Magic had influenced humankind since time immemorial until the age of reason started to disenchant the world. Unfortunately, magical practices still affect our lives. Thanks to the warped politics in some corners of the modern world, such as some far-right movements and the Kremlin under Vladimir Putin, magic is still leaving a sorry and unwelcome footprint on politics today.
Have you ever knocked on wood, or greeted a magpie? If so, you have used magic.
There is no shame in these unwitting feats of esoteric practices. Humankind has been dabbling in magic since primordial times, and these little idiosyncrasies slipped into the routine of tradition. At least you are probably not doing sorcery for the government.
Magic had been material in leadership. Shamans, druids, witch doctors, and sorcerers have always had great influence and were often highly respected in communities. There is an ongoing debate on what constitutes magic, but for simplicity’s sake, here all efforts to exert influence using supernatural sources with assumed effects, not explained by a scientific method, whether religious or not, will be defined as magic.
Ancient Babylonians used magic in architecture, and the supernatural was present in even seemingly mundane activities such as entering the city. Ancient Egyptian rituals were omnipresent in the culture of the dead and the divine origin of the kings, a concept present in other civilizations and other eras.
In ancient Rome, priests held much power, and calling for divine blessing and calling on deities were part even of diplomacy. Later, the power of the Pope was apparent in history. Not until the age of reason did humankind start questioning these magical practices, which until that time were part of reality, much as science is today.
The Enlightenment, however, is a Western concept, upon which our modern Western societies, government by democracy, rule of law, and liberties are based. That is not to say esoteric practices are not present in our disenchanted world in our modern history. Magical societies still exist and magical concepts and practices are always updating. Fortunately, however, they do not intervene in our everyday lives.
However, in WW2, there were several occult practices, not only in Nazi circles, which went against everything we currently understand as Western culture. British “witches” attempted to stop the Luftwaffe through magical forces. But we do not have to go that far back, as in the Cold War, both sides researched paranormal activity as a means to gain the upper hand.
Even today, our societies are not without some magical influences. Imaginary creatures can have rights, and more worryingly, far-right movements often flirt with the esoteric. Governments and their officials also sometimes base their actions on superstition, as is allegedly the case with, for example, the Governor of the Hungarian Central Bank, who is rumored to be afraid of the number 8, an unfortunate quality in a man whose job is to deal with numbers.
Despite these unique examples, policy in Europe, in the US, and in other liberal democracies are not defined by magic. There might be religious leaders, whose faith gives them moral guidance, but as the church and the state are separated, the supernatural will not affect decision-making severely.
This is not the case in Russia, where Cold War-era psychic research is still taken seriously. A report claims a high-ranking Russian officer, Georgy Rogozin read the mind of former US Secretary of State, Madeleine Albright. According to Rogozin, Albright did not think Siberia should be part of Russia, a conspiracy theory still in use by Putin today. The Russian leader also consults with shamans who give him guidance on the war in Ukraine.
That is the problem and a difference between Western democracies and authoritarian countries. In the West, leaders assume people act rationally, considering the suggestion of science and the scientific method, and decision-makers try to act in ways they think are reasonable. Mistakes are punished by the voters.
Totalitarian regimes are governed by one man or a small group who often look to esoteric explanations, and thus they fall victim to magical thinking and irrationality. As such, not all their actions are rational or predictable. They cannot be reasoned with, as no negotiation would yield lasting results. They have to be defeated, as reason has defeated magic.
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