Pretended art of producing marvelous physical phenomena through the intervention of spiritual beings and of influencing the course of nature by bringing into operation some occult controlling principle. Magic which made use of the invocation of evil spirits was always regarded as sinful, but natural magic, i.e.,that which did not involve the aid of personal spirits, was regarded in the Middle Ages as a legitimate department of study. Books dealing with magic were forbidden by a Bull of Pope Leo XIII, 1897.