It matters little to [the juggler].
He can take stones in his hand or birds or bits of burning wood and storm the sky as sure as a meteor shower.

Ask him how and he will sigh, saying
"[]I have married [me] Lady Gravity and these, [ah] these are my children."

Troilus and Cressida, V.ii.23
Cressida: In faith, I cannot: what would you have me do?
Thersites: A juggling trick, – to be secretly open.

A Brief History of Juggling by Izzi
Juggling in one form or another can be found in all cultures throughout the world. Why? Because nature has planted in the cellular brain structure of the human being a fascination concerning the manipulation and skillful maneuvering of objects.

Sometimes this love of balance and manipulation is expressed by juggling a single item. We can find this spectacularly exhibited in the incredible tradition of Chinese Jar juggling, where a single jar is balanced, spun, thrown or rolled around the body in a graceful and fluid manner.

The Hawaiians, Fijians and other South Pacific Islander have developed a juggling tradition of flipping and spinning one or two sticks or lances. To add to the danger, excitement, and drama of this skill, the sticks usually have both end lit on fire, which makes them roar and hiss as they spin and twirl around the jugglers body.

Historically, the first evidence of juggling appears 2000 years BC in Egyptian tomb paintings. During biblical times, multiple torch and sword juggling was a popular form of entertainment at festivals in the temples of Saul, David and Solomon. Some sources say that David actually dazzled Goliath with extraordinary juggling. Then, once he had the giant mesmerized, he threw one of the lethal stones, killing his towering enemy.

In Japan juggling is a girl's game, much like the game of Jacks in America. Like swimming, this skill is never lost, and it is not uncommon for Japanese women in their 50's or 60's to entertain their grandchildren by juggling stones, sticks or small juggling bags.

On the North American Continent, the native shamans and traditional healers used juggling very sparingly and only in extremely serious circumstances. If a member of the community was gravely ill, the healer would juggle, spin and manipulate objects for their patient. The patient would then be awed by this demonstration of the shaman's tremendous abilities. He or she would then lower their resistance and participate willingly with the shaman's respected advice.

In India, we know that travelling jugglers made their living performing at the many secure and thriving villages, hamlets and farms that dotted the ancient countryside. But these travelling juggling shows were undermined in the 13th and 14th century with the invasion of the Mongols. The Mongols centralized the power and wealth of the nation into regional courts. This created in India court jesters and court jugglers, but the ability of travelling jugglers to make a living in areas other than in the courts was severely diminished. History has a way of repeating itself though, and now, in India, because of the sprawling slums and ever increasing population, jugglers can often be seen working the crowds and making a living in the towns and cities of that country.

THE INDIAN JUGGLERS
William Hazlitt
From Table Talk, 1828

there is something in all this which he who does not admire may be quite sure he never really admired any thing in the whole course of his life. It is skill surmounting difficulty, and beauty triumphing over skill. It seems as if the difficulty once mastered naturally resolved itself into ease and grace, and as if to be overcome at all, it must be overcome without an effort. The smallest awkwardness or want of pliancy or self-possession would stop the whole process. It is the work of witchcraft, and yet sport for children. …
It makes me ashamed of myself. I ask what there is that I can do as well as this! Nothing. What have I been doing all my life! … Is there no one thing in which I can challenge competition, that I can bring as an instance of exact perfection, in which others cannot find a flaw? The utmost I can pretend to is to write a description of what this fellow can do. I can write a book: so can many others who have not even learned to spell. What abortions are these Essays!

JUGGLERS AND JUGGLING
By Dr. Henry R. Evans
From Linking Ring, February and March 1938

The word juggler today connotes a man who is skillful in throwing and catching balls, knives, and other articles, and understands or practices delicate feats of balancing. It has its root in the Latin word joculator, which meant originally a man who makes the jocus or pleasantry; in other words, a buffoon. The French form, derived from the Latin, is jongleur, which comprehends much more than the idea of a buffoon or trick performer. A jongleur was also a troubadour or singer. Says Watson, in the Reliquary, January, 1907: "The word juggler has now become more generally employed in a restricted sense, and it is perhaps more appropriate to a certain kind of trick, such as that of throwing and catching balls or knives, whereas the word conjuring is associated with tricks of legerdemain and deception." Shakespeare speaks of "nimble jugglers that deceive the eye." The bard of Avon, in his deployment of the word, is undoubtedly alluding to magicians, and not to skillful tossers-up and catchers of balls and knives. The juggler proper seeks not to deceive the eye, but does everything openly and above board; his feats are those of skill and not delusion….
The art of jugglery is very ancient. We see representations of it in the wall paintings of the Egyptians, particularly in those of the Beni-Hassan tombs on the east bank of the Nile near Speos Artemindos. … Among the Greeks and Romans jugglers' tricks were very popular. On old Greek vases we see the juggler's art depicted. In the Royal Museum at Mantua is a Roman monument with an inscription to Septumia Spica, evidently a popular juggler of ancient Italy. He is represented keeping seven balls in movement. In a niche on one side of this monument is a bust of Spica, and beneath it the figure of a rabbit. When I first saw the foregoing representation, I exclaimed: "Ah, Spica also performed the bunny trick; he was not only a juggler, but a conjurer as well." But later researches showed me that the rabbit symbolized the rapidity of Spica's movements. The production of hares from hats or helmets did not exist in the days of Sept. Spica. A representation of juggling in the Middle Ages may be found in illuminated manuscripts in the British Museum. One of them, viz., that on f. 30b of Tib. C. VI, shows the performer tossing up objects of different kinds. He holds a ball in his right hand and a knife in his left hand, and two other balls and knives are in the air. Jugglers today use all sorts of articles - plates, clubs, bits of paper, hats, umbrellas, kitchen utensils, vegetables, etc. … You cannot expose the feats of a genuine juggler, for there is no mystery about them; they are dependent on sheer dexterity. Only a few can acquire the juggler's art and excel at it, whereas hundreds of amateurs can learn to do magic very well indeed, with comparatively little practice.
The juggler and the conjurer are first cousins. Their arts, though not the same, have some affinity. A juggler on a magic program is always well received. Alexander Herrmann had D'Alvini with him many seasons, and the combination was a happy one. There can be no rivalry between the conjurer and the juggler, for their arts are so different. …