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I was intrigued by a question over on the worldbuilding stack exchange. To sum up, this question asks about "divine" magic, or magic that involves a deity as a patron who provides the magic effects. In answering that question, I realized that most ancient forms of magic were, at least according to most D&D and other classifications I could think of, "divine." (For those not in the know: Divine magic involves a deity, spirits, or other supernatural creatures, whereas arcane magic involves no deities, spirits, or other supernatural creatures.) Most "arcane" or "occult" spell casters of the (I.R.L.) ancient world were more like tricksters or profiteers who simply hid their tricks from common knowledge. Even in the ancient greco-roman world, magic was differentiated from religion only by social constructs, not source of power.

I was intrigued by a question over on the worldbuilding stack exchange. To sum up, this question asks about "divine" magic, or magic that involves a deity as a patron who provides the magic effects. In answering that question, I realized that most ancient forms of magic were, at least according to most D&D and other classifications I could think of, "divine." (For those not in the know: Divine magic involves a deity, spirits, or other supernatural creatures, whereas arcane magic involves no deities, spirits, or other supernatural creatures.) Most "arcane" or "occult" spell casters of the (I.R.L.) ancient world were more like tricksters or profiteers who simply hid their tricks from common knowledge. Even in the ancient greco-roman world, magic was differentiated from religion only by social constructs, not source of power.

Even in the earliest editions of D&D, which in turn influenced other works of fantasy, there was most definitely an arcane magician of some sort. Gygax wrote several appendices, with one pertinent one called appendix N, which cites sources of many books as his basis for formulating his influential game and the magic therein. (Thanks RPG.SE) This is little more than "I got my ideas from over there," and does not explain how this two-system view of magic came to be.

Even in the earliest editions of D&D, which in turn influenced other works of fantasy, there was most definitely an arcane magician of some sort. Gygax wrote several appendices, with one pertinent one called appendix N, which cites sources of many books as his basis for formulating his influential game and the magic therein. (Thanks RPG.SE) This is little more than "I got my ideas from over there," and does not explain how this two-system view of magic came to be.