The postmodern university is fascinated with magic, and this is a most curious coupling—one with ominous social overtones.

Until the mid-twentieth century, serious academics regarded any mention of magic as the ravings of the stupid or insane. They followed the scientific method of empiricism, emphasizing verifiable evidence in acquiring knowledge and forming ideas.

What is Magic, Anyway?

The “Occult Art, Occultism” entry in the Catholic Encyclopedia defines magic as “an interference with the usual course of physical nature.” The practitioner accomplishes it by “recitation of formularies, gestures, mixing of incongruous elements, and other mysterious actions.” The effort is an “attempt to work miracles not by the power of God…but by the use of hidden forces beyond man’s control. Its advocates…seek the desired result by evoking powers ordinarily reserved to the Deity.” Magic “is a corruption of religion.”

The Encyclopedia makes another highly pertinent point. Magic, it says, “appears as an accompaniment of decadent rather than of rising civilization.”

The new-found interest in magic seems strange in a world that has long been dominated by materialism and rigid use of the scientific method.
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It is tempting to make fun of the attempts at erudite sophistication with which these colleges cloak these imitation academic offerings. However, their adolescent attempts to shock and amaze the students mask a deadly seriousness. As mentioned before, magic is a sign of a society’s degeneration. Even more than that, these naïve students and their professors are playing with the very substance of evil itself, which has massive and unforeseeable consequences. That is especially true for those who play with a Devil in whom they do not believe.