The Centrality of Ritual Practice

In the search for a proper universal definition of the term magic, we have to deal with what are called normative positions. This heteropraxis can be defined and managed in a number of ways by the normative tradition. One of the hallmarks of the traditions which fall under the heading of magic is that they're defined by someone as non-normative. To paraphrase Naomi Janowitz in a recent study of magic in classical antiquity, magic is just the ritual practice of your enemies.