“Disbelief in magic can force a poor soul into believing in government and business.” – Tom Robbins

I like Tom Robbins’ novels so that probably tells you where I’m coming from on the question of magic. The sins of government and business, we know, but magic isn’t complicit in them. Yet, we scoff at magic. Does anyone use the word “scoff” anymore? Perhaps not, so if you’re too young to know that word, I’ll rephrase: Yet we badmouth magic.

I gotta tell you, I don’t really trust people who scoff (badmouth) magic. I’m sure they mean well even though they might be crazy Or worse.

If you’re a fan of Penn and Teller, you know (I assume) that they’re not doing magic. It’s all tricks, lies, and sleight of hand. They’re fun to watch, though, including on their “Fool Us” television program.  At times I thought maybe, just maybe, the late Doug Henning might have snuck a little real magic into his TV performances, but perhaps not.

Perhaps I was influenced too much by the movie “7 Faces of Dr. Lao” in which Lao (Tony Randall) had a mysterious travelling show which featured many acts. The strange thing was, audiences often preferred the sleight of hand to real magic. I was studying magic when that movie came out in 1964 and remember getting really ticked off about the clowns in the audience who preferred some kind of trickery over what Merlin could do.

It became obvious to me as the years zoomed by that those who could do real magic had little or no interest in appearing on TV. I don’t blame them. In fact, students of mysticism and other forms of consciousness-raising are often warned about psychic phenomena. Why? Because such things can derail them from their true goal: merging with, shall we say, the cosmos. Yes, mystics may be able to see the future or tell you how much money you have in your wallet, but all that is beside the point. Once derailed into, say, fortune-telling, the fame of it can cut one off from what was originally his or her true goal.

Magic, as opposed to sleight of hand, seems very natural to me. That’s why it shows up in novels such as Conjure Woman’s Cat and Sarabande. Most readers think it’s just part of the story rather than something they could actually do in their lives. But to perform on TV, I couldn’t do that. I’m too much of an introvert. Plus, doing that would gratify the ego rather than what’s important to oneself.

Yet, today more than ever, I have little trust of government and business that I wonder why such things are so important in so many people’s lives. Folks have been fooled so often, yet they keep going back for more government and business. Meanwhile, the solution (magic) is so danged obvious, it’s a shame more people don’t see it. One need not kowtow to the feds, the rich, or the celebrities: they are paper dragons, lies, and sleight of hand.

Yeah, I know, I’m out here whistling into the wind about all this and unlikely to change anyone’s mind. However, I do hope that some of those who read my books might think, “Hmm, maybe there is something to this magic stuff.”

—Malcolm