When we hear the word 'magic',probably the picture that flashes into your mind is a man on a stage pulling rabbits out of a hat. But if you know the history of magic it might change your mind.
Cave men and how magic started
Magic has been practiced for a very long time. In fact it goes back as far as 50,000 B.C. Can you believe it, 52,000 years ago magic was started? Prehistoric people who buried cave bears probably started "magic". They probably did this as a magic rite (spell). Scientists believe those drawings and carvings are a form of magic. For example, hunters would probably draw animals or hunting scenes before going on hunting trips. They probably believed that the drawings would come to life while they were gone. They believed in its power but it didn't actually work. By drawing the scenes they gave themselves self-confidence. That was their magic.
Ancient Egyptians, Greeks, and Roman's magic
Ancient Egyptians used amulets, magic figures, and rites as their magic. Magic was very important to them because they believed that it would provide them with crop, punishments, and rewards, and keeping the pharaoh happy. Ancient Greeks and Romans tried to tell the future through dreams and crystal balls. They also consulted priests to get information from their gods.
Middle ages
During the Middle Ages, Europeans believed strongly in magic. Almost all Europeans believed in its power. At the same time they also thought it was sinful. At that time alchemist (chemists) searched for two very valuable substances, the philosopher's stone and the elixir of life. The philosopher's stone was believed to change iron, lead, and other metals into gold. The elixir of life was a miraculous substance that could cure diseases and lengthen life.
1500's-1700's
From the 1500's to the1700's, belief in magic continued spread around the world. Even the highly educated people believed in its power. For example, Sir Isaac Newton studied alchemy. People by this time were tired of witchcraft. People believed you could tell a person's character in many ways, such as studying a person's hand, facial features, or even the moles on their skin. After about 1600 magic lost our attention because of scientific advances. Scientists revealed that magic was not real, it was our mind playing tricks.
Modern magic
The earliest recorded modern practice of magic tricks was done by Jean Eugene Robert Houdin in the mid-1800s. In fact, many consider Houdin the father of modern magic. Houdin, originally a trained clock worker, switched to the practicing of magic when he opened a magic theater in Paris in the 1840s. Houdin's special magic trick of the time was creating small mechanical pieces that seemed to move and act as if they were alive. After that the popularity of magic continued to grow. In 1873 two men, British performer J. N. Maskelyne and his partner Cooke established their own theatre, the Egyptian Hall in London England's Piccadilly. The magic tricks these two men were best known for performing were hiding special mechanisms in their stages to control audiences' points of view. So, the magic was in people and items suddenly disappearing and reappearing, or being distorted in some way. The late 19th century brought on celebrity magic and celebrity musicians. This was the time of the world-famous Harry Houdini, whose real name was Erich Weiss. Houdini's magic tricks were based on the ability to escape impossible situations. Today this term is referred to as escapology. Depending on whom you talk to today, magic is a trivial passtime for children, or magic can be a real source of entertainment. At least that was the common attitude towards magic in the 1980s and 1990s. Today magic seems to be in vogue again. But most modern workers of magic follow a strict code of ethics. For example, those who perform on television don't use camera tricks and videotape editing to create the illusion of powerful magic. Magic workers today use only traditional forms of magic. This means they use the same forms of magic for television as they would for a live magic show. The old saying about magic being smoke and mirrors is true. The art of magic tricks is all about fooling the audiences' eyes and getting them to think they are seeing something that really isn't happening. That's what true magic and the practice of good magic tricks is all about.
