What is Magic by Charles Spratley

What is Magic ?

by Charles Spratley

The turning of a coin in my hand becomes a journey into another world. A whisper into someone’s ear becomes a call into their subconscious and they bend just a bit towards my will and see what I want them to see. Magic, isn’t just in the air. It is in the mind, but most importantly in the heart.

How many times have I placed the planchette on the table and watched my guests place their hands hesitantly as I called upon the deceased to use our energy to move the small piece of wood, knowing in my heart it will move? Magic isn’t just doves, cups and balls, and playing cards in an intricate fan. It can be, and those who practice that form of the art get my utmost respect and applause. But my magic is an emotional journey, a ride. As I move amongst my guests, it is story, connection, and perhaps wonder. I read their minds, decipher their thoughts and make the impossible real and tangible. An old glass from a distant hotel becomes a way to talk to the dead. A tarot card changes before their eyes and even an antique photo morphs into something that alters reality.

Magic comes in many forms. It can impress, create awe, bring about laughter, and make people weep with joy. Magic, when done right, is a tool to reach up and help others see the gods of old. The oldest recorded tricks are, of course, cups and balls and the removal of a duck’s head and then reattaching it. These feats of the mystical arts go back to approximately 2500 BC. The first magicians were not playing a nightclub or the Vegas strip. They entertained kings and made people believe that the world wasn’t what they once thought it was. They proved the divine, made the impossible possible, and crossed over into the land of the dead to communicate with those gone long ago.

Real magic doesn’t just bring applause, it makes us believe with a child’s eye and an open heart.