THE MAGUS

Victor H. Mair:

“Most readers will already have observed that *m^yag bears a strong resemblance to the word "magician" itself. I believe that English "magician" or "mage" and Modern Standard Mandarin wu ultimately derive from the same Indo-Iranian word. Whereas the word "shaman" is now held to be of Tungusic (more specifically Evenki) origin and means "he who knows" (saman), "mage" and "magician" come to us through Latin magus from Greek [. . .] and ultimately Old Persian magus. The plural of Latin magus is magi, the designation for the wise men of the East with whom we are all familiar from the story of Jesus' birth.

   The Old Persian word has also apparently made its way into Semitic languages, witness Talmudic Hebrew magosh and Aramaic amgusha ("magician") as well as Chaldean maghdim ("wisdom and philosophy"). From the first century, Syrian magusai were notorious as magicians and soothsayers. One of the earliest references to derivatives of Old Persian magus may be found in Jeremiah 39.3, which enumerates among the retinue of King Nebuchadnezzar upon his entry to Jerusalem the Rab Mag ("Chief of the Magi") named Nergalsharezar. It would appear from this record that the Persian Magi must have exercised considerable influence upon the Babylonian court by around 586 B.C.E.” [1]

Now let us look at a definition from the Sacred Tarot of ‘The Brotherhood of Light. In answer to a question “Who were the original Masons?”,

C. C. Zain writes:

“Here etymology comes to the rescue. The old Sumerians who lived in the valley of the Euphrates, and who were succeeded by the Semites, the fusion between the two producing the famed Chaldeans, used the word “imga” meaning wise, holy, and learned, to denote their wisest sages, priests and philosophers. The Semites, who succeeded the older race, transformed the work “imga” into “mag” to suit their articulation. From this root-word, “mag” belonging to the Assyrian branch of the great Semitic race, has come to us through various transformations the words: Mason, Magic, and Imagination. Therefore, in whatever era of the dim prehistoric past the first Masons lived, it follows from the very meaning of the word that they were the wisest, holiest, most revered of men.

   A mason now is considered to be a builder—one who constructs. Likewise were those Wise Men of the East; but in their work the sound of neither hammer nor saw was heard; for they were mental builders. Their labor was construction wrought by the imagery of thought, as the word imagination, coming from the same root as does the word mason, clearly implies. Magic is the skillful use of the imaginative faculty, and the original Masons undoubtedly were magicians. The Magi of Egypt, Chaldea, and even more ancient times unquestionably were Masons.” [2]

"Imagination is from the word ``image,'' a form, a picture, and has descended to us from the Latin ``imago,'' which, in its turn, was derived from the old Semitic root, ``mag.'' Mason comes to us from the Latin ``mass,'' which means to mould and form, i.e., to build; and the word ``mass,'' through various transformations, was also derived from the root-word ``mag.'' Consequently, originally, there was but little difference in the ancient idea of building pictures in the mind and erecting the mental idea externally in stone. It is from this fact, that, we have to-day Mental Masons, a la the secret orders, and stone masons, who labour for wages. The Mental Masons have merely lost the knowledge of their art. They should, by rights, be as active and correspondingly useful to-day as their more physical brothers, the masons of stone." 

Thomas H. Burgoyne:

"Magic comes from the Latin ``magi'' and the Greek word ``magos,'' which means wise, learned in the mysteries, and was the synonym of wisdom. The initiated philosopher, the priest, and the wise men, are all of them included in the ``magi.'' Again, tracing this word to its remote ancestor, we find it terminating in the same Semitic root, ``mag,'' but of this strange root no one was able to say much, except that it seemed to belong to the Assyrian branch of the great Semitic race. But quite recently, thanks to our scientific explorers and archaeologists, versed in the mysterious meaning of cuneiform inscription; Assyrian scholars now inform us that they have found the hoary, primitive original of it, of magic, magi and imago, etc. It is from an old Akkadian word, ``imga,'' meaning wise, holy, and learned, and was used as the distinguishing title of their wisest sages, priests, and philosophers, who, as may be supposed, gradually formed a peculiar caste, which merged into the ruling priestly order. The Semites, who succeeded the old Akkadian race in the valley of the Euphrates, as a mere matter of verbal convenience, transformed many of the old Akkadian words to suit their own articulation, and ``imga'' became ``mag,'' and thus ``magi.''"  [3]

image = imaginal = imagination = imago = magi = magic 

Victor H. Mair, Old Sinitic "*m^yag ", Old Persian "Maguš", And English "Magician", Early China, Vol. 15 (1990), pp. 27-47