It has always fascinated me how beliefs and "facts" get "twisted" over the years, over the centuries; until the beliefs and "facts" bear no resemblance to the original meanings. One has only to look at the many "branches" of a religion to see how those changes affect modern thinking. Especially stories and Nursery Rhymes for children; which were originally written for adults!
Here's a Nursery Rhyme popular in Britain since the 16th century:-
Goosey Goosey Gander
Where shall I wander?
Upstairs and downstairs,
In my lady's chamber.
There I saw an old man
who wouldn't say his prayers.
I took him by the left leg,
And threw him down the stairs!
Children love this idea of throwing an old man downstairs! But what does it really mean?
King Henry VIII changed the religion of England from Catholic to Protestant. When he died, his daughter Mary became Sovereign; and she was a devout Catholic! She ordered groups of soldiers to "hunt down these blasphemers" and kill them! She has been known ever since as Bloody Mary!
Now, the way Catholics recite The Lord's Prayer is slightly different from the prayer as ordained by The Church of England.
And so, a way of "finding" Protestants was to order them to say the Lord's Prayer. If they said it wrong they were beaten up,made to "confess", and then killed. Hence, the old man who wouldn't say his prayers.
A hundred years later, a Civil War raged in England,between The King's men,and Cromwell's Army. All the fortified castles were held by The King's men, and it took long sieges to conquer them.
One castle had a huge cannon which could fire all sorts of things, from great cannon balls,to thousands of bits of metal and musket balls. This great cannon was on top of the battlements, causing havoc to the Army down below.
Constant bombardment of the castle caused part of the wall to crumble; and the great cannon fell, and as it was made of cast iron, it shattered into many pieces.
That big cannon was known as The Great Humpty, or The Humpety Dumpety. And so:-
Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall.
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall!
And all the King's horses,
And all the King's men,
Couldn't put Humpty together again!
Children love this story of the large egg that fell off the wall!
The original story was not about an egg. But it has become the "magic" of a child's imagination.
And so it is with much of "magic" today.It has changed over the centuries into all the many "beliefs", and misunderstandings about magic!
It takes years of study to unravel it all! But don't tell the kiddies! Or you will shatter their dreams!