Hereditary Magic

Here are two personal stories about how magic may be a part of your life more than you realize. I never expected that my own family members already knew magic tricks of their own. I came to realize that most people may remember someone in their family performing tricks of some kind, be they "parlour tricks" or "bar tricks" and they may even have learned a few on their own.

In June I was visiting my aunt and uncle and was telling them my interest in magic when Uncle Bob tells me his specialty is Cup and Balls. Now I've been spending a lot of time with card tricks and mentalism, so I hadn't yet tried my hand at Cup and Balls and wasn't sure what the routine was. So there in the living room Uncle Bob did his Cup and Ball routine and I was very impressed. I caught on with some tips from him, and I later went home and a few days later I practiced it over and over one day while my girlfriend was asleep. So thanks to Uncle Bob, I can know perform "Uncle Bob's Cup and Ball Routine" if I ever need to :) One of the staples of magic that perhaps every magician should know how to perform even if they don't use it in their routine.

A few weeks later I had the opportunity to visit with my parents and 13 year old nephew when they came down on vacation and I was able to share with them for the first time my interest in performing magic. One day while talking my father asked me if I remembered "The Two Little Dickie Birds". I admitted it didn't come to mind immediately, but later at a dinner table at a Swiss Chalet he started to perform the Two Little Dickie Birds and as soon as he started the first line of the poem "Two Little Dickie Birds sitting on a wall..." I asked him immediately if one was named Peter and the named Paul... and I was right! Turns out my dad had shown this trick to us when we were very young, and I remembered the poem but not the trick. He learned it from his older brother Clare, who probably learned it from his maternal grandfather.

It it was quite a suprise, I never expected my own family to know magic tricks! Our waitress walked past as he was about to start and she said, "Two Little Dickie Birds right?" I remember that from when I was a kid." After that, he proceeded to show me a "bar trick" with a cigarette that he learned from my mother's grandfather. I remember seeing it before but had totally forgotten about it. I remember Great-Grandfather "Grinn" but don't remember a lot about him as he died when I was relatively young, but I felt like knowing this part of brings him a bit more into view. My mother also showed my a card manipulation she had learned from him, and I even picked up a tip on false shuffling from my nephew!

So magic seems to run in the family. Does it run in yours?

Today is a magical day.

Yes, today magic was in the air.

Lately I have been reading "The Tao of Physics" by Fritjof Capra which talks about the parallels between Eastern Mysticism (such as Buddhism, Taoism and Hinduism) and quantum theory. Both schools of thought point to idea that the ultimate nature of reality is one not of infinitely small pieces, but of an indivisable whole. Everything in the universe is connected in some way. It discusses things like space-time as well as the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle which a lot of people (especially those trying to connect energy healing to quantum theory) have only a partial understanding of. As an example, most people might say that the Uncertainty Principle says that you can know the position of a particle but not its momentum, or vice versa. What part of the principle actually states, is that you can't know the position of the particle precisely and know its momentum which any decree of certainty. Everything in the quantum world is described in probabilites, and there is an amount of uncertainty whenever the two quantities are measured. If you are certain about one, you are uncertain about the other, or you can be equally uncertain about both of them.

However, the point is today was magical. While at the dentist, my dental assistant stated that health problems don't have a single cause... that many things working together cause illness. This is what I had recently thought up and exactly what Capra writes about when he discusses causality... the "laws" of cause and effect.

Capra also touches on the concept of unity of all things as he discusses polar opposites. As embodied in the Chinese t'ai chi symbol (called the Yin/Yang symbol), many aspects we see as being opposites or contradictory are actually polar opposites. They are not separate entities, but complementary aspects of the same whole. Within duality there is Unity.

Today after my dentist appointment I went into the office of a natural healer that had recently moved into the building and talked with for a few minutes. Among the various symbols on the wall was something I thought was a type of mandala, but when I asked him he said it was the Aztec symbol of the Cosmic Butterfly... which represents the same thing as the Yin/Yang symbol.

Later in the day I was on my way to an appointment where we ended up discussing what energy is and is it really the same thing as discussed in energy healing circles. While a great conversation, nothing concrete developed but we did decide on a base that could be built on. Before I walked a few blocks to the appointment I noticed the sky and while it wasn't very dark, I had the impression that it would rain on my way back. I considered getting my car, but changed my mind since it was short walk and a nice day all things considered.

Yep, when I came out of the appointment it had just begun to rain. I felt such a rush after the conversation that I honestly felt like running through the rain, laughing and skipping like a child. Pretty unusual especially considering I'm fighting a cold and should be resting.

But it was definitely a magical day. When you follow your own path, your Tao, your right nature, you have more magical days. Not only are you more likely to notice them, but I honestly believe they happen more frequently.

You just "know" when you are on the right path.

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Yesterday was also a magical day. I picked up a copy of "Magic for Dummies" after reading a lot of good reviews on The Magic Cafe. Also read up on Mark Wilson's "Complete Course on Magic" which I may pick up this week.

Skeptics: VJ Stenger talks about how energy healing cannot actually be "energy"

More 11:11 info

I was sitting at lunch with my girlfriend when I looked at the clock and the time was 12:34. Since she knows a lot of interesting and often esoteric or obscure things I asked her if she knew of anything you are supposed to do when you notice that the clock reads 12:34. She said you are supposed to make a wish, which is the same thing friends told me years ago when I had first heard of the 12:34 Phenomenon.

I then asked her if she knew anything about 11:11 and she said its called "Rabbit Ears". You are supposed to say "Rabbit Ears" and then make a wish.

A quick Google search was unable to find similar reports, but if you have heard of either 11:11 or 12:34 called something similar or know of any other beliefs about what you are suppsed to do when you notice those times, please let me know.

I am not interested in other links that explain or discuss the phenomenon though, there are almost 111,111,111 of those out there.

Yesterday on Steve Fearson's blog he talked about the 11:11 phenomena. That situation you find yourself in when you look at the clock and you notice it is 11:11 and you think its kind of wierd and strange, perhaps its some kind of message.

This would be the perfect chance for a discourse on intuition, but that will have to come at a different time. I personally don't relate to 11:11 but I always get stuck at 12:34. In fact, today when I left work for a massage therapy appointment the clock in my car was at 12:34. Then again when I drove from home back to work, checking the clock told me the time was 2:34. Very interesting. But was it some kind of message? No, probably not. But just a weird kind of coincidence.

Or it could have been a case of synchronicity... something almost as interesting as intuition. Perhaps there is a message in the recurrence of 12:34 that I just have to look for. Or if I open up the meaning will become clear.

Magic and the infinite sadness

So... this is Blogger huh? I'm a LiveJournal man myself, so it might take a while for me to get used to all this.

Basically, this blog is only for posting to Steve Fearson's Messiah School since I already have my own web log.

But this could be a useful place to post about magic and magick, two interests of mine at the time. While I have periodic interest in a number of things, many of them are cyclical but some are always in the near background of my mind if not at the forefront.

I can't even call myself an amateur magician because all I've done so far is learn a few card tricks. I have purchased a few magic tricks and tried to figure out how to put a couple into action. I'll let you know.

I did purchase Steve's Vanish but still can't honestly believe a person actually falls for it. I'll have to find a way to try it a few times and see for myself.

I've been lucky enough to meet two magicians locally who have offered to discuss magic with me and there are even monthly meetings of the Canadian Association of Magicians. Their convention this year is even being held in my town but I won't be able to make due to personal committments.

So stay tuned, there may be more coming.