Magic is quite often defined as "the art of changing consciousness in accordance with one's will" (e.g. Aleister Crowley defined it as this).
Clarke's Law: "Any sufficiently advanced technology looks like magic." So magnetism was magic until we understood it. When we understand telepathy (if it exists), that will cease to be magic and become psychology.
I guess magic could also be defined as "the manipulation of external symbols in order to affect internal states of mind". As Ross Nichols once said, "Ritual is poetry in the world of acts."
No comments:
Post a Comment