The use of a certain ritual action to bring about the intervention of a supernatural force, either in human affairs or in the natural environment, for a specific purpose is called magic. The term has a wide range of reference, from major ritual performances to conjuring tricks. Nineteenth-century anthropologists were particularly concerned with distinguishing between magical and religious activity, seeking in their evolutionary approaches to present magic and religion as belonging to different stages of cultural development, with magic as the earlier form. It has been suggested that whereas religious acts generally involve a personal approach to spiritual powers, magical activity is largely impersonal, a ritual technology that constrains and controls rather than supplicates the powers it wields. Nevertheless, the true complexity of the interrelationship of religious and magical beliefs and practices is now widely recognized.
The role of magic varies from culture to culture, from a central position in primary rituals involving the well-being of an entire community--as with some major hunting or agricultural rituals (see FERTILITY RITES)--to minor, peripheral, private acts of magic. Both public and private magic can and do exist within single societies. Black magic or sorcery (see VOODOO) may be used destructively to bring misfortune or death, and it is often distinguished from WITCHCRAFT by its use of magical techniques, such as spells or charms. Witchcraft relies on an internal quality or disposition of the witch