RITES OF THE ANCIENT MAGES

Some of the earliest examples of magical thinking can be seen in the art and artefacts left behind by our Paleolithic ancestors. While we don’t have written records that explain to us what these ancient people meant thousands of years ago when they created these items, we can infer something of their use and meaning from context.

We know that in the Middle to Upper Paleolithic eras (between 80,000-40,000 years ago), hunter-gatherers improved many of their existing technologies and created new ones. They also began to create art, and this gives us a clue as to what they might have been thinking. Cave paintings of prey animals may show a simple record of what to kill and when,