Meanings
- historicaluncountableThe use of visual or plastic representations of people, spirits etc., for magical purposes.
In the sense that magical practices employ representations or apparent representations […] all magic is image magic.
2013, Frank Klaassen, The Transformations of Magic, page 332 more examples
The most common maleficent technique was the use of image-magic, by making a model in wax or clay of the proposed victim and then sticking pins or bristles in the part which was to be afflicted.
1971, Keith Thomas, Religion and the Decline of Magic, Folio Society, published 2012, page 492According to Michael Taussig, Frazer (in the vein of Edward Tylor before him) implies in his extensive treatment of image magic that the images are copies that represent their intended victim.
2008, Derek Collins, Magic in the Ancient Greek World, page 18
Cite this entry
image magic. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/image%20magic
“image magic.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/image%20magic. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “image magic,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/image%20magic.
Source: image magic on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.