By: Dr H.J. Borsje
Terminology
By “magic” we understand words and acts performed by human beings, which are believed to bring about changes in the empirical world or to produce knowledge of hidden things in a supernatural way. The term “supernatural” refers to the nonempirical dimension of life, which is central to religious belief systems. The difference between the categories “natural” or “empirical” and the “supernatural” becomes clear when applied, for instance, to the human sense of “seeing.” If someone looks at a cow in a field in a natural way, the empirical information about the cow’s location and form is passed on to the brain of this person. If a person is believed to look at this beast in a supernatural way, the cow may be said to have been affected by the look, because of which it stops yielding milk. This way of “supernatural” looking is known as “casting the evil eye” or “bewitching.” The relation between cause and effect in magic is not dictated by laws of science but is part of belief systems; hence, magic is a religious concept. “Witchcraft” is magic performed by witches—people believed to be professionals in magic.
A study of the semantic history of the term “magic” would reveal that the word has often been used in a polemic context. It has been seen as a “wrong” kind of religion. Originally, Magoi were the priests of the ancient Zoroastrian religion of Iran, but in the course of the fifth century b.c.e the Greeks started to use the term for those engaged in occult arts and private rituals (see Bremmer 2002a). Modern scholars such as James Frazer (1854-1941) defined magic in opposition with religion: By magic, people believed to bring about changes in an automatic, supernatural way or by commanding supernatural beings (often demons), whereas in religion, these changes are believed to be brought about by the supplication and veneration of supernatural beings (usually God or gods). This opposition is, however, not medieval but stems from Victorian middle-class elitist thinking (see Bremmer 2002b).
The polemic view of magic is also found in Christianity. Medieval Irish literature, composed in monasteries, is no exception to this rule. It is, therefore, not surprising that Irish equivalents for the term “magic” are dtabuldanacht (diabolic art) and gentliucht (pagan art). Other general terms are drutdecht (druids’ art) and ammaitecht (witchcraft). Words such as corrguinecht and fithnasacht may have referred to a specific type of sorcery.
Magic in Early Irish Literature
In conformity with general Christian doctrine, magic is associated with pre-Christian or non-Christian religion in early Irish literature. In hagiography, druids and magic are described in antithesis with saints and miracles; the former representing evil and the latter good. Supernatural acts performed by druids and saints may be similar, but their evaluation differs. A good example is the contest between Saint Patrick and the druids as described in Muirchu’s Life of Patrick (see O’Loughlin 2003). The aim of magic in hagiography is always destructive, hence the art of magi (magicians, i.e., druids) is designated in Hiberno-Latin, for example, ars diabolica (devilish art) or maleficia (evil deeds).
In non-hagiographic narrative literature (see Ulster Cycle, Mythological Cycle), the negative image of magic is less pervasive. Divination—the supernatural art to acquire knowledge about hidden or future things plays an important role in portrayals of pre-Christian society. As in hagiography, the source of knowledge or power with regard to such magical practices is sometimes explicitly identified as “demons,” but at other times such indications are absent, and in this way, a more neutral description is given. We do not know whether divination and other rituals as described in this literature have ever taken place. Some descriptions may just as well reflect Christian assumptions about the pre-Christian past, influenced by Biblical and/or Classical literature. Certain portrayals of magic may be influenced by a Middle-Irish (c. 900-1200) trend to romanticize the pre-Christian past (Carey 1997).
Another difference between this kind of literature and hagiography is that magic is also associated with non-human inhabitants of Ireland: the supernatural beings of early Irish literature. Thus, the aes side (people of the hollow hills or “fairies;” see Mythological Cycle) are believed to possess knowledge of magic. The so-called Tuatha De Danann (see Invasion Myth,
Mythological Cycle) have been said to have acquired supernatural knowledge in northern islands before their settlement in Ireland. Several magical practices are described in Cath Maige Tuired (The Battle of Mag Tuired; Gray 1983) as supernatural weapons in a war between the Tuatha De Danann and their enemies, the Fomoire. The association of magic with the left, the north and evil is a recurring theme in early Irish literature (see Borsje 2002).
Magic in Daily Practice
As magic was considered to be useful in criminal acts, it is also mentioned in early Irish law (Kelly 1997: 174-175). Not only professional witches but also ordinary people were believed to harm others with magic, for example, by casting the evil eye (Borsje and Kelly 2003).
Magic was, however, also seen as useful for good and neutral purposes: for example, healing, protective, and divination charms that were written in Christian manuscripts. The supernatural entities referred to are both non-Christian and Christian. These, often complicated, texts are still largely ignored in Celtic and Medieval Studies (Carey 2000).
Witch Persecution in Medieval Ireland
In general, Christian doctrine condemned magic and witchcraft. In this spirit, belief in a lamia or striga “a dangerous supernatural female associated with witchcraft” was forbidden at the First Synod of Saint Patrick (Bieler 1963: 56-57). In later medieval Ireland, the general condemnation did not lead to witch hunts on the large scale as have taken place on the European Continent during the fifteenth to seventeenth centuries. A famous, and probably the first, witch trial was that of Alice Kyteler and her associates in Kilkenny (1324). Bishop Richard de Ledrede, a British cleric schooled in France, played a crucial role in the trial and wrote a contemporary narrative of the events. He seems to have tried to introduce continental ideas about witchcraft to Ireland. The few trials that did take place in Ireland have, however, never led to a “witch craze.”
