How many people here do actual magic? How do you do it?

[Inconsequenti-AL]

One time I saw this guy that could conjure rabbits out of hats.

 

[Ylis]

No offence, but the Skeptic in me wouldn't mind if you went and provided an example for us.

How detailed do you want this? I can email you my report on Hopton Castle (the castle I mentioned), but it's a little long to put on the message board...here's a summary, though (I'm still feeling that this topic is a little "off" for Enworld, lol):

A photographer (who now does a lot of work for BBC's historical sites) in Shropshire, England heard that I was able to communicate with spirits via photography. He emailed me because he had a deep fascination with a particular castle in his area (Hopton Castle), and he was running into dead ends as far as research goes (he had a few facts, but that was it...and nothing that really let him know what he wanted to know...which was, in part, the details of a battle that ended the castle's usage). So, he asked me if I could investigate for him. Now, he did not give me any facts on the site beforehand, and I know nothing of British history, just so you know...

Anyway, he sent me some spectacular photos of the site and I immediately was able to communicate spirits (some stronger than others, which is normal). I got the date "March 1644" associated with approximately 20 soldiers. The soldiers were inside the castle and the opposition was besieging the castle. They were in there a long time (found out later that it was several weeks), and I got that they were tricked into leaving the premises (turned out they had been promised refuge in exchange for surrender). The opposition tied them up and killed them. I won't go into details, but it was gorey and detailed. The bodies were then dumped into a mass grave.

I also got another spirit strongly. She lived there in the mid 1700's and her name was Elizabeth Meyrick. Now, I was told by the photographer that there was no way possible that she lived there, that the mid 1600's was the last time anyone lived there, but later he researched and discovered an obscure documentation that actually did verify her living there.

Anyway, all of this was verified via his research, which took weeks. My investigation allowed him to better direct his research in order to find out the information he wanted to know. There was more in my investigation, but those were the main points. And, like I said, the BBC now hosts his photographs and updated their history on Hopton Castle from his research.

I have countless other investigations, but this one is relatively recent and is one where I have not only verification of my reading, but verification by another person on it.

Don't worry, I don't take offense at skepticism - like I said, I look at everything with a skeptical eye first. I try to find logical explanations before calling "ghost", even if I can see them I'd usually rather just believe that I'm nuts rather than believe that I have these abilities, but the evidence proves otherwise

Sorry about the length....I can get a little long-winded at times...

 

[NewJeffCT]

Yes, I regularly cast Fireball, Lightning Bolt and quite a few of those old Save or Die 2E spells, and have cast Charm Person on quite a few members of Congress in hopes of bankrupting the US economy and turning the world against our nation. (How am I doing on that?)

I Teleport down there every time it looks like somebody is trying to actually think on their own... I'm doing this to avenge the death of Black Leaf.

(PS, I hope Jack Chick is reading!)

 

[Barak]

The only person I ever met who claimed to have any such powers was a weird guy (not because of his claim per se, he was just generally weird) who would tell everybody he could stop blood by "laying on hands". I guess he was some sort of CN paladin. Anyway. The only time I actually saw him try was after he had run into a fence while playing baseball and cut his head open (well, his scalp open would be more factual), and he tried to "stop bleeding". He actually started bleeding more. He then said it didn't work because it's not reliable when he does it on himself. He got stitches.

 

[Mystery Man]

Funniest David Letterman I ever saw was waaaay back when it was first on the air. He had this guy on who claimed he could walk on water. They had a big pool in the studio for him and everything. He fell in. Dave was being very deadpan "While he thinks about it some more we'll go to commercial"
I was laughing so hard I cried.

 

[Darklone]

Hey, to stop bleeding is not that difficult (depending on the wound). Friend of mine ripped his arm open (2-3 cm deep) and made it stop bleeding... he learned these concentration/meditation exercises in his martial arts lessons.

At the doctor he let it bleed for a few seconds and stopped it again to prove it

 

[Henry]

Ylis, thank you. Skeptical or not, I think you just gave me a really good plot hook for a d20 Modern game!

 

[WizarDru]

The word "magic" has 5 letters in it. There's no "k" at the end, "j" in the middle or any other letter that some feel compelled to throw into the word.

Actually, that really depends.

Magick is listed in the dictionary in specific reference to Wiccan belief systems, and the spelling Magik is taken from the feminine of magikos from Greek, which was changed in Latin to Magic. Middle English also used Magik, not Magic.

Many pagans/wicca/etc prefer to use Magik or Magick to separate "Stage Magic" from religious belief, to help distance the two concepts to non-practicioners (i.e. David Copperfield versus a neo-Pagan ritual).

 

[MerakSpielman]

The Amazing Randi is one of my heroes

...

(Practicing Wiccan here)However if you do actually have replicable evidence to the contrary you'll have my attention and that cool $1 mill prize that nobody has yet collected on. It'd be cool if you can, really cool because we'd need to find rules and a physical process to explain it, but I'm not getting my hopes up yet.

'
The problem is, if something is provable and repeatable, it's not magic, it's science.

My view on the matter is this: Science can only describe half of reality. I beleive there is a portion of reality that does not follow predictable, experimentable patterns, or follow a logical string of cause and effect. If you think about it, if such phenomina existed, science would be totally unable to either prove or disprove its existence, because the fundamental theory of science is that all phenomina follow universal laws and, if the circumstances are the same, can be observed repeatedly.

magic, then, is not something that can be in some way "harnessed" or "controlled" for the good of mankind, like science can. Science is based on observable fact, and magic is based of of intuition and perception. It changes from individual to individual, and within individuals it behaves differently at different times.

As stated above, RL magick is more along the lines of ritualized prayer. It works like this (theories may differ, basic concepts are the same):
Everything in the world possesses energy of some type, scientifically (or is capable of possessing energy). Magickal ritual draws energy from foci (candles, stones,etc) with certain types of energy, chosen for the spell. The caster then takes these drawn energies, combines his/her personal energy (empowered with the exact intent of the spell), and then releases it into one of the cycles of the world, where it will travel, gaining strength, until it reaches its destination. Personal energy is typically returned (at least in part) to its owner (hence the "law of three").

This works on the scientific basis that all things in the world/universe (as we know it) operates in cycles and, therefore, it is logical that energy does as well. When the caster projects energy into a cycle (which most do randomly, as it takes years of practice to "learn" the cycles), and that energy is "programmed" to go to a specific area, once it travels the cycle it will return to that area.

Now, I think the spectacular effects such as levitation are more along the lines of psychic abilities, as spells do not do these things. Spells are more along the lines of manipulating the energy around you in order to have the outcome you desire.

My perspective on the matter is the items, smells, visualizations, etc... used in RL magical practice do not have, in themselves, any real magical power. The power comes from the individual, from their will and from their belief. The reason people use, say, a rose burning in coals to try to get over a lost love is because in their mind the rose symbolizes love and burning it symbolizes letting it go. It helps them focus their will on the result they desire. If there were somebody to whom roses did not symbolize love, and they wanted to get over a lost love and found the same spell on the Internet, it would be less effective because their personal perspective of the items used had no symbolic significance. In short, the same "material components" have different uses and meanings to different people based on their individual perceptions of the items in question.

My Wicca teacher once told me that if I couldn't go out into the desert alone and with no props and conduct a full ritual, call upon the spirits, and work a spell using only my own will and visualizations, then she hadn't done her job properly. All that stuff is nice, but has no inherent power other than that which you give it.

Now, to me, the difference between this sort of RL magic and D&D magic is the fact that D&D magic functions almost as a science. Memorize formulae. Collect the appropriate ingredients. Use the gestures. BAM! Magic happens. If you do expactly the same thing tomorrow, it will happen again exactly the same way. If you don't have the exact components, the spell won't work. The spell will work if you have the right components even if you have no idea what the objects have to do with the spell. In D&D magic can function effectively as technology becuase of the precise, scientific nature of it.

 

[MerakSpielman]

Actually, that really depends.

Magick is listed in the dictionary in specific reference to Wiccan belief systems, and the spelling Magik is taken from the feminine of magikos from Greek, which was changed in Latin to Magic. Middle English also used Magik, not Magic.

Many pagans/wicca/etc prefer to use Magik or Magick to separate "Stage Magic" from religious belief, to help distance the two concepts to non-practicioners (i.e. David Copperfield versus a neo-Pagan ritual).

I personally loathe the spelling "Magick" or "Magik." Looks too friggin' trendy. It might just be because I'm an editor and it just looks wrong.