"the old magic"?

I believe it's referring the "old ones". In many cultures the gods were the original holders of magick and they gave the ancient people the knowledge of how to harness it.

Thank you for all the input. All very good thoughts though whiteraven I think is correct in this case.

You're welcome. It does tie into what yajra said though. The old ones passed down the knowledge. We all have the capability of practising magick, it's that many lack the knowledge necessary to fully grasp it and its potential. =)

I agree. I have a friend whom I have taught magic to because she was experiencing things she could not explain but many like her go unnoticed while others just don't believe anymore. Such a shame.

I am an old, traditional witch. I was taught that witchcraft has two parts. The "Craft", and the spiritual aspect. My teacher taught me that the Gods and Goddesses were all the same, but with different names throughout the centuries. I don't exactly "worship" any God or Goddess, but I do often meditate on the Sun and the Moon, whom I refer to as My Lord and My Lady.
The "Craft" of witchcraft is knowledge. The spiritual is "belief".

Magic evolves overtime. This means it changes in small ways over time to fit the current world. The magic of old was cast differently then the magic of today due to the world being a different place. Casters 500 years ago did not have the internet, telephones, ball point pens, etc Perhaps the reference is to this change. What is the entire passage this reference comes from? Without more information it is hard to pin point an good answer to this question.

I believe it's about the knowledge centuries ago when people could do great things with magic. Alchemy is a part of it, as raven wrote.
Some say a great deal of that old knowledge was burned down in the Library of Alexandria and the rest was hidden from the people.

If somebody has knowledge that you do not have. If there is something real and tangible that you do not understand.You would probably say,"That is magic!".
I do not fully understand how the internet works.To me, it is magic!
As is also organ transplants, eye surgery; even television. There is "modern" magic, of course. There is also the magic in Nature; the Earth itself; the Universe.
Do you really want to see magic? Don't look for fairies. Look at a flower.

" The old magic had different parts. The knowledge side and the belief side. When you put them together you have the original magic. The original or old magic was created when God saw three remarkable men and four talented women. God came to them and God gave them each a gift and they together made the old magic." That is most of the passage. There is a whole chapter about it though. These books have been passed down and rewrote throughout my family but the back of the book says the books have been rewrote word for word.

Any more suggestions?