According to James Harrod of OriginsNet, as far back as 40,000 years ago, early hunters painted pictures on rocks and cave walls as a form of magic. A cave man who painted himself hunting and killing a huge mammoth might have believed that what was in the picture would occur.
Four thousand years ago in ancient Egypt, pharaohs had magicians perform for them. In the 2009 BBC article, "Ancient Egyptian Magic," Dr. Geraldine Pinch says the pharaohs' tombs were protected by magical curses that were believed to stop and harm enemies. Egyptians were very superstitious and kept sacred amulets and magical figures in an attempt to keep themselves safe.
Ancient Greeks and Romans practiced palmistry, which is fortune telling done by reading the lines in a person's hands. They and many other cultures were also fond of astrology, a way of predicting the future by analyzing the position of the sun, moon and stars.
During the Middle Ages, it was common for a palace to have a resident magician to entertain and predict the future for the king. This was also when alchemy became very popular, with its focus on trying to change metals to gold and discovering "the elixir of life."