon split the lake in two with only a few spells and got the lost jewels. This woman is very happy.

In ancient Greek literature, the legendary magician was usually a woman. The witch Seth and her niece can turn people into beasts, rejuvenate them, and they can also predict the future. The Roman poet Virgil told the story of the magician Morris. Morris can move crops from one field to another; You can turn yourself into Jinlu: Wolf Brigade, bringing people back to life.

In the Middle Ages, the most famous magicians were as famous as the heroic kings, beautiful girls and nobles in fairy tales. Among them, King Arthur's adviser Merlin is the most famous. His magical ability can turn day into night, dispatch troops instantly, predict the future, and become the shape of many people or animals. 15 16 wrote the Italian legend The Legend of Orlando, which tells the story of these magicians. They fought against each other in the hope of defeating each other.

In a myth, the magician of Atlantis cast a spell on a knight named Astor (that is, a knight with a winged beast on his head). As a result, the knight became different things in the eyes of different people, sometimes a beast, sometimes a giant or a bird. Later, another sorceress, Melissa, turned herself into an Atlantean to save another enchanted sorcerer. Today's readers also have their favorite legendary magicians, not inferior to ancient magicians.

Like all great wizards, these contemporary wizards have the ability to transform. Of course, these wizards can be found at the beginning of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The oldest shamans in the history of shamans are tribal wizards, who are also called pharmaceutical experts or shamans. Many shamans are doctors, priests or supernatural experts. They began to take this as their profession more than 30 thousand years ago and still exist in many cultures today. In many tribal societies, shaman priests are second only to tribal chiefs. Their duties include: treating diseases, divining the future, communicating with the supernatural world, and ensuring adequate food supply during hunting, fishing and planting.

They are also responsible for finding missing people, determining the whereabouts of thieves and protecting villages from the enemy. Shaman priests make amulets, hold magic ceremonies, curse and learn about herbs, plants and minerals. They are also responsible for the protection of myths and traditions in the tribe from generation to generation. In some cultures, the position of shaman priest is inherited, while others are appointed as successors by current believers. Sometimes shaman priests look no different from ordinary people, but they suddenly understand because of dreaming or other special experiences.

At this time he will return to nature and live alone, just like a wild animal. This process usually lasts for months or weeks, during which he gradually learns to control his superpowers. Generally speaking, he is on a hunger strike these days. According to ancient legends and traditions, such a shaman will get inspiration by dreaming, in which his patron saint or animal will guide him and tell him about his unknown abilities, future destiny and his role in society. Then he will return to the crowd and start a new life. It is believed that this ability of shaman priests comes from ancestors or animal spirits. In a trance, these souls will enter his body. Shaman priests' religious ceremonies are also a part of tribal life.

In this ceremony, everyone sings and dances, and at the same time, the shaman will come out of the body, communicate with the ghost who guides him and bring back useful information. According to different cultures, shaman priests sometimes wear clothes made of animal fur, or wear different masks, or draw different patterns on their bodies and faces, or put on cloaks to symbolize their souls "flying" to another world. In many cultures, shaman rituals usually show supernatural abilities, but many times this display is deceptive. By using some special skills, they won't get hurt, such as walking on the fire, breaking free from the rope, swallowing knives, eating glass and making puppets dance. Using special ventriloquism, they can sometimes talk to invisible ghosts in public. These demonstrations have had a far-reaching impact on people. People think that shaman's medicine is full of magical psychological effects.

Interestingly, the use of these deceptive tricks does not mean that the healing ability of shaman priests is only to deceive the world and steal reputation. On the contrary, most shamans believe in their own strength, and so do others. In fact, this is sometimes the case, because it gives hope, so it is easy to play a role. Moreover, it is not a bad thing to perform these supernatural abilities, especially in religious ceremonies. Magicians, Men and Village Witches From the Middle Ages to the19th century, almost every village and town in Europe has people similar to shamans. These people are called "wizards" or "witches", or simply "jugglers" (the word juggling comes from old English and means "seeking truth"). The work done by these rural wizards is almost exactly the same as that required of shamans in ancient times, from divination, healing to predicting the future.

But unlike shaman priests, these people carry out these activities in private rather than in public. Moreover, even compared with their contemporaries, they dress strangely. After all, they no longer wear clothes made of animal fur like shamans, nor do they dance religious ceremonies. But on the whole, there is no difference between what they do. They are good at collecting herbs and making amulets and poisons. In some small villages, these people even played the role of doctors and veterinarians. Some such wizards and witches have basic knowledge of astrology and palmistry, and can also interpret dreams. Of course, such knowledge can be obtained by reading. However, many wizards are actually illiterate, and all their knowledge is obtained from their ancestors, friends and relatives. There are also some legends that such people get this knowledge from fairies. Although there were laws against such magic practice at that time, many wizards and witches didn't care. Because the services they provide are welcomed by everyone without any side effects, the authorities are willing to turn a blind eye. Many people have little contact with society. They live alone in the suburbs and grow their own herbs.

There are rumors that their home is full of strange things, such as magic mirrors, crystal balls or all kinds of things related to divination. People's attitude towards them can be said to be both respect, fear and escape. But once needed, they will turn to these people for help. There are also such wizards in some big cities in Europe. Compared with rural doctors, what they do is a little more complicated and the fees are higher. One of the most famous wizards at that time was simon furman (1552-1611year). Different from his peers at that time, he recorded his various activities in detail, because such activities were illegal at that time, so no one dared to do so. People who seek the help of wizards have different purposes. Some businessmen hope to tell their fortune through astrology. Seafarers' wives should calculate whether their husbands are safe; People who lose things want to see if they can get their pets or belongings back; Those who doubt that they are cursed hope to break the spell; Besides, many people come to buy love poison, amulets or Chinese herbal medicines.

Furman is an astrologer and can also stare into a crystal ball. At the same time, he also thinks he is a qualified doctor. Although he had no systematic medical training, he did cure many diseases. At that time, many treatments were not popular, and bloodletting was ridiculous today, and it was still considered effective at that time, so Furman's move should still work. Despite the strong opposition of the Royal Medical Association, Furman obtained a medical license from Cambridge University at 1603 to treat many wealthy Elizabethan London people. According to legend, Furman accurately predicted his time of death. He died on September 8, 16 1 1 year, when he was boating on the Thames. He left an amazing fortune to future generations. Scholar magician "Today," an Englishman wrote in 1600, "only those who can read astrology, summon demons or perform divination can be called scholar magicians." More than a hundred years ago, it was unthinkable for a well-educated person to conduct these so-called magic studies, but in the 15 and 16 centuries, magic was a respected knowledge. In Renaissance Italy, scholars once again believed that magic could be used to summon gods and control unknown nature.

A person can learn to use spells, spells and so on through diligent study and exercise of imagination, so that he can also control all the mysterious forces in nature and achieve any goal he wants to achieve. Later, this idea spread to Germany in northern Italy, where the great German scholar cornelius Agriba was born. Although we are familiar with Agriba now because he appeared on Ron's chocolate frog card, in his time, people knew him because of his book Supernatural Philosophy. This work was published in 1533.

He believes that all people, plants, animals, rocks and minerals in nature contain some magical power, which can be discovered, mastered and utilized by human beings. According to Agriba, the duty of a scholar magician is to apply various magic skills, such as divination, astronomy, astrology and the study of demons and angels, to explore the mysterious relationship between all things in nature, so as to solve problems or treat diseases. In this process, Agriba believes that a person can also better discover himself and his connection with everything in the universe; Then, through the expansion of imagination and will, he gained magical power. To the disappointment of these readers, Agriba doesn't explain how magicians get their magical power in the book, but it doesn't matter. People are still eager to learn magic. These followers of Agriba, including students from many schools, secretly summon demons in the dormitory. Doctors try to use the mysterious power of nature to treat diseases. People who are committed to scientific research hope to uncover the mysteries of nature with the help of magic. The most famous of these people is john dee, an English mathematician, astronomer and astrologer. He is regarded as a master of magic.

1553, he even tried to kill Queen Mary by magic and was put in prison. John thinks he can learn all kinds of mysteries of the world from angels or ghosts. The way he communicates with these souls is to stare at crystal balls and magic mirrors. Although he didn't get much inspiration from the supernatural world himself, many of his companions claimed to have seen the faces of angels or heard their voices. But no matter how many years they try, they can't convince these ghosts and explain to them the mysteries of nature and the secrets about God. Even so, when John died in 1608, the enthusiasm of British intellectuals for magic did not diminish. Throughout the17th century, people can often hear Oxford University's open discussion on witchcraft, magic, curses and other issues, and whether the poison of love is effective. There is no doubt that aspiring young scholars at that time all wanted to be magicians. Although the magician's performance looks like magic, actually the magician on the stage should be the "most real" magician. Because the magicians in those literary works are only fictional products after all, and it is the magicians on the stage who turn the illusory magic in the novel into reality and apply it to the stage. Just like the legendary magician in the book, the stage magician can suddenly appear or disappear, float or fly in the air, predict the future, walk through walls, create things, turn people into beasts or beautiful women into leopards, etc. Of course, performing magicians can also recite and cast spells on the audience, so that they can see things that they can't see at ordinary times.

So it is not surprising that people who watched magic shows hundreds of years ago thought they were cursed. Although this form of magic performance has been common all over the world since ancient times, if we look back carefully, we will find that this kind of magic performer first appeared in ancient Greece and Rome in the first and second centuries. Many Latin writers recorded the performance they saw called "Cup Ball". This ancient form of performance continues to this day. Usually use three small cups and three small balls. This seemingly simple magic show contains many basic elements of magic. Under the gaze of the audience, balls less than a foot or two apart will suddenly disappear and reappear in the cup; Somehow, it can move from one cup to another, penetrate the hard surface of the cup, and sometimes come out of the audience's mouth or ears.

Finally, the ball can become something completely different, such as a piece of fruit, or a mouse or a chicken. Of course, early magicians should also be versatile. At that time, the types of tricks invented were still very limited, so in addition to general magic, these performing artists also performed somersaults, acted as clowns, performed puppet shows or tamed animals, such as dogs, monkeys and bears. There are also street juggling schools in Athens. Many such performing artists claim to surprise the most knowledgeable audience. Greek audiences like all kinds of tricks, whether artistic or dramatic, musical or rhetorical. Of course, magic is no exception. With the expansion of the Roman Empire, wizards also appeared in major cities and villages in Europe to perform. Some people are alone, others follow circus acrobats, fortune tellers, poets and musicians from one city to another to bring joy to others. But for some reason, the experiences of these people are not clear to everyone. But we know that not everyone likes them, for example, monks and clergy are not very interested in them. These jugglers are called "cheaters" in Britain, and their tricks are also called "tricks". Besides, the Church of England considers this trick immoral and deceptive, and the tricks used in magic shows can also be used to gamble or deceive the public. Some people think that this is a supernatural evil force.

Generally speaking, street magicians will keep their magic secrets, so people who believe in these spells will not think too much about the bad. This superstition of witchcraft lasted until the late17th century. And most magicians perform by chanting spells, waving wands, or pretending to cast spells to summon supernatural forces. In the18th century, magic show has become a form of entertainment. Compared with acrobatics, puppet shows and other circuses, magic shows have occupied their own place on the stage. At that time, the further development of science and technology made people no longer believe in the supernatural power of magic performances. After 1780, this artistic style has been accepted by people. People call people who perform magic tricks "magicians", and magicians also begin to collect tickets for their own performances (they used to make a living only by tips from others or selling amulets and herbal formulas after magic performances). Magicians often began to perform for the royal family. By the middle of17th century, the magic show finally entered the stage of drama.

Giovanni Giuseppe Pinetti is regarded as the first great stage magician. From 1780 to 1790, he appeared on the most famous stage in Europe. His tricks include changing people, reading the audience's thoughts, throwing nails at cards by throwing darts and nailing them firmly to the wall. 65438+ From the end of 19 to the beginning of the 20th century, magic shows usually last for 2 hours, performing amazing stunts. Magic performers also collect apprentices around the world and buy props and costumes. Harry Houdini is a famous escape master in the world. He once showed how to escape from prison in handcuffs and shackles. At that time, he was a very famous master of performing arts. To this day, some people are willing to stop and watch the magic performed by street performers when shopping. Everyone likes to buy tickets to see the magic in the theater. Why? Everyone knows that this is "just a trick". Are they thinking about how to crack the magic show? In fact, we feel that, on the contrary, the mysterious atmosphere created by magic shows is what makes us rush. It is these magical tricks that make us happy, let us see the magical world and surprise us. At the same time, the magic show also tells us a truth that magicians have always known: sometimes, seemingly impossible things can actually be done.