▁and ▁organ ised ▁activity . ▁By ▁the ▁ 1 9 9 0 s , ▁many ▁sch ol ars ▁were ▁reject ing ▁the ▁term ' s ▁utility ▁for ▁scholar ship . ▁They ▁argued ▁that ▁it ▁drew ▁arbitrary ▁lines ▁between ▁similar ▁belief s ▁and ▁practices ▁that ▁were ▁instead ▁considered ▁religious ▁and ▁that , ▁being ▁root ed ▁in ▁Western ▁and ▁Christian ▁history , ▁it ▁was ▁eth noc ent ric ▁to ▁apply ▁it ▁to ▁other ▁cult ures . ▁ ▁Through out ▁Western ▁history , ▁there ▁have ▁been ▁individuals ▁who ▁engaged ▁in ▁practices ▁that ▁their ▁soci eties ▁called ▁magic ▁and ▁who ▁sometimes ▁referred ▁to ▁themselves ▁as ▁mag icians . ▁Within ▁modern ▁occ ult ism , ▁which ▁developed ▁in ▁nin ete enth - century ▁Europe , ▁there ▁are ▁many ▁self - des cribed ▁mag icians ▁and ▁people ▁who ▁practice ▁rit ual ▁activities ▁that ▁they ▁call ▁magic . ▁In ▁this ▁environment , ▁the ▁concept ▁of ▁magic ▁has ▁again ▁changed , ▁usually ▁being ▁defined ▁as ▁a ▁technique ▁for ▁bringing ▁about ▁changes ▁in ▁the ▁physical ▁world ▁through ▁the ▁force ▁of ▁one ' s ▁will . ▁This ▁definition ▁was ▁pione ered ▁largely ▁by ▁the ▁influ ential ▁British ▁occ ult ist ▁Ale ister ▁Crow ley ▁and ▁is ▁used ▁in ▁occ ult ist ▁movements ▁such ▁as ▁W ic ca , ▁La V ey an ▁Sat an ism , ▁and ▁cha os ▁magic . ▁ ▁Definition ▁ ▁The ▁historian ▁O wen ▁Dav ies ▁stated ▁that ▁the ▁word ▁magic ▁was ▁" be yond ▁simple ▁definition ", ▁and ▁had ▁" a ▁range ▁of ▁mean ings ". ▁Similarly ,