During the 16th and 17th centuries there was a strong belief throughout Europe, when it came to magic, but most countries bore very similar ideas. Popular and elite magic were very important to the everyday lives of people during this time, as well as crucial to their beliefs. These beliefs generally did not conflict with their religious views, but often became integrated with them, although the Church did not always accept them. There was a wide spread belief that “witches” or “cunning folk” had special powers. Magic at this time was not looked on with the scepticism it might be today, and it was generally believed to be fact, so much so that there were plenty if books written on the subject by theologians and demonologists. It was commonly believed that these cunning folk had the ability to use magic, and they provided it as a service. These services usually consisted of curing people from black or malefic magic as well as sickness, providing love spells, thief detection or treasure finding, although treasure hunts would have been uncommon since they were rarely successful. If people were in need of healing from natural disease, they might go to a cunning person rather than a doctor, to be treated with folk medicine or herbs. While these services could vary from country to country the core idea stayed very much the same. Cunning folk were important to early modern Europeans as they were a main part of communities, and there was usually one near most villages, towns and cities. Although this was believed to be white magic, according to law it was no different to black magic. But this type of magic was mainly availed of only by the lower class, and the elite mostly did not want anything to do with it, or if they did they would keep it quiet. Astrology and alchemy was considered the magic for the elite. Astrology, the study of the movements of stars and planets and their effect on the world was the more popular one, and one of the main uses of it was predicting the future. The other elite magic was alchemy, which was popular, but often studied discreetly, as it was often frowned upon. The aim of alchemy was to achieve enlightenment and immortality.