badger3k

Except a lot of religion is "my will be done through you".

I was trying to remember distinctions from an old anthropology class, but can't. Magic may or may not have some form of deity involved, while religion usually does (I won't say always, since I can think of one that is atheistic). Magic can be informal or highly formalized, and may or may not have a central authority figure (depending on social structures) traditions such as the Golden Dawn (IIRC) were highly structured, but I am not sure that there was any "pope" like figure that controlled a wide area. In some cases, the religious tradition is the magical one, as many of the animistic religions seem to be. Egyptian religion seems to have a rich magical tradition, with funerary spells and such.

I think that magic as a term has been used to disparage another religion, so that's no help. Of course, we have to remeber that the Church used various magical practices until the middle ages/reformation (such as divination, etc). Around that time, IIRC, the mindset changed (for various reasons) and all magic became bad and tools of the Devil.

Other than that, I think that magic often involves natural forces, even if there is a spiritual element involved. It's also possible (as judge and others suggest) that the key is the will or orientation of the practitioner - magic is an attempt to order, while religion is an attempt to ask, although I believe there are exceptions.

Just tossing out a few ideas. I can't think of any books at the moment.