Difference Between Magic And Religious Practices In The Middle Ages

Distinguishing the differences between magic and religious practices in the Middle Ages is a debated topic that presents many challenges. The meaning of magic and religion alone differ from the contemporaries to views today. Distinguishing magic and religion involves noting that these views are not the same and often the line of what today might be considered magic and religion can be blurred and crossed over by the people of the Middle Ages. To help examine magic and religious practises, it is vital to look at the components of prayers and spells, the differences between miracles and magic, and views on knowledge and science.
Prayers and spells played a large part in the lives of people in the Middle Ages, tying in with religion. Often prayers were a
way of supplicating to God or saints for their aid or forgiveness and played a major role in religious belief.
On the other hand, spells seek to command and bind forces to do the caster’s will. Prayers and spells can both be seen as a way of trying to achieve a goal, whether it be through supplication or force. Modern historians such as Keith Thomas, note the difference that while a prayer has a supplicatory nature, magic demands and tries to command powerful forces to do the caster’s bidding. However, it is not always this simple as it is unlikely that the common person noted the difference between supplicating and commanding. Many medical and necromantic spells invoke God, Christ, or saints and it can be difficult to determine whether or not they are appealing to or demanding their assistance. The Lacnunga is a compilation of eleventh century medical practises that have elements
of religious and magical elements. One example involves healing cysts by having a virgin draw water from a stream and sing the Creed and Pater noster. This charm involves both magical elements of the virgin’s role and religious elements of the prayers. This is an indication of how religion and magic could often be used in conjunction with each other. Though it may now seem like merely superstition and a form of magic, it may have been seen as a medicinal act coupled with prayer. Thus, the distinction between prayers and spells are not always simple but do have qualities associated with them, even if the two can be mixed together.
Miracles and magic may seem very similar but there was a distinction in the eyes of the Church. Karen Jolly notes the difference that miracles are incredible events that can be contributed to God in some form while magic is more sinister, the work of the Devil and only an illusion. Miracles were often attributed to saints. Saints were people who had done miraculous or heroic acts which the Church deemed to have a special connection with God in their death. Because of their association with miracles and relationship with God, saints too were worshipped. Anders Fröjmark mentions an example of a Swedish miracle attributed to Saint Eric. When a women was giving birth, her midwives feared for her life and made a vow to Saint Eric, which the women survived and was contributed as a miracle. Here the midwives thought it was unlikely she could survive on her own and so contributed her survival to Saint Eric, who they had been praying to. Nevertheless, the worship of saints could step into the boundaries of magic. Thirteenth century writer, Etienne de Bourbon, comments on Saint Guinefort, a dog, saying that her worship was as corrupt as “women who practice divination … worshipping elder trees … scorning churches.” He believed that it was unholy to worship an animal and it was an affront to God. Therefore, miracles could be described as events that do not occur naturally and result from God, while magic, in the eyes of the Church, is the work of the Devil.

Knowledge and science in the Middle Ages differs to what is today recognised as science. What was considered real knowledge in this period is now often considered as superstition. Kieckhefer notes two forms of magic that medieval scholars defined, natural magic; a branch of science that exploited hidden powers, and demonic magic; magic that invoked the powers of demons. Medical charms and treatments are a good example of this. An eleventh century work, Corrector, by Burchard of Worms, details how priests should advise in healing the souls that have sinned. One example refers to if the person has violated a grave to steal clothes for magical purposes, they should do two years of penance on appointed fast days. Here the violation of grave is considered an immoral act, indicating that the clothes are used in a form of magical practice. Though, these methods of healing sinned souls could now be considered superstitious, despite being considered legitimate methods of healing by the Church and a form of natural magic through religion. Astrology was also used in conjunction with healing. It was believed that the position and movements of the planets, stars, and constellations had influence over the lives of people. An example of this is the Zodiac Man, a diagram used in medical treatment that helped to determine when the best time to treat a particular part of the body based on which zodiac constellation was dominant in relation to the moon. Aires is located on the head while Pisces is on the feet so the best time to treat the head was when Aires was dominant while treating feet was best suited to when Pisces was dominant. From this, it can be concluded that religion, magic, and science in the Middle Ages could often be the same thing, not separate as historians try to distinguish between today.
In conclusion, there are many challenges involved in distinguishing the difference between magic and religious practices in the Middle Ages. This is due to the different views and thoughts on magic, religion, and science of the contemporaries to modern views today. Magic, religion, and science was interwoven with each other during this period making it difficult to determine the differences in context, if they can be separated at all. This is due to the components of prayers and spells, often been used in conjunction with each other despite how modern historians try to define the two. Another is how the Church distinguished between miracles and magic, despite the two appearing similar. Lastly is the view on knowledge and science being different to what it is today, what now is referred to as superstition was real science to the learned people of the period, typically the clergymen of the church.