This form of sorcery was believed to create toil and trouble for unsuspecting victims. In this article, we'll explore the magical world of the dark arts and see how it's still practiced in the modern world.

The existence of black magic can be traced back to the ancient Egyptians and Persians, but the practice was most predominant in the Middle Ages.

Regardless of the desired outcome, the procedure usually included profanation of Christian rites, complete with evil masses to worship animals and reptiles.

Some of these rites were soaked in blood. Animals and even young children were often used as sacrifices and orgiastic dances were performed.

For believers, practicing this type of illusion or being the recipient of an evil spell, hex or other form of harm is very real. Black magic is used to call forth the powers of darkness and evil in an attempt to control natural forces through the use of spells, incantations and other means.

Its counter force, white magic, is not thought to cause harm to others but uses the same methods. This type of illusion is also still practiced in many traditional cultural groups around the world including voodoo practitioners in the United States.

Black magic is practiced in many different forms including thaumaturgy, sympathetic illusion and divination. Thaumaturgy is the performance of miracle working. It's commonly used for giving blessings, performing magical healing and in curses designed to harm others.

Sympathetic magic is based on the principle of "like producing like." It's most common representation is the voodoo doll. The doll represents someone whom the user wishes to harm.

Pins are inserted into the doll to cause pain or even death to the individual which the doll represents. Divination is used to see into the future. Diviners use a variety of methods including cards, bones, the entrails of animals and runes in their attempt to glimpse into the future.

Divination was also carried out by magical readings of fire, smoke, water or blood. The most common means of divination are horoscopes, which can be found in almost any newspaper. .

Countless men, women and children are believed to have fallen victim to the powers of black magic. The illusion prowess of witches and shamans were once blamed for common diseases and mental illness.

Dark magic was combated with amulets, talismans, herbs, incantations and even exorcisms. There are many people today who still believe in the magical world of curses and use such tricks to try to destroy their enemies.