Editing Magic and religion (section)

==Distinction==
Early sociological interpretations of magic by [[Marcel Mauss]] and [[Henri Hubert]] emphasized the social conditions in which the phenomenon of magic develops.<ref name="Pasi">Pasi, M. 2006. "Magic". in [[Kocku von Stuckrad|Stuckrad, Kocku von]] (ed.) ''The Brill Dictionary of Ancient Religion. Volume III. M-R.'' Leiden and Boston, Brill. 1134-1140.</ref> According to them, religion is the expression of a social structure and serves to maintain the cohesion of a community (religion is therefore public) and magic is an individualistic action (and therefore private).<ref name="Pasi" />

[[Ralph Merrifield]], the [[British people|British]] archaeologist credited as producing the first full-length volume dedicated to a [[Material culture|material]] approach to magic,<ref>Houlbrook, C. and Armitage, N. 'Introduction: The materiality of the materiality of magic', in Houlbrook, C. and Armitage, N. (eds.) ''The Materiality of Magic: An artefactual investigation into ritual practices and popular beliefs''.Oxford and Philadelphia, Oxbow Books. 1-13.</ref> defined the differences between religion and magic:
"'Religion' is used to indicate the belief in supernatural or spiritual beings; 'magic', the use of practices intended to bring occult forces under control and so to influence events; 'ritual', prescribed or customary behaviour that may be religious, if it is intended to placate or win favour of supernatural beings, magical if it is intended to operate through impersonal forces of sympathy or by controlling supernatural beings, or social if its purpose is to reinforce a social organisation or facilitate social intercourse".<ref name="Merrifield">Merrifield, R. 1987. ''The Archaeology of Ritual and Magic''. London, Guild Publishing.</ref>

In 1991 Henk Versnel argued that magic and religion function in different ways and that these can be broadly defined in four areas: Intention – magic is employed to achieve clear and immediate goals for an individual, whereas religion is less purpose-motivated and has its sights set on longer-term goals; Attitude – magic is manipulative as the process is in the hands of the user, "instrumental coercive manipulation", opposed to the religious attitude of "personal and supplicative negotiation"; Action – magic is a technical exercise that often requires professional skills to fulfil an action, whereas religion is not dependent upon these factors but the will and sentiment of the gods; Social – the goals of magic run counter to the interests of a society (in that personal gain for an individual gives them an unfair advantage over peers), whereas religion has more benevolent and positive social functions.<ref name="Versnel">Versnel, H. S. 1991. “Some Reflections on the Relationship Magic-Religion.” Numen 38 (2). 177-195.</ref>