ative ▁con not ations , ▁with ▁things ▁label led ▁mag ical ▁perce ived ▁as ▁being ▁soci ally ▁un accept able , ▁primitive , ▁or ▁foreign . ▁The ▁concept ▁has ▁been ▁adopted ▁by ▁sch ol ars ▁in ▁the ▁human ities ▁and ▁social ▁sciences , ▁who ▁have ▁proposed ▁various ▁different — and ▁often ▁mut ually ▁exclusive — defin itions ▁of ▁the ▁term . ▁Many ▁contemporary ▁sch ol ars ▁regard ▁the ▁concept ▁to ▁be ▁so ▁problem atic ▁that ▁they ▁reject ▁it ▁altogether . ▁ ▁The ▁term ▁magic ▁der ives ▁from ▁the ▁Old ▁Pers ian ▁mag u , ▁a ▁word ▁that ▁applied ▁to ▁a ▁form ▁of ▁religious ▁function ary ▁about ▁which ▁little ▁is ▁known . ▁During ▁the ▁late ▁sixth ▁and ▁early ▁fifth ▁centuries ▁B CE , ▁this ▁term ▁was ▁adopted ▁into ▁An cient ▁Greek , ▁where ▁it ▁was ▁used ▁with ▁negative ▁con not ations ▁to ▁apply ▁to ▁r ites ▁that ▁were ▁regarded ▁as ▁fra ud ul ent , ▁un con vent ional , ▁and ▁dangerous . ▁This ▁meaning ▁of ▁the ▁term ▁was ▁then ▁adopted ▁by ▁Latin ▁in ▁the ▁first ▁century ▁B CE . ▁Via ▁Latin , ▁the ▁concept ▁was ▁incorpor ated ▁into ▁Christian ▁the ology ▁during ▁the ▁first ▁century ▁CE , ▁where ▁magic ▁was ▁associated ▁with ▁dem ons ▁and ▁thus ▁defined ▁against ▁Christian ▁religion . ▁This ▁concept ▁was ▁per vas ive ▁throughout ▁the ▁Middle ▁A ges , ▁when ▁Christian ▁authors ▁categor ised ▁a ▁diverse ▁range ▁of ▁practices — such ▁as ▁en chant ment , ▁w itch craft , ▁inc ant ations , ▁div ination , ▁ne c