sympathetic magic

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

sym′pathet′ic mag′ic, 

1. Anthropology magic predicated on the belief that one thing or event can affect another at a distance as a consequence of a sympathetic connection between them. Cf. contagious magic, imitative magic. 

• 1900–05

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

sympathetic magic noun

1. a type of magic in which it is sought to produce a large-scale effect, often at a distance, by performing some small-scale ceremony resembling it, such as the pouring of water on an altar to induce rainfall