black magic

… [Tadahiro Onuma]
[Changes in the view of magic]
In medieval Europe, magic was generally considered to be a technique for summoning spirits and causing supernatural phenomena, and was particularly identified with witchcraft, the art of witches who used evil spirits. Magic that had to do with the devil in Christianity was called black magic, while magic that borrowed the power of angels or good spirits was called white magic. However, natural magic, which F. Bacon and others called "true magic," uses medicine, magnetism, and the representational functions of language, rather than spirits, as its source of magical power, and was central to the Renaissance view of magic.

*Some terminology explanations that mention "black magic" are listed below.

Source | Heibonsha World Encyclopedia 2nd Edition | Information

…【大沼 忠弘】
［魔術観の変遷］
　魔術は中世ヨーロッパでは一般に，霊魂を呼び出し超自然的現象を起こさせる技術とされ，とくに邪霊を使う魔女の術witchcraftと同一視された。またキリスト教にいう悪魔と関係をもつ魔術を黒（くろ）魔術black magic，天使や善き精霊の力を借りる術を白魔術white magicとして区別した。しかしF.ベーコンなどにより〈真正の魔術〉と呼ばれた自然魔術natural magicは，霊魂ではなく医薬や磁力や言語の表象機能を魔力の源泉とするもので，ルネサンス期の魔術観の中核を占めた。…

※「black magic」について言及している用語解説の一部を掲載しています。

出典｜株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典 第２版について | 情報