I know this is mostly for world building but I was curious what people thought about magic in real life? Where do you think it exists and where do you think it's a hoax? Just a all around discussion on real life magic and your thoughts/beliefs.

Not the fictional magic of Harry Potter, the feigned magic of Harry Houdini, or the fraudulent magic of con artists. Not blue lightning bolts springing from the fingertips, aerial combat on broomsticks, sleight-of-hand tricks, or any of the other elaborations of artistic license and special effects.


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As in ages past, many people interested in real magic today are motivated by a desire to wield power--power to get wealth, fame, love, or sex. All of these applications are possible, and there are plenty of books, videos, websites, and smartphone apps that provide recipes for magical rituals and spells.

Some folks, especially those who subscribe to an orthodox religious faith, may recoil from the idea of spell-casting. Many traditional religions teach that magic and witchcraft are fundamentally demonic and evil. But the way magic is used is completely up to the magician. The power itself, like any fundamental force of the universe, is morally neutral. Atomic fission and fusion are just aspects of the way the physical world works. Questions of morality arise when we use such natural phenomena to create weapons.

His publisher states: "Radin has spent the last 40 years conducting controlled experiments that demonstrate that thoughts are things, that we can sense others' emotions and intentions from a distance, that intuition is more powerful than we thought, and that we can tap into the power of intention (think The Secret, only on a more realistic and scientific level). These dormant powers can help us to lead more interesting and fulfilling lives. "

DR: The unique aspect of Real Magic, which may end up in the occult, metaphysical, or religious section of most bookstores, is that it's really about science, and in particular what happens when science looks at the full nature of reality, including unusual subjective experience and consciousness. Because I want to promote it as a science book, I sought endorsements from my scientific colleagues, so I'm very grateful that it has been endorsed by two Nobel Laureates, a president of the American Statistical Association, a program director from the National Science Foundation, and etc. I could have asked historians, notables in the human potential arena, and ceremonial magicians for endorsements. But there are plenty of books available from those angles. This one is different.

DR: We are in the process of selecting a single focus, where the seven senior scientists and three research assistants on the science staff will work together on a "moon shot" research program. We will all continue to work on our personal interests as well, but we think that combining our skills on one project will leverage our combined expertise in a unique way. We have also started the IONS Discovery Lab, where we'll be taking data on the roughly 5,000 people a year who attend workshops at our retreat center. The goal is to learn more about the effects of training in meditation, yoga, healthy eating, learning about ecology, and the many dozens of other workshops held at the IONS EarthRise retreat center. Anecdotally, we know that the majority of people really enjoy their retreats, and some even report powerful transformative experiences. But now we're going to track their experiences more formally, eventually including biomarkers and physiological measures. After a few years, we'll have developed the largest database available on the mental and physical health effects of transformative practices, and also on psychic abilities, as those are among the measures we're taking.

Connotations have varied from positive to negative at times throughout history,[3] Within Western culture, magic has been linked to ideas of the Other,[4] foreignness,[5] and primitivism;[6] indicating that it is "a powerful marker of cultural difference"[7] and likewise, a non-modern phenomenon.[8] During the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Western intellectuals perceived the practice of magic to be a sign of a primitive mentality and also commonly attributed it to marginalised groups of people.[7]

The English words magic, mage and magician come from the Latin term magus, through the Greek , which is from the Old Persian magu. (????|????, magician).[12] The Old Persian magu- is derived from the Proto-Indo-European meg-*magh (be able). The Persian term may have led to the Old Sinitic *Mag (mage or shaman).[13] The Old Persian form seems to have permeated ancient Semitic languages as the Talmudic Hebrew magosh, the Aramaic amgusha (magician), and the Chaldean maghdim (wisdom and philosophy); from the first century BCE onwards, Syrian magusai gained notoriety as magicians and soothsayers.[14]

The Latin language adopted this meaning of the term in the first century BCE. Via Latin, the concept became incorporated into Christian theology during the first century CE. Early Christians associated magic with demons, and thus regarded it as against Christian religion. In early modern Europe, Protestants often claimed that Roman Catholicism was magic rather than religion, and as Christian Europeans began colonizing other parts of the world in the sixteenth century, they labelled the non-Christian beliefs they encountered as magical. In that same period, Italian humanists reinterpreted the term in a positive sense to express the idea of natural magic. Both negative and positive understandings of the term recurred in Western culture over the following centuries.[citation needed]

Historian Owen Davies says the term "white witch" was rarely used before the 20th century.[17] White magic is understood as the use of magic for selfless or helpful purposes, while black magic was used for selfish, harmful or evil purposes.[18] Black magic is the malicious counterpart of the benevolent white magic. There is no consensus as to what constitutes white, gray or black magic, as Phil Hine says, "like many other aspects of occultism, what is termed to be 'black magic' depends very much on who is doing the defining."[19] Gray magic, also called "neutral magic", is magic that is not performed for specifically benevolent reasons, but is also not focused towards completely hostile practices.[citation needed]

Historians and anthropologists have distinguished between practitioners who engage in high magic, and those who engage in low magic.[20] High magic, also known as theurgy and ceremonial or ritual magic,[21] is more complex, involving lengthy and detailed rituals as well as sophisticated, sometimes expensive, paraphernalia.[20] Low magic and natural magic[21] are associated with peasants and folklore[22] with simpler rituals such as brief, spoken spells.[20] Low magic is also closely associated with sorcery and witchcraft.[23] Anthropologist Susan Greenwood writes that "Since the Renaissance, high magic has been concerned with drawing down forces and energies from heaven" and achieving unity with divinity.[24] High magic is usually performed indoors while witchcraft is often performed outdoors.[25]

Magic was invoked in many kinds of rituals and medical formulae, and to counteract evil omens. Defensive or legitimate magic in Mesopotamia (asiputu or masmassutu in the Akkadian language) were incantations and ritual practices intended to alter specific realities. The ancient Mesopotamians believed that magic was the only viable defense against demons, ghosts, and evil sorcerers.[26] To defend themselves against the spirits of those they had wronged, they would leave offerings known as kispu in the person's tomb in hope of appeasing them.[27] If that failed, they also sometimes took a figurine of the deceased and buried it in the ground, demanding for the gods to eradicate the spirit, or force it to leave the person alone.[28]

The ancient Mesopotamians also used magic intending to protect themselves from evil sorcerers who might place curses on them.[29] Black magic as a category did not exist in ancient Mesopotamia, and a person legitimately using magic to defend themselves against illegitimate magic would use exactly the same techniques.[29] The only major difference was that curses were enacted in secret;[29] whereas a defense against sorcery was conducted in the open, in front of an audience if possible.[29] One ritual to punish a sorcerer was known as Maql, or "The Burning".[29] The person viewed as being afflicted by witchcraft would create an effigy of the sorcerer and put it on trial at night.[29] Then, once the nature of the sorcerer's crimes had been determined, the person would burn the effigy and thereby break the sorcerer's power over them.[29]

The ancient Mesopotamians also performed magical rituals to purify themselves of sins committed unknowingly.[29] One such ritual was known as the urpu, or "Burning",[30] in which the caster of the spell would transfer the guilt for all their misdeeds onto various objects such as a strip of dates, an onion, and a tuft of wool.[30] The person would then burn the objects and thereby purify themself of all sins that they might have unknowingly committed.[30] A whole genre of love spells existed.[31] Such spells were believed to cause a person to fall in love with another person, restore love which had faded, or cause a male sexual partner to be able to sustain an erection when he had previously been unable.[31] Other spells were used to reconcile a man with his patron deity or to reconcile a wife with a husband who had been neglecting her.[32]

The ancient Mesopotamians made no distinction between rational science and magic.[33][34][35] When a person became ill, doctors would prescribe both magical formulas to be recited as well as medicinal treatments.[34][35][36] Most magical rituals were intended to be performed by an ipu, an expert in the magical arts.[34][35][36][37] The profession was generally passed down from generation to generation[36] and was held in extremely high regard and often served as advisors to kings and great leaders.[38] An ipu probably served not only as a magician, but also as a physician, a priest, a scribe, and a scholar.[38] 17dc91bb1f

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