For this answer, I'm going to start with giving you a brief overview of the magics that the Ottomans believed in. Then I'm going to hone-in on the Sabrina the Teenage Witch of the empire, Murad III, who believed he was experiencing magical dreams and even had a massive observatory built into Istanbul to support his astrological interests.

The Ottoman Grimoire

The most continuously practiced magic was astrology and its related talismans. As Şen points out in their Practicing Astral Magic in Sixteenth-Century Ottoman Istanbul, "astrological patronage was institutionalized through the creation in the Ottoman court bureaucracy of a permanent office for astrologers that remained functional up until the dissolution of the empire in the early twentieth century." However, the sultans' favor for individual magics would sway each generation, providing us with a rich variety of practiced courtly magics.

For example, Bayezid II believed in alchemy, the ability to transmute one material into another - especially gold; Selim I believed in lettrist interpretations of biblical passages, which were supposed to foresee the future; Suleiman the Magnificent believed in geomancy, the ability to read into patterns on the ground, in tossed dirt, or through a randomized 16-figure combination; Murad III believed in oneiromancy, the ability to read meaning from dreams or to tell the future from dreams; many believed in bibliomancy, the ability to tell the future by reading and interpreting a random passage from a book - often the Quran; talismanic shirts, the wearing of shirt made with magic squares, significant geometric patterns and religious symbols - such as the legendary Zulfiqar sword - religious scripture, and more, that was supposed to imbue the wearer with power and protection; and talismans, which brought together celestial powers and terrestrial powers, while producing a wide variety of effects.

However, while we often think of magics are being apart from established religion, the Ottoman belief in magic often intertwined with religion. This is most apparent with the talismanic shirts, which were often decorated with passages from the Quran. Additionally, oneiromancy, the reading of dreams, was even practiced with Islamic Sufi masters, such as in Murad III's case with Şüca Dede. Therefore, we have to be careful to not look at these as outside of Islam, but as one of many paths to experience this religion during this time period.

Murad III's Letters

By looking at Murad III's letters, we can see that he was often paranoid, anxious, and prone to panic attacks. He was often exhausted with the deceitfulness of the court, the unending web of lies presented to him, and the courtly backstabbing, which made him constantly unsure of who he could trust. Much of this is archived in his Kitāb al-Manāmāt. In addition to his courtly experiences, the book was used to record his dreams as part of his belief in oneiromancy. Through recording and interpreting his dreams with his Sufi master, Murad III believed that he could foresee the future and better understand how to navigate his life.

Murad III's Magics

In several of the letters, Murad III worries about curses that could be placed on him by disgruntled courtiers. But, as an aegis to these curses, magic - and especially religion imbued with magic - could be used. For Murad III, these curses and inner demons were to be met with mystical understandings of the world, that infused, and sometimes extended beyond, Islam. Primarily, he explored astrology, dream-reading, and talismanic shirts.

In Felek's Fears, Hopes, and Dreams: The Talismanic Shirts of Murād III, it is argued that this lack of control in his own life lead him to become so thoroughly fascinated by the occult. Here, a path to gain power, protection and autonomy was presented. These qualities could lift him from the anxiety that haunted much of his rule as sultan. This argument is supported by the letters that Murad wrote to his Sufi master. However, its unclear if it definitely fueled his interested in the occult.

Nonetheless, Murad III worked with his Sufi master to interpret his dreams. To Murad III, each dream was significant and presented a new way to understand the world around him. Often, these dreams were religious in nature. Such as in the case of him - quite literally - meeting and then transforming into the biblical characters of Ali and Muhammad. This was read as Murad being the one to unite the Muslim world and to ascend to a sort of biblical figure himself through his deeds. But, some dreams would have also helped him navigate his daily life as Sultan.

Beyond dream-reading, talismanic shirts, that were said to imbue the wearer with magical properties, were gifted to Murad III. Through the analysis of the symbols, astrological signs, geometric shapes, calligraphy, and the use of religious scripture of the decorative shirts, Felek argues that these were to protect Murad III from curses, relieve him of his anxieties, to bring him good health, and to possibly embolden him to lead his armies in battle.

For example, suras 113 (al-Falaq) and 114 (al-Nās) would have commonly appeared in talismanic shirts, which were both scriptures that were said to protect and heal. Therefore, these talismanic shirts served a dual role: to protect the wearer from evil magics and to imbue the wearer with good magics.

Besides astrology being used in talismanic shirts, Murad III was interested in talismans, which conjured astrological powers. These talisman were used in accordance with astrologically significant moments and could harness the celestial powers. Murad III even commissioned the building of an observatory. The primary focus of this observatory was to studying astrology as evidenced by its recorded work. More on this later!

Additionally, during his reign, we see that Murad III had actually gained a sizeable collection of writings on the occult. As a few examples, Murad III was gifted a copy of the Book of Secrets, a book which contained anecdotes of the workings of bibliomancy; commissioned two copies of The Ascension of Propitious Stars and Sources of Sovereignty, a book on divination and astrology; received a copy of Human Physiognomy Concerning the Personal Dispositions of the Ottomans, a book on understanding someone just from their facial features; was gifted a copy of Unique Pearls on Birth, which discussed astrology and zodiac signs; and received The Mirror of the Worlds, which discussed the impending end of the world.