All sympathetic magic is based upon two principles: first,
"likes produce likes," or that an effect resembles it cause; and,
second, that things having been in contact with each other continue to react
upon one and another at a distant even after they have been severed or
disconnected. The former principle is called the Law of Similarity, while the
latter is the Law of Contagion or Contact.
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.
