What is magic?BEYOND THE SMOKE AND MIRRORS $5.00

This issue dedicated to Franklin Rosemont — a teacher, a friend, and a great magician.

Aren’t those moments commonly called “odd” the ones

that really make a difference? The others—life’s “even”

moments—elide into a hopeless sameness. A glob of grey

on grey in the grey frame of a dimply remembered past,

and a cold, pre-forgotten future. The odd ones, however,

stand out to haunt us, to invade our dreams, and, in a

thousand ways, make us wonder about the possible and

the impossible, a new society, a different life.

– Franklin Rosemont (1943-2009)

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Editor’s NoteDavid London

What Is Magic?I believe that these three words, in this particular combination, are three of the most important words in the life of any magician. They serve as the beginning of a quest towards poetic knowledge, as well as both the quest, and the knowledge, itself. I have spent over half of my life asking this question to myself and to others, as well as searching in books and other teachings for the answer. As I have written several times before, whereas I once believed that I had to understand magic in order to actually be a magician, I am now convinced that the only key to being a magician is to never stop looking for the key. “What is Magic?” is a question filled with questions followed by a question mark. A self-referential quandary comprising of constant feedback— of which we can enter into simply by asking. Such mental exercises, much like thinking about thinking, or imagining the imagination, produces divergent thoughts which shoot out from their source in an endless flow and in infinite directions, as they pierce through minefields of quantum potential. To hop on for the ride forever remains a mere question away. Though I have often posed this question to others in an informal way, for this particular project, I opted for a more formal approach. In the second section you will find responses from thirteen of my friends— each of whom has expanded my own views of magic over the past year. I asked for a one paragraph response, and gave a specific deadline. In the end, all obliged. The fourteenth response in this section can be found on a CD on the inside back cover of this publication. Inspired by the sincerity, depth, and diversity of the responses I was receiving, I decided to expand the call to a larger population. Utilizing a variety of electronic means to spread the word, I began the “What Is Magic?” 48 Hour Challenge. This call to question yielded 39 responses, which can be found in the third and final section. The first section, which begins immediately following this page, contains excerpts from all of the responses I have received thus far, and is comprised of those statements that resonated the most with me at the moment I chose them. It is my hope, and almost a guarantee, that different statements will resonate with you. In the end, this becomes the ultimate beauty of the question, and the answers it produces at any given moment. It is my greatest hope, however, that before you read these pages, while doing so, and then again after, you take a moment to ask yourself the question. If you feel so inclined, I would love to hear your answer.

Beyond The Smoke and MirrorsEdited and produced by David London www.davidlondonswebsite.com

Layout by The Fridge DC www.TheFridgeDC.com

Cover art by Jeramie Bellmay www.jeramiebellmay.com

Inside back cover art by DECOYwww.DECOYink.com

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Together we dream this world into being, a collaborative conglomeration of creatures constructing creative conclusions to collective conundrums.Evan Smith

Magic is the amplification of wonder in a status quo world.Charon Henning

Magic is being happy with your life as it exists...Julie Statland

Magic is what you experience when you simply submit yourself to the passivity of existence. Jonathan Frost

I am magical. You are magical.DECOY

Magic is the incredible coincidence of existence, and every instant of it big or small, can, if we choose to see it as such, be proof of the wonder that saturates our universe.Jennifer Strauss

Magic enlightens us, and reminds us that all of life is only a perception anyway.Doug Travis

What

is

What is magic? 5

True to the nature of human self deceit, the illusion is in fact the denial of the present moment.Daniel Merrill

Herein is found the societal benefit of Magic: it (ideally) causes us to question.James Kroener

If you know what magic is then it is not magic. Magic is magic.Beth Corbin

Magic is the realization that all things are as important and meaningful and filled with potency as we feel them to be, and so is magic the truth that things that are important or meaningful or potent to one person mean nothing to another.Nelson Kelly

Magic is experiencing things not only for what they are but for what they can be.Matthew Stephenson

ismagic?

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I think ninjas are magical. I think black is magical. I think swear words are magical. I think it’s magical when you hear a song for the first time and all you want to do is remember who sang it, because you can’t wait to go home and YouTube it and listen to it over and over and over and over again. I think voices are magical. I think Keith Haring is magical. I think hands are magical. I think the color green is magic- like, but not magic enough to be considered magical. I think the color combos of RED-BLACK-WHITE...YELLOW-RED-BLACK...BLUE-WHITE...SALMON-PEA GREEN...BLACK-WHITE...are magical.I think jumping is magical. I think showers are magical. I think my friends are magical. I think the worlds largest

ANYTHING is magical. I think loud noisy cramped cities or sitting on a beach with horses is magical. I think opening my eyes every morning is some what magical. Riding my cruiser around town is super super magical. I am magical. You are magical. I think being alone is magical. Memories are magical. Drawings are magical. Books are magical. Icons are magical. The streets are magical. The unknown is magical. Stories are magical. HeARTS are magical. The word M A G I C is magical.DECOY

Magic is personal. Like the soul, it’s the coalescence of many things that results in unique feeling. It’s something that many of us believe in, have felt and experienced at special moments in time making it difficult to articulate, codify and express with mere

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words. Magic is a sensation. It can give you goose bumps, put a smile on your face or leave you in a place of annoying bewilderment. Magic is something I look for everyday.David Fogel

Merriam-Webster dictionary defines magic as

1. a: the use of means (as charms or spells) believed to have supernatural power over natural forces b: magic rites or incantations

2. a: an extraordinary power or influence seemingly from a supernatural source b: something that seems to cast a spell : enchantment

3. the art of producing illusions by sleight of hand

i believe all of this to be and yet if you look at other dictionaries such as american heritage or wiktionary you will find that each offers different definitions of what magic is. so in my opinion magic is a word like all to be defined in many ways. the only definition i did not find is how i define this word, or is it an action by all rights.

i see the possibility of magic to be an emotion only to be experienced through the ability to believe. in my observations people who seem to think that magic doesn’t exist seem to find it hard to believe beyond what they can see. i feel magic is defined by emotion that anytime something happens that is beyond belief the feeling is magic thus making it an emotion. if i look back to some of the best time i have

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had they were magic and in some way a feeling that seem to happen for the first time ever and i can only hope the the rest of my life be filled with magic.Freakshow

John Waters. Henry Gedzahler. John Perry Barlow. Michael Musto. Douglas Rushkoff. Woody Allen. Michel Gondry. Coco Chanel. Natalie Eisenberg. Jenny Holzer. Pedro Almodovar. Parker Posey. Andrew Warhola. Gil Scott-Heron. Timothy Leary. Mark Oliver Everett. Xunca Kuciyedano. Alex Gold

Magic is what happens after two people sit down at a table that functions as a work desk by day and a dining table by night and they start talking over a cup of tea. Or it could happen when they are perched on bar

stools, or, while sunken into a warm, colorless couch and balancing a large skim latte on one knee and a sandwich on the other. After the briefest of pleasantries, one person pauses, engages eye contact, smiles with anticipation, and says with the barest amount of restraint, “I have an idea. I want to ....” And the other person says, “Oh cool. Maybe you could also ....” And the first person says, “And then maybe we could ....” And the second person says, “Let’s ask so-and-so to help!” And then after ten minutes, or maybe forty-five minutes, or two hours of electrified conversation, the two devise a brilliant concept with a loose idea of how to execute it. They joyfully embrace with promises to follow up, and they wave goodbye while smiling so hard their cheeks hurt. They feel joyful and

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inspired and everywhere they go, they tell people about their brilliant idea and those people say things like, “I can help you do that by ....” Or, “Have you talked to so-and-so? I can introduce you.” This is magic.Philippa Hughes

Magic is the unpredictable, unexplainable & unforgettable side of the world we know....without magic life would be boring— without magic we would find it harder to act like children despite the fact that we’re grown adults. Magic is that special something that makes your eyebrows rise up and your heart beat faster.Graham Jackson

Magic is dynamic. It is the wonder a child feels when seeing a playing card appear from nowhere. It is the feeling

a rational adult has when they know it’s impossible for a playing card to appear from nowhere, and still can’t explain what they’ve seen. It is the experience a magician has when he realizes he can use logic to exploit the shortcomings of perception.

Magic is being able to paint a picture or build a sculpture or sing a song that communicates to all peoples without the burdening limitations of language or description. Magic is observing a picture or standing before a sculpture or hearing a song and being overwhelmed with emotion. Magic is when the audience’s interpretation of a piece of art directly mirrors the artist’s intent. Magic is when it doesn’t matter what the artist intended, because the audience attaches it’s own

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significance to the art.Magic is a woman’s ability to create a new human, from nothing, inside her very body. Magic is a scientist creating a child, from nothing, inside a test tube. Magic is the ability of a mother to heal a hurt with a kiss, and of a doctor to heal a wound with medicine.

Magic is knowing God. Magic is being content in knowing there is no god

Magic is the feeling of a whole day passing by in seconds, and of moments that last forever.

Life is magic. Death is magic. Love is magic.

Magic is the realization that all things are as important and meaningful and filled with potency as we feel them to be, and so is magic the truth

that things that are important or meaningful or potent to one person mean nothing to another.

Magic is dynamic. It can describe any experience. It can be in the doing, or in the seeing, or in the feeling. It can be anything. It can be everything.

Just like magic.Nelson Kelly

Magic is making the impossible possible. Magic is dreaming in color. Magic is dancing to live music that sounds like thinking and looks like clouds. Magic is the moment when inspiration strikes and movement rains forth like a torrential downpour. Magic is the moment of orgasm. Magic is poetry, music, dance, and

What is magic? 11

design frolicking in the same sandbox with the seriousness of a child at play while making a statement as silly as a belly laugh in a war zone. Magic is the silence of a roomful of people captivated by the collective experience of kinetic art. Magic is the intake of breath before the lights hit skin and the dance begins. Magic is finding a kindred spirit and knowing that words are unnecessary. Magic is the cathartic release of sobbing. Magic is casual human contact among strangers. Magic is melting a hardened resolve with unexpected beauty, elegance, and grace. Magic is asking the tough questions. Magic is finding the answers. Magic is holding hands with a baby. Magic is the collective conscious choosing hope when faced with despair. Magic is the elevated experience

brought on by the element of surprise. Magic is making the ordinary elements of daily life extraordinary through an artist’s surreal vantage point. Magic is a happy accident stealing the show. Magic is solving the linear equation to create a circular event. Magic is running when the rule says walk. Magic is finding the lines within the color. Magic is the sound of waves crashing on the beach under a full moon. Magic is the fragrance of Spring in the morning. Magic is the art of illuminating life – onstage, and off.Kelly Mayfield

I have always seen magic as any method or means of opening a channel directly between the perception of the possible and the supposed “impossible”. The logical, rational mind must define,

12 What is magic?

label, and categorize its understanding of its perceived reality- and therefore creates for itself a system based on past experience. When the mind perceives an experience that defies or challenges its grasp on the past, it suddenly creates a wonderful sensation of inspiration, wonderment, and rapture. This is magic- when a rift is created for the beholder that allows a glimpse into the world of mysterious and infinite possibility- revealing boundless energy that lacks a need for explanation. It’s not the means of production that is the key point of any magical experience, it’s the moment when you are transformed by it. When most people experience this, they feel the need to decipher, explain, and otherwise purge the feeling of mystery from their senses and create a

new addition to their existing arsenal of past experiences, and therefore prevent being taken by surprise twice. The experience is viewed as a trick, a conjuration, an entertaining illusion. However, true to the nature of human self deceit, the illusion is in fact the denial of the present moment. Magic is THE means to continually remind the perceptive mind of the infinite potentiality of the eternal moment. It is the art of unveiling the fact that each of us is an unfathomably free being- that we are all sparks from the same fire of timeless expression, which burns endlessly....Daniel Merrill

Magic—The Imagination. Our power to dream is our power to create realities, for truly, all that we are is what

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we have dreamt into being. The imagination is the source of our experience in all its aspects. The imagination has imprisoned us, and it is the imagination that will set us free. What is real and what is imagined? The imagination is real. Reality is what we imagine it to be, whatever that is. The choice is yours, it always has been, and all-ways will be. Together we dream this world into being, a collaborative conglomeration of creatures constructing creative conclusions to collective conundrums. We are co-creators of this dreamscape, individual, and yet One. In order for us to recreate this world, we must come together in unity, shaking off the remnants of our fragmented, alienated past. And when the many become One, this is the day when a new age

of human experience will dawn. Because in spite of our perceived separateness, the truth is that we’ve never left our perfect, unified Self. We simply imagined that we had. But as each of us goes out into the world and has our own unique realities, ALL of these things are brought back to the One Mind, and NOTHING is lost. This, my friends, is magic. Evan Smith

Magic is that there is always more to the world, to see, create, appreciate, and learn.

There is a lot that surrounds us, visually and conceptually, the outside and the inner worlds. With magic, one can move from what is to what can be.

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Magic is experiencing things not only for what they are but for what they can be. Magic is what makes us know “we can”. Magic is both the journey and the destination.Matthew Stephenson

He thought of the incomprehensible sequence of changes and chances that make up a life, all the beauties and horrors and absurdities whose conjunctions create the uninterpretable and yet divinely significant pattern of human destiny (Aldous Huxley). Magic is the incredible coincidence of existence, and every instant of it big or small, can, if we choose to see it as such, be proof of the wonder that saturates our universe. Magic is found in the perfection of an orchid flower, the lightning bolt, or the pull of a magnet on a pin. We can learn how

it “works” and study it’s implications on increasingly smaller or larger scales, but the staggering truth of something improbable actually occurring will send shivers down our spines if we let it. Science and exploration are pursuits to reveal the magic of the world around us. It is possible for people to create magic of our own, or the illusion of magic for our gratification. We can recognize the magic of lovers’ glances and the laughing delight of a child upon seeing a dove conjured from thin air. Symbols and dreams embody the awe and longing for magic that lies deep within our unconscious that we need to shield from disbelief. Those who strive to summon magic face the accusation of trickery and sleight of hand--but to cause people to flirt with the possibility of miracles even if

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only for an instant is a magic all its own. In the terrifying wilderness of reality we NEED magic to give us strength and hope. In the end let us recognize that the whole universe is splitting its sides over the enormous joke of existence and we should too. Don’t be afraid to look inside the sorcerers hat, there might be magic there. Jennifer Strauss

What is Magic???

Well what is not magic, or even better, what is magic not? While a murky subject due primarily to a social construct, an intellectual adventure to arrive at a conclusion would seem simply silly. So to choose to in fact not deal with what magic is nor what it is not, neither by logic or empirical

evidence is to not only not answer the question, but to enjoy the circumvention associated with not answering the question directly. Simply put, it is and it is not a series of person/place or things that have specific thought re-assignment not withstanding the occasional interactive supplement.

Ok, but back to the topic at hand, of “magic” and of “what” and all the parsing associated with such a technically structured question. One must question the basis of communication in the first place. An investigation of the semantics is warranted immediately, and without proper evidence how would one understand. And without the understanding how would one know… It only makes sense that digression is the logical

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path an investigation would assume, and this assumption would lead to yet more assumptions and so on and so forth. And here we have the “what”, but what of the “magic”?

Perhaps this elusive strand of English structure is more deceptive than helpful, a cacophony of red-herring distraction from the actual truth hiding in crevices deep within. It’s a fear to not know or to be asked to know of things one knows not. Perhaps it is in the spelling and architecture of design in the communication. OH GOD, ITS SPELLED MAGIC. Ok, maybe not, thesis hypothesis has failed the theory and hence prevented the law…

But, while not caring for grammar, spelling, sentence

structure, the narrative may drift, or it may make sense, and maybe… just maybe… there is a hint in this breakdown of construct that is… dare I say… MAGIC. Now of course the simple cliché nature of such a conclusion is well outside the realm of any intelligent person. Or that is the problem, maybe there is no explanation, or maybe that is the explanation and without letting the narration sag into a chaotic wheeze one would never understand…

That is it, which is “What is Magic?” It is what it appears as and poses as something else. Don’t let the appearance of letters fool your eyes, or they will mock your intellect. In the end I can only explain, “What is Magic?” in one simple word… QWERTY…

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If one understands the relation, then “what” and “magic” are… Matthew Taylor

Magic is surprises, the smell after the rain and the fragrance of colors, the galaxies in a cell, Mexican jumping beans, seed pods, gardens in winter, the silence of a second, found sound, the infinitesimal moments, twists and turns that led up to now, now, taking a chance, taking a walk, dreaming, singing, new results from the same equation, esp, invisible friends, poets and artists, wondering and wandering, traveling down the rabbit hole and through the looking glass, transformations and regenerations of all sorts, chocolate, all that is wondrous, marvelous and inexplicable, you.Gale Ahrens

Energy is magic.Daniel Barojas

Magic is technology...the ability to createMisty Callahan

Magic inspires those who are open to wonder. We present the impossible and even those who watch hoping only to find solutions to the “tricks” that they’ve just seen have the potential to discover something that was previously unknown. Those who believe learn to think beyond “facts”Donald Camp

Magic is the art of making people feel out of reality. Connie E. Caceres

Can anyone really explain magic? Is it a person? ...a place? a thing? is it something you can touch,feel? Or is magic an

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energy that the magician has within and shares only visually (illusion). If you know how a magical performance is done or explained as to how it happened then it would not be magic! If you know what magic is then it is not magic. Magic is magic. Beth Corbin

The relationship between the audience and the magician is magic. It is the sense of wonder and the exhilarating tingling goodness of anticipation. Without this, there is no magic at all.Jamie Coyne

Magic is the relationship between effect and spectator in which the appreciation of the effect overcomes the frustration with not understanding how.

(the traditional vocabulary “effect” and “spectator” are not intended

to limit magic to the idea of magic tricks and audiencePierce Delahunt

Magic is connecting with people. It allows us to get strangers to open up to us, and us to open up to them. Magic isn’t just for kids, in fact, I would say kids can’t fully appreciate what magic truly is. It opens us up to other possibilities; it reminds us that anything is possible. That scares a lot of people, and I feel like those who say it’s just for kids are really scared of what magic really means. It’s an intimacy that leads to us realizing, how much we don’t understand.Joe Diamond

Magic is neither rational nor empirical. It is what you experience when you simply submit yourself to the passivity of existence.Jonathan Frost

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I’ve always been taken by the quote “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” It by Arthur C. Clarke from “Profiles of The Future”, 1961. Mark Goldstein

Magic is experienced by an audience when they are invited to become and accept the role of participants in an activity that actively nourishes their imagination and sense of wonder. Magic is creating an experience and environment for an audience that allows them to do this safely, and even though there may be moments of discomfort or catharsis, those moments can still be safely felt and owned by the participant within the space that has been created. Magic is the amplification of wonder in a status quo world. Done well, it can forever change people by awakening

a sense of possibility and curiosity.Charon Henning

Magic is making the impossible appear possible.Scott Huddle

MAGIC IS BREATH! YOU MAY NOT BE AWARE OF IT, BUT YOU CAN TAKE IT IN ALL THE TIME...Calvin Hsyn

Magic is unexpected morning sex.Graham Jackson

“Magic” has become completely misappropriated by association. It has been reduced to its most pathetic form by the whimsical delusions & contempt of the mislead modern practitioners; thereby losing its true power & leading us away from our ancient legacy... Jyade

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One man’s “magic” is another man’s engineering.” - Robert A. HeinleinYoko K

Magic is the audacious latent urge of man to at once exploit perception, and to have one’s perception exploited.Nelson Kelly

I don’t know what magic is but it results in a feeling of amazement. That feeling could be fun, scary, or inspiring depending on the intent of the presenter (assuming there is one) and the desire of the watcher.Ray Kosby

In Mark Twain’s A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court (1889) Hank Morgan, the oft-imitated time—traveling hero, shocks the court by predicting a solar eclipse. Twain’s audience, of course, is not shocked – in Hank’s

actions we see merely the clever application of scientific knowledge. For Europeans living in the year 528 A.D., though, Hank’s feat would have been pure Magic. What one defines as Magic, then, can be said to be largely relative to one’s knowledge and perspective. I see Magic as possibility; when a plane leaves the earth, or I receive a text message, or when I flip a light switch, I’m reminded of just how much is possible in this life. There is another type of possibility that I’m referring to as well, though: the possibility of the impossible. That is, possibility in the mind; because I can control what information a spectator receives and when, I can construct a scenario where he believes that a quarter has literally vanished from my hand. This is no small thing. To trick your brain,

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even momentarily, into thinking that the laws of the universe have been defied, is to, in one fell swoop, invalidate, or at least call into question, all that you know. Herein is found the societal benefit of Magic: it (ideally) causes us to question. If this is the case then it follows that it would behoove us to define Magic as broadly as we can. All too often, Magic stagnates because Magicians are enclosed in arcane, narrow constructs. It’s probably also useful to note, in the consideration of this topic, that the villain of Twain’s Connecticut Yankee is the Sorcerer Merlin, who functions as a stand-in for any guardian of old technology who is threatened by the introduction of new technology. Here, Twain’s piece becomes a cautionary tale for those of us in the

magical arts: Merlin’s position demonstrates that to be dismissive of new knowledge or science is an untenable position for those who would do Magic (either kind). If Magic is indeed possibility, then it is our duty to create possibilities where there were none before and thusly to unmake impossibility.James Kroener

Magic is waking up one day and realizing that those babies you gave birth to are now warm, wonderful, creative adults who make you proud everyday. Sure, you fed them and bandaged scraped knees, wiped runny noses and read stories but somewhere, between the pacifier and puberty, they grew into smart, funny adults you want to be around. Now that’s magic!! Sharan London

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Magic is being. We are electricity across empty space.Sheridan MacAuley

Magic delights....Magic confounds.....Magic surprises....Magic let’s us escape.....Magic makes us ponder...Magic makes us wonder......We can watch casually or intently...But when we truly watch and truly see, and our lips curl up and a smile emerges, or the jaw drops, we have but for a moment experienced the spectacle, whether grand or intimate, that is magic. A moment of utter impossibility. Seeing something that should not be...be. Something that can’t....can. Magic is that moment....And the moments that follow that moment. How did he do that??John Martin

Magic is performance art and craft.

“The craft is the secret . . . the art is to keep it.”—Bill WischBill McFadden

Magic is belief.Harley Newman

Magic is the wonder of skillfully honed cause and effect, distinctly different from mysticism, magic is watching one thing lead to another until our brains can’t answer the question about how that one thing got there! As our eyes swirl around looking for answers our insides are perplexed and amazed because we don’t know how it happened but at the same time we love it!Jeremy Opio

Magic is that which goes beyond the human ability

What is magic? 23

to perceive. Once we have the ability to dissect an experience, object, or event, we take the magic from that experience. Often our dissections leave out essential parts of the experience. The experience of Magic is akin to the experience of Wonder. These experiences nurture the creative process of life. Without wonder we can not imagine. Without imagination we can’t invent. Magic can be found everywhere, all one needs is the right frame of mind. All one needs is to skew their perception of life, and they will find it full of Magic.Stuart Palm

Theatrical magic is, simply put, simulated impossibility.David Parr

Magic is the delight and

curiosity in the unknown. It is best seen through the sparkle in a young child’s eye, as it is everywhere and is a part of everything. It is the simple act of making the mundane extraordinary. It may be a trick, a sham, a lie, a whitewash…. but really, it is an enchantment. If we are lucky, we will get to experience those types of moments throughout our existence. Otherwise, what is the point of life?Cassandra Redding

Magic is seeing beyond what’s in presented to you.It’s connecting with another person in every single facet in life.

Magic is seeing thing from an innocent child’s eye.Magic is a summation of everything that cannot be explained.Reggie Reyes

24 What is magic?

Magic, in my opinion...

Clarke’s Third Law dictates that any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic. It is phenomenon associated with subatomic particles yet to be discovered, much like the nanoclusters that defy second law of thermodynamics. It is very real, but exists now in its true form only as knowledge passed down through generations without dilution. As mankind makes advances in technology and gains more insight into our biosphere, previously inexplicable phenomenon turn from speculation to palpable facts. Until we harness more than 12% of our Grey matter’s potential, it is unwise to dismiss that which we cannot yet see or manipulate. There are 13 major types

of magic... Divination, Occult, Thaumaturgy, ESP, Theurgy, Yoga, Religion, Voodoo, Ritual, Black Magic, White Magic, Tantra and Legerdemain. Magic has it’s roots very deep in the past and it has been there at every stage of human evolution. It was the fearful misuse of magic by the Atlanteans that led their race to utter destruction, and--to oblivion. There is magic in every papyrus; magic in all the religious formulæ; magic bottled up in hermetically-closed vials, many thousands of years old; magic in elegantly bound, modern works; magic in the most popular novels; magic in social gatherings; magic--worse than that, sorcery in the very air one breathes in Europe, America, Australia: the more civilized and cultured a nation, the more

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formidable and effective the effluvia of unconscious magic it emits and stores away in the surrounding atmosphere . . . The secret history of the world, preserved only in far-away, secure retreats, would alone, if told unreservedly, inform the present generations of the powers that lie latent, and to most unknown, in man and nature. Amna Shah

Magic is being grateful to wake up almost every morning at 5:30am with a kiss from your husband, and your dog sleeping in the crook of your knees because they love you so much... Magic is being present to ease someones pain. Magic is being happy with your life as it exists... The good, the bad, the ugly, the disappointments, the triumphs, and the miracles.Julie Statland

Magic is a duct tape framed rose hovering up against the wall at Space.Lauren Stearley

Magic are those rare moments in life when something wonderful happens and there is no explaination as to why it happened. It just did. They are moments that jar you from your mundane existence and remind you that you are indeed alive. Magic reminds you that there is more out there beyond your four walls of existence. Magic is a transcending moment...if only for the moment. Dan Terelmes

Magic is a color, a sound, a sensation of something that we think is probably not real, but we want to believe it never the less. Magic enlightens us, and reminds us that all of life is only a perception anyway.Doug Travis

26 What is magic?

During the winter...a blanket of snow covering everything... the night air is crisp and clear...stars blinking with excitement...I stand in the middle of the calming, still, atmosphere...my tender 3 yr old daughter holding her daddies hand, looking up with wonder filling her eyes...I breath deeply to center myself...and pray that I never forget this moment...yes...now that’s magic to me...that’s the feeling I try to share with people who see my magic.Steve Vaught

Magic is a confirmation that amazing things can and do happen.Anthony Wills Jr.

Magic is the ability to suspend reality and take things at face value. We tend to be too rational in the “real” world and forget that things exist outside our comprehension for a reason. It is nice to not look for that reason and just accept it for the MAGIC that it is... for now.Colleen Wisniewski

magick = miracles = life = love = toBeKím-Ngân Xuêh-Ch’ong Zú

What Is Magic?A Beyond The Smoke and Mirrors PublicationSummer 2009

www.DavidLondonsWebsite.com