Magical thinking in various forms is a cultural universal and an important aspect of religion . Magic is prevalent in all societies, regardless of whether they have organized religion or more general systems of animism or shamanism . Religion and magic became conceptually separated with the development of western monotheism , where the distinction arose between supernatural events sanctioned by mainstream religious doctrine (" miracles ") and mere magic rooted in folk belief or occult speculation. In pre-monotheistic religious traditions, there is no fundamental distinction between religious practice and magic; tutelary deities concerned with magic are sometimes called "hermetic deities" or "spirit guides.