What Is Jujutsu (Magic)? The Meaning of the Word and Its Types Explained

Hear the word "magic" (jujutsu, in Japanese) and a frightening art for cursing people may come to mind first. Yet the word originally points to something far broader — a deep concept expressing how humankind has grappled with supernatural forces.

This article explains what jujutsu is — the meaning of the word and its types — tracing back through its etymology, its good-and-evil classification, and its ties to religion and science, purely as a matter of folklore and culture. It does not encourage working any magic. At the end, we also touch on how to face feelings of resentment and the urge to curse.

What jujutsu means (the word)

Jujutsu is a general term for acts and techniques that work upon supernatural forces to obtain a desired result. It does not refer only to the harmful "curse." Healing illness, praying for a good harvest or for rain, warding off misfortune — it spans such wide-ranging aims and is found in every culture on earth. Tied deeply to the origins of religion and medicine, it has long been treated as a major subject in anthropology and folklore studies. Magic is also a deeply human phenomenon, bound up with strong passions like resentment and envy, and with the fierce desire to make something happen at any cost.

A translation of "magic": where the word comes from

In fact, the Japanese word jujutsu was shaped in modern times as a translation of the English "magic." The root of "magic" is said to trace back to magus, the ancient Persian word for a priest or sorcerer. Awe of the mysterious arts wielded by those eastern priests became the very word for "magic." What we call jujutsu, then, is less a uniquely Japanese concept than one translation among many — East and West each finding words for a pursuit common to all of humanity.

The main types of magic: homeopathic and contagious

Known for systematically organizing magic is the British anthropologist James Frazer. In his work "The Golden Bough," he grouped under the name sympathetic magic the belief that separated things influence each other through invisible ties, and divided it further into two. One is homeopathic magic, the idea that like affects like — scattering water to pray for rain, or working on a straw doll made to resemble a target, falls here. The other is contagious magic, the idea that things once in contact keep influencing each other even when apart — using a target's hair or nail clippings falls here. In real folk belief, the two are often combined.

White magic and black magic: a good-and-evil classification

Magic is also divided by whether its aim is good or ill. Magic worked to heal, protect, and bring fortune to people is called white magic; magic worked to harm people and bring calamity is called black magic. The curse that harms a person belongs to black magic — yet the two are often continuous in their tools and procedures, and the same art was thought able to turn to good or ill depending on the practitioner's intent. For black magic, see what black magic is.

How magic relates to religion and science

Frazer held that human thought developed in the order "magic → religion → science," seeing magic as a kind of pseudo-science that tried to bend nature to one's will through laws. This scheme has drawn much criticism, however, and scholars still debate whether magic or religion came first — "magic first," "religion first," "the two are separate." Broadly, where prayer petitions gods or buddhas, magic tends more strongly to try to produce a result directly through set procedures — but in practice, that line is blurry.

Magic in Japan: onmyodo and prayer

In Japan, magic developed in its own way. Well known is onmyodo, which flourished in the Heian period. The onmyoji handled calendars, divination, and the fortune of directions, warding off misfortune and, at times, working rites. There are also the kaji-kito prayers performed at temples, shugendo rooted in mountain asceticism, and the amulets and everyday charms used for protection — Japan's magical culture is richly varied. The harmful curse is only one small facet within this diverse world of magic. For the magic woven into daily life, see also what majinai is.

Try putting the "urge to curse" into words first

Tracing the history of magic reveals that, since ancient times, humans have wrestled with anxiety, anger, and resentment that their own strength could not resolve. Feelings fierce enough to make you want to curse someone lie on that same continuum.

But there is no need to aim that feeling at real technique or action. Noroi Nikki is a private app for gently writing out, and letting go of, those "curses you can tell no one." What you write is seen by no one, and no one else is dragged in. Write the resentment and anger that have nowhere to go into a place that is yours alone first, and set them down from your chest, little by little. The more you let it out, the lighter the weight becomes.

For lore surrounding curses, see also what noroi-gaeshi is.