From these principles the magician makes inferences. From the Law of Similarity the magician infers that he can produce any effect that he desires just by imitating it. And, from the Law of Contact, the magician infers that whatever he does to a material object will equally effect the person who once had contact with or possessed the object. This is the reason that when performing the spell the practitioner may have in her or his possession something personal of the person, such as a lock of hair, nail clippings, a piece of clothing, or a photograph, for whom the spell is being cast for.
In order for the above principles to form, or cause, sympathetic magic there also must exist a cause-and-effect relationship; if not, the magician’s inferences would never function. Simply, something must transfer the effect of the magician’s actions on the physical object to the person who once was in contact with the object. This thing or substance, for a better term, is believed to be a secret sympathy that exist between the object and person. This secret sympathy is an impulse being transmitted from one thing to the other by means of what we may conceive as a kind of invisible ether, not unlike that which is postulated by modern science for a precisely similar purpose, namely, to explain how things can physically affect each other through a space which appears to be empty.
Puppet healing, or magic, is another use of sympathetic magic. It might be said to be the reverse of burning in effigy. Instead of desiring to kill or injure the person whom the puppet represents the practitioner wishes to help him. The theory is whatever degree of healing the practitioner performs on the puppet, the same degree of healing is believed to occur in the person which the puppet represents. So it can be seen that those who subscribe to and practice puppet healing do believe that sympathetic magic can produce positive affects. Also, it is believed that it is the intention of the practitioner which determine whether the results of the sympathetic magic are good or evil.
Positive affects arising from sympathetic magic are also believed to occur in colour healing. Color healing can also be applied when the patient is absent by utilizing a photograph of the person. It is also referred to as distant color healing
In summary, sympathetic magic is the belief that what a magician does to a physical object that belonged to a person, or to a representation of the person will similarly effect that person. Many claim that there is no validation for sympathetic magic, the results which seem to occur from its use can be explained by other things. No doubt, in some incidents, this is true. However, with sympathetic magic, as with all magic, the most objective answer seems to be, if people believe in it then it is true for them. Sympathetic magic seems not to be limited just to the occult sciences; one sees individuals praying the Catholic rosary for sick people just as one sees Witches using their cords to heal the sick. Each individual is practicing an act of belief.
