Is magic linked to the occult?

I get tired of reading about crazy Christians who rant about the Harry Potter movies as being somehow linked to the occult, and other such craziness. This one is just too crazy to be true.

Christian Magicians Rise to Defend Themselves as Not Involved With the Occult

Christian magicians are rising to defend themselves against assertions made by a Christian Post columnist that the performance of magic may involve the occult.

They are upset with columnist Dan Delzell's opinion that the U.K.-based magician Dynamo's illusion of levitating alongside a red London double decker bus was real. Delzell related the performance to "witchcraft and contact with evil spirits, and the presumption that the art of magic is a gateway to demonic involvement."

Delzell's column incited a number of Christian magicians to leave comments criticizing his assumption that magic performances are linked to demonic power. These magicians included Jim Munroe, who works with worldwide ministries; Rob Robinson, a Christian magician and mentalist; and Joe Turner, who is a member of the Fellowship of Christian Magicians and served on the board of the International Brotherhood of Magicians.

The fact that there are Christians who think that magic is really magic surprises me. Concocting a supernatural explanation to the simple reality of a skilled magician's performance of a mind-blowing trick is as ignorant as claiming that the earth is flat. Any reasonable person knows that magic is an illusion based on manipulating audience perceptions, and that some magicians are much better than others. Christians of the world, to claim otherwise devalues your vaulted faith and makes you and your beliefs a laughingstock. Keep at it if you must, but you are perpetuating your own demise. 

Here is what Dan Delzell had to say (I should say, "made up").

Whether the levitation is experienced by young girls playing a dangerous occult "game" at a slumber party, ("Light as a feather, Stiff as a board") or by street magicians as shown on YouTube videos, paranormal things happen when people engage in practices that are rooted in sorcery, magic and witchcraft. Many magicians and other occultists have experienced levitation and various forms of supernatural power. These sorcerers typically cast spells or perform other rituals in an attempt to conjure the power to accomplish these feats. It is becoming more and more commonplace to see such expressions of magical performance.

Source: The Illusion That Seduces and Bewitches Magicians

Delzell pulled all of that out of thin air. Every bit of his column is un-researched, non-factual drivel. He knows nothing about his subject. Has no authority, and cannot link a single instance of magic to the occult by fact. Let's practice a normal response. "Wow! How did he do that?" It sounds better than, "That man is in league with the Devil! Burn him!"