Are Wizards in fantasy a primarily Western European concept in

Depends on the setting.

Sometimes they're a little psuedo-Middle-Eastern.

>>50280258
Examples

>>50280333
AD&D-era artwork

Magical old man with a walking stick seems like a universal archetype

>>50280495
Can you post some? I love old D&D art

>>50280258
I've heard in the past that a lot of the archetypical wizard concept is based on Greek misunderstandings of Zoroastrianism, but someone else would have to give an actual explanation of that

>>50280554
If this thread is up in a few hours I know exactly the piece I'm thinking of.

>>50280565
That's where the word "Magi" comes from which is the basis for Mage which is used interchangeably with Wizard. I don't know that their actual priestly practices were ever meaningfully understood to the Greeks. It was and still is often mistaken as a fire worshipping religion

>>50280565
I doubt this honestly

I do wonder where the stars-moons-on-purple-blue-robes-and-conical-hat came from.

As for the Wizard hat I believe it is mostly from Tolkien which he was likely inspired by Odin who wandered around in the guise of a traveller with a spear and wide brimmed hat. The stereotypical witch/wizard hat is apparently a very recent development in terms of pop culture as depictions of medieval sorcerers and those practicing witchcraft weren't depicted with pointy hats. Usually just baredhead or wearing a scarf.

>>50280753
I prefer the leather skullcap wizard over the pointy hat wizard.

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>>50280782
Fucking kek I love those too. What the fuck are those anyway?

>>50280753
>I do wonder where the stars-moons-on-purple-blue-robes-and-conical-hat came from.
Well the stars and moon are representative of alchemical symbols. Not sure about the robe or color scheme but I think the hat might come from the Puritan garb which was eventually codified as "which" and might have passed to wizards.

>>50280660
>which is used interchangeably with Wizard.
Please don't

>>50280937
Alchemical? Strange, I'd have pegged them for like astrological symbols or something

>>50280240
In common fantasy yes, but there's examples of eastern and New World Wizards as well.

>>50280958
Eh it's pretty interchangeable. Alchemy and astrology really go hand in hand.

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>>50280753
hhmm
It may predate pic related, it may not.

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What about Orthodox Priests?

>>50281032
Wow those look just like the robes from Morrowind

>>50280753
Wizard stuff is sometimes thematically tied to astronomy.

>>50281051
Which was studied by Zoroastrian magi.

>>50280240

Wizards are basically a mix of "magic man" concepts from all over.

I'd say the biggest influence on what we think of as classic fantasy wizards was probably Merlin, and he was based on druids.

>>50280753
Mickey mouse? I can't think of any wizard that took the stars and widebrimmed pointy hat and the blue and smushed it together like that.

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>>50280240
>he doesn't know about Merlin

>>50281016
Except that alchemy is a wholly debunked bunch of pseudoscience

>>50281314
So is astrology.

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>>50281332
>tfw wish magic was real so badly

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>>50280987
American-styled wizards can be cool.

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>>50281505
>mfw anon doesn't know about meme magic

>>50281632
Maybe you can meme up an aspect ratio for your image.

>>50281505
Magic is as real as applied psychology.

Just not the fireballs and transfiguration kind.

Now, cursing people?
Can be done - you trick someone into thinking you've cursed them and it's as good as the real thing - West African witch doctors who exist in a cultural paradigm where curses are believed in can hex members of their community who will essentially sicken and die of stress.

This is what some people would consider a culture-bound syndrome, and you can laugh at it because it's absurd, but we have our own.

Social Justice warriors for instance, leverage the power of shaming tactics against those who are vulnerable to them - young liberals brought up in a culture of tolerance and self-examination; the same social tactics would be laughed out of any village in Chad, or Nigeria, because they have different "magic".

>>50281028
>Flight of Dragons
WATASHI NO NIGGA

The wizard hat is actually related to the dunce cap, believe it or not.
http://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/the-dunce-cap-wasnt-always-so-stupid

In NetHack, there is an item called the Cornuthaum, which provides special benefits to wizards. There's also an item called the dunce cap, which sets your intelligence and wisdom fixed at 6, and automatically curses itself to be irremovable whenever you put it on your head. When unidentified, they both appear as a conical hat.

>>50283818
Africans have the IQ of children which is why they believe in magic

Aren't fantasy wizards based off of Gandalf who was based off of Odin thus making them Norse and not western European?

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I forgot where this was from, in any case I just felt like posting it

>>50281028
Damn, Im glad someone else remembers this.

>>50281028
>yellow mage is Asian
You racists.

>>50283818
>>50285117
It's funny because Santeria is pretty big in the south, there's a bunch of redneck folk on youtube claiming they can "curse people".

>>50286340
Technically they were based off of Merlin as well. So Druids from Britain.

>>50286576
>China started by the Yellow River
>Descended from the Yellow Emperor.

As far as stereotypes go, that is the funniest.

>>50280937
I think some artist way back when wanted to represent meaningful symbols in some way but did not care enough to go look up what runes, astrological symbols or alchemical symbols looked like. So he cheaped out and used stars and moons instead.

Or Disney did it and everyone else copies as usual.

>>50280937
The robe is Zoroastrian, magi are depicted in ancient documents with a brimless conical hat.

This was mixed with Odin is his floppy hat to form the modern wizard.

GWŌĐANAZ

>>50281032
I 've never understood this. As the other anon said, they look like some kind of Elder Scrolls LARPers. Greybeards are basically that picture.

>>50280240
Modern Fantasy is based on American/British interpretations of European folklore

>>50291913
What is there to not understand?

>>50292612
Well, understand why they wear those druidic clothes which make them look so heathen. I aint Orthodox so when I first saw those monks in Eastern Europe I thought they belonged to some kind of New Age Luciferian sect.

>>50293168
Eastern European religion is like that. Christianity itself is full of weird things, but it doesn't seem so weird to somebody who's more used to it.

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>>50280240
Finnish wizards.

>>50280240
>>50294140
Perkele