Introduction

For two thousand years writers have tried to divide magic into the licit and the forbidden. 'Black magic' has meant necromancy, maleficium, the demonic conjurations of the grimoires and the pact; 'white magic' has meant natural magic, theurgy, healing charms and the work of the cunning folk. This section traces how those categories were defined by theologians, magicians, lawyers and anthropologists, what practices actually fell on each side, and why many historians now question the binary itself.