In his 1978 book, A History of White Magic, recognised occult author Gareth Knight traces the origins of white magic to early adaptations of paleolithic religion and early religious history in general, including the polytheistic traditions of Ancient Egypt and the later monotheistic ideas of Judaism and early Christianity.
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In his 2009 book, Magic and Alchemy, Robert M. Place provides a broad modern definition of both black and white magic, preferring instead to refer to them as "high magic" (white) and "low magic" (black) based primarily on intentions of the practitioner employing them.
White House | Chicago White Sox | White | The Magic Flute | Snow White | The White Stripes | White American | white | black-and-white | Magic Johnson | White Star Line | Magic: The Gathering | White Nile | Jack White | Jack White (musician) | Betty White | White Collar (TV series) | White Collar | Orlando Magic | Byron White | White movement | Great White | Yellow Magic Orchestra | White Sea | My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic | Magic Kingdom | E. B. White | The White Shadow | Stanford White | White Rabbit |
Béla Lugosi, in a rare sympathetic role, plays Frank Chandler: a powerful but kind man who has spent most of his life in the Orient, where he is renowned under the name of "Chandu the Magician" for his tremendous skill with White Magic.
Like its counterpart white magic, the origins of black magic can be traced to the primitive, ritualistic worship of spirits as outlined in Robert M. Place's 2009 book, Magic and Alchemy.