Marc Berry

That old black magic

May 6, 2007 |  0 comments
Image Credit: "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic"; Arthur C. Clarke. When I was a kid, I remember watching some cheesy movie that involved a medieval peasant somehow transported to the twentieth century. The only scene I can clearly recall is his discovery of the magic of the light switch. He kept flicking the switch while flicking the fingers of his other hand towards the light bulb to make the magic work at his command. I don't know if this is how it happened in the film, but to try and explain the science behind the light switch to someone like this would be fruitless. Fruitless not because he is lacking in intelligence, but because our science would not fit his world view. Magic was science.

In our modern world, this kind of magic is all but dead, save a few practitioners. The new magic is based in the new sciences of quantum physics. In these sciences, our world view is slowly being turned away from one of a clockwork universe, back towards a far older concept: a holistic universe, one in which the observer and the observed have a relationship, and thus an effect one on the other. Actually, in this context, observer/ed is probably the wrong terminology. So very twentieth century, if you will. We might do better to use words like practitioner and effect.

Irregardless of terms used, let's examine the practice of the old magics for a moment. As a practitioner, you would draw a series of arcane symbols, chant some words, and in moments be talking to a being from another plane, or something similar. The key here is the use of symbols and words to focus your intention towards a particular result. It was a formula used the world over, to (apparent) great effect. That was the old magic.

Now let's go modern: Have you ever seen a circuit diagram? Talk about your arcane symbols! Build a device by following the diagram, (perhaps uttering a few choice words along the way), and the next thing you know, you're listening to KSUX FM on your very own radio. The only functional difference is that in the modern example, you had to actually build the radio.Quantum mechanics raises the possibility that you may not need the radio, just the intention to listen to KSUX. In paranormal circles, we call this Remote Viewing. Now I am not claiming that Quantum mechanics definitively quantifies psychic phenomenon, but it does suggest that there may be more basis in science for that kind of thing than previously thought. Why? Because in Q. M., the observer is part of the observed. They are interrelated, and in fact are interdependent on each other. The very action of observing creates something to be observed, and that which is observed creates the observer.

The new and the old magics are virtually indistinguishable, for both rely on the relationship between practitioner/observer and effect/observed for success. The key is the mind, and especially the mind's intention. Hold the intention, get the result, listen to the radio. Simple, really.

And so we come full circle, to find that the old magics are real, perhaps more real than our clockwork sciences would care to admit. We may yet find ourselves humming along to that golden oldie; "Just gimme that old Black Magic...".

MBerry is co-founder of NewBranes.com, a blog covering all aspects of the paranormal.
His ultimate long term goal is to discover the General Unified Theory of Everything Weird.
http://www.newbranes.com Comments (0)

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