Hi again…can’t believe how quickly the year is passing.

I hope those who have subscribed to my newsletter have received the last one ok and that there was some food for thought in it.

I’ve been thinking about the various aspects of the things I do and trying to explore just how I have let the word ‘magician’ slip from my day to day vocabulary.

My friend Jeff McBride for me is the epitome of a magician – he is never ‘on’ he is just always being a magician. If you’re a professional magician and you’ve not seen Jeff’s booklet “Magician 24/7″ then I would high;y recommend it.

Jeff is always ready to be the magician that he is… his ‘on stage’ persona is simply a large portrait  of who he is when off stage.

And here’s the point …

Most ‘magicians’ act the part of being a magician because they accept that they’re illusions are illusions and hence their magic is not real’. With such an attitude being the ‘inner mindset’ of the ‘magical performer’ then there is the clear need to ‘get into character’ and ‘be someone else’ when performing.

But is that it?

Have we reduced magic to a performance which exists only in the frame of the cabaret floor or theatre stage?

I must admit that it is this thinking that had led me to drop the word ‘magician’ when describing myself. I, like many, have opted for titles that we deem to be more ‘marketable’ – Enigmatist, Paranormalist, Mind Reader, Unusualist, Psychological Illusionist and so on.

I have conspired with the general pubic to relegate the word ‘magician’ to presenter of ‘cheap tricks’ and ‘petty distractions’ – or to a mythical being whose only value is to amuse children and the ill-informed.

Magicians-turned-Skeptics who police the world for paranormal fraud have further confounded the pubic perception of ‘magic’…

Now let’s be clear hear.

I am not for one minute supporting those who use the tools of the magicians craft to ‘con’ others into believing in some fairy-tale reality wherein they, the all-powerful-wizard, possess the secrets of health,  wealth and spiritual connection (should that indeed be part of your metaphysical mind-set) have the sole ability to ‘connect’ you with your destiny –  and then make you pay heavily for that connection.

Nor am I suggesting that we need to encourage people to engage in pre-scientific, medieval thinking.

Magic, as defined by the mystics, is the ‘art and science of bringing about change in accordance with will’. So putting aside the lengthy discussion about what ‘will’ really is, we can see real magic all around and we engage in magic ritual every day.

I seek to communicate with the ‘other side’.. my ‘will’ is to converse with an entity who has passed over…

So I consult my grimoire of magical numbers and associations..

I find the correct sequence of numbers to chant over my wand…

And I am connected long-distance to a friend in the USA.

My magical grimoire is my phone book… My wand my voice activated iPhone….

OK, so not wishing to push the analogy too far, I think you get the point…

The act of living and communicating and simply be-ing is magical.

Gazing at the night sky and seeing stars, galaxies and the endless possibilities within the cosmos is awesomely magical.

How the individual chooses to make sense of their personal experiences is where some of the dogmatism and hence challenges lie.

Ok. So what has this got to do with card tricks?

Absolutely nothing..

What have card tricks to do with magic?

In the strictest sense – absolutely nothing…

They are ‘tricks’ – they are not pieces of magic.

These ‘tricks’ can be transformed into magic by the way in which they are performed; by the meaning we as the magician give to the act of the performance.

Jeff’s Magician 24/7 is not about being ready with the a ‘trick’, but about being able to share an experience…. wherein lies the magic.

Sharing and experience, a kind word, a smile can be considered as a magical act. We all know how easy it is to transform moods and bring about changes within the minds of others by the way we treat them – this, my dear reader, is part of being magical.

I write these words as a spell to affirm what I have been thinking; this in turn reminds me of my own changing ideas – which in turn, now shared, may prompt changes within you.

So I am a magician and the various worlds which I have inhabited; my multiple personalities defined by my apparent need to market my services, are in collision.

My Rational Mystic website has always been about walking between worlds…

Now my Psycho-therapeutic and Motivational work  is merging with the magician which is me.

A Neuromancer engaged in Transforming Minds by bringing  gifts of amusement and amazement;; by encouraging reflection and challenging perception – by being me 24/7.

I can be the Trixter – the coyote, Loki – the one who inspires merriment and mirth and playful discord

I can be the Sorceror – the magus, the connection between will, thought and action

I can be the Oracle – the seer, the ‘reader’ with insights that can challenge and provoke

I can be the Sage – the wise-fool who learns from his students and discovers that truth is transitory

I all I can be poet, artist, creator, thinker, teacher, learner – Rational Mystic

I can be the medium through which insights are communicated

I can be the guru who holds a signpost for fellow travellers

I can be the magician seeking to manifest change within and without

I can gift something of my art, my craft, my well wishing, my consideration, my fragmentary understanding to all I meet.

This is the life cycle of the magician; the path of the fool …

So the next time you are asked to show someone a ‘trick’ you can be like Gandalf..

Stand tall, gaze intently at the person asking you to ‘entertain them’ and state “I am not merely a conjuror of cheap tricks’ and then BE MAGICAL.

Notice the moments of wonder you can create and treasure them.

Image via Wikipedia