"Magic" in today's world is largely in fiction or on stage: Harry Potter and disappearing elephants. But we live in an age where science holds sway, and it was not always so compelling.
Centuries ago, our ancestors really believed in witches and transformations and more.
The Book of Magic, edited by Brian Copenhaver, is an exhaustive look at what people believed in, often intertwined with religion, until The Enlightenment. He visits with a short course on old-world magic.