The pre-eminent modern example of the sorcerer's realm is Saddam Hussein's Iraq. Many people are no doubt familiar with the details of the repressive state apparatus and vicious practices by which the dictator of Iraq and his cronies kept their hold over Iraq. But few are aware of the fact that Hussein, his family and his circle not only believed in magic but used it in many ways, both to promote superstitious fear in Iraqis, and to also try and 'second-guess' their opponents and protect their own destinies.
Magic has a strange place in Muslim countries. Its practice, but certainly not its existence, is denied by fundamentalist Muslims. As it's mentioned several times in the Koran as being a very real force, it cannot be discounted, but is rather discouraged (and indeed, in some places suspected magicians are in danger of death). Despite this, many ordinary Muslims frequent magicians, faith-healers, fortune-tellers and other practitioners of magical arts. There is, like anywhere else, a great distinction made between good and bad magic, and most magic is carried out using the intervention of either angels or jinn (genies) - the latter being seen as much less reliable than angels, being habitual liars and mischief-makers. Nevertheless, jinn (who can usefully be compared to both fairies and demons in Western imagery - some are good, some bad, some merely highly unpredictable) are considered to be easier to use by ordinary magicians. The belief in such magic cuts across all social classes: though it's more common amongst the less well educated, even educated people often hedge their bets.
Saddam Hussein has always believed in magic. His mother, Sabha, was a peasant woman who sometimes worked as a fortune-teller. Saddam himself was supposed to have inherited some of his mother's psychic gifts, and was reputed to have had modest success in 'studying the sands' and summoning jinn to do his bidding. It was believed by many people in Iraq that he had seven jinn to protect him, and that he spoke daily with the king and queen of the jinn, who advised him. He ordered Baghdad University to set up a department of parapsychology, to investigate methods to use in the Iran-Iraq war, and later to 'mind-read' UN inspectors searching for WMDs in Iraq.
He also personally patronised magicians of all kinds, and had a rotating circle of favourite magicians-including not only Iraqis, but a French Arab, a Turk, a Chinese, a Japanese and an Indian magician, and - wait for it - a beautiful Jewish witch from Morocco! His personal magician, interviewed by a reporter from the Washington Post in Baghdad in 2003, before Saddam's capture, that most of his work for the Hussein family involved 'mostly issues of love, faithfulness and sexual prowess.'
Saddam's son Uday - who was also a firm believer in magic - scouted very actively for magicians and other psychics to come and work for the Hussein family, and indeed advertised on his own TV station for such practitioners to come forward. It wasn't a comfortable post to be in, by all accounts; if Uday or other family members took exception to a prediction or a spell, you might well be imprisoned or even executed. (The magician interviewed by the Washington Post was even imprisoned for six months because Saddam suspected his own wife, no doubt angry with his womanising, had paid the magician to cast a spell to hurt the dictator's leg.)
One or more of these sorcerers, it was said, had made Saddam a special talisman, a magic stone which he wore either around his neck, or had had implanted under the skin of his arm, depending on who you listened to. This stone made him invulnerable, and meant he could not be killed. The fact that the dictator survived several assassination attempts (including one by Mossad, which is regarded in almost supernatural terms by many people in the Middle East), countless plots, the Iran-Iraq war, the first Gulf War, and even the second Gulf War, could only add fuel to the image of Saddam the Sorcerer, arch-manipulator and master of all kinds of forces, historical and parapsychological, whose destiny was protected by dark and dangerous forces, and best not meddled with. Many believers in Saddam's magic powers were profoundly shocked by the TV images of the Master of Magicians being pulled, haggard and dirty, from his hiding place last year. But others believe he is still protected. Saddam's own delusional demeanour at his pre-trial hearing recently suggests the old fox still thinks he is the darling of Providence.
