Real Magic: Ancient Wisdom, Modern Science, and a Guide to the Secret Power of the Universe Kindle Edition

Well, first, as a prefatory note, let me tell you up front that I am one of those odd souls who has credentials in, and works in, both worlds (that is, science and engineering in the everyday material world, and the world of the supernatural (paranormal), and in a related vein, the spiritual realm of the Divine). You see, I am a mystic, a spiritual teacher, spiritual healer and an intuitive, and I am also a multi-disciplinary research and consulting scientist-engineer with a graduate degree in the sciences. Incidentally, I am considered good enough at the services that I offer in both the scientific and spiritual realms that my clients pay over $1,400 per hour, prepaid, for my services in each of these realms, and my websites for each of these venues each bear a cautionary note on the home page that warns prospective applicants that I am able to accept only about one percent (1%) of applicants for most of my services in these realms.I have been involved with both the world of science and engineering, and the paranormal and mystical worlds (as referenced above) from a very early age: I had a chemistry lab, a radio-electronics lab/workshop, and a ham radio "shack" in my room from the age of five onwards, and yet, from that same age of five onward, I also meditated for an hour a day and talked to my angels and guides on an inner level on a daily basis.Thus for me, even though I was to eventually spend a great number of years studying science and engineering at the undergraduate and graduate school levels at several universities, I never fell prey to the somewhat subversive and cult-like religion of scientism -- which, while it is admittedly still has a significant number of adherents from among the ranks of scientists -- is a cult of materialism that claims that the only true reality is the material world observable through our five senses, and that there are no such things as the supernatural, the paranormal, or the Divine (aka the spiritual).As yet one more prefatory note, I should also volunteer that I have had brushes with the paranormal world in other ways as well: Back in the 1980's, from 1983 through at least 1987, I was semi-stalked and hounded by Dr. Andrija Puharich, the MD/psychiatrist-turned-paranormal researcher (who also performed paranormal research for the Army and the CIA for years), because he had become (entirely mistakenly) convinced -- after having read an article that I had written on strange and anomalous technologies for a tiny journal published by an arm of the World Futures Society, and after having purportedly received information on a paranormal level from some of his spirit guides -- that I was not only the reincarnation of Nikola Tesla, but that I possessed numerous "secret and long-lost" manuscripts and papers that Tesla had authored (again, none of this was true; it was all a product of Puharich's fevered imagination...).This single-minded pursuit of me by Dr. Puharich led to my having some very interesting conversations with him across the years, including long late-night phone calls where he briefed me on his research work in paranormal realms, including his work with, and friendship with, Uri Geller.I have been aware of Dr. Dean Radin's excellent research work in the realms of the paranormal (aka supernatural) for a great many years, and I was quite happy to see this book released earlier this year. It does a good job of summarizing the massive body of scientific research work on paranormal abilities that conclusively proves, even within the restrictive confines of scientific studies using untrained and largely-unskilled/ungifted subjects, that paranormal abilities are real.BTW, I wish to pause here briefly to state that I personally wish that Dr. Radin had chosen a term such as "paranormal" or "supernatural", rather than "magic" as a general descriptive term for the realms of the supernatural, and for use in the title of his book, simply because the word "magic" has so many divergent meanings in our modern world, including stage magic and also including the realms of ceremonial occult magic with its attendant unnecessary trappings and theologies. However, my personal issues with the word "magic" aside, I nonetheless feel that this book offers an excellent overview and summary of the proofs that paranormal abilities are real.As a few other reviewers who are quite conversant with paranormal research have also noted in their reviews, I must admit that I found certain sections of the book quite uninteresting, particularly the parts which reported on a number of studies of paranormal abilities, but my disinterest came simply from the fact that I was already quite familiar with these studies, and thus they were "old hat" to me, but I realize that one of the goals of Dr. Radin's book was to try to convince some scientists who are still rabid skeptics (in other words, adherents to the subversive religion of scientism) that paranormal abilities are real, and thus those sections were necessary.Incidentally, I feel that while Dr. Radin did a pretty good job in his book of offering an overview of some of the many reasons why some people -- including scientists, members of the general public, and self-appointed pundits alike -- are so vociferous and downright rabid in their denial of the existence of supernatural abilities and of the paranormal and spiritual realms, there was really a whole lot more that could be said about the motives of such persons. And so, because I feel that Dr. Radin did not fully or comprehensively cover the true reasons for the existence of many of the "deniers" and "skeptics", I will, before closing my review, offer my readers some of my observations in the following section:Some Thoughts on the Deniers and Rabid SkepticsHere are a few random thoughts regarding people who claim (at least publicly) that they do not believe that some people can possess paranormal (aka supernatural) abilities. None of these thoughts/ideas are unique to me, and rather, I have encountered many other scientists, engineers, psychologists and paranormal researchers who are also aware of, and conversant with, these factors:One big reason why some people who genuinely disbelieve in the existence of paranormal phenomena hold on to their disbelief is because the alternative (that is, that such phenomena are real) is far too frightening. For example, in the minds of such people, if paranormal phenomena were real, it could mean any of the following things:-- that other people might be able to put a curse on them and cause them to grow ill, or to lose their job, or to have a serious accident, or that someone could even kill them via psychic/PK means.-- that they themselves, if they possessed unrecognized paranormal abilities, might accidentally (or otherwise) put a curse on someone at whom they are angry, and cause them to grow ill, or to lose their job, or to have a serious accident.-- In other words, if such abilities were real, they fear that they would lose control over their lives, and that their lives could become unpredictable and uncontrollable.So, to keep at bay the terror of living in a world that would seem to be totally unpredictable and uncontrollable, such persons develop a strong unconscious resistance to the idea that paranormal abilities can exist.Next, I want to share with you an interesting minor secret, one that is somewhat well-known among scientists who believe in the existence of paranormal abilities, and that is also well-known among people who deliberately use such paranormal abilities for their own gain, but that is little-known in the world at large:The simple stark reality is that it is STRONGLY in the best interest of people (and companies, agencies, etc.) that routinely employ paranormal abilities for their personal gain (or for the benefit of their company or agency) that the average person, and also politicians and other lawmakers, DO NOT BELIEVE in the existence of such abilities. Why?Well, you see, if a large percentage of average citizens, politicians and other lawmakers were to believe that paranormal abilities are real, and to believe that some people are able to exercise powerful paranormal abilities, then there is a great chance that laws would be passed that would strongly and explicitly outlaw any or all of the following on the part of persons, companies and other organizations:-- using paranormal abilities to win money at casinos-- using paranormal abilities to win money in state, regional and national lotteries-- using paranormal abilities to earn large sums of money on the stock market and related markets-- using paranormal abilities to harm persons at whom one is angry, or even for financial/business benefit-- using paranormal abilities to kill persons for emotional reasons (i.e. anger, revenge), or for financial gain, or for political reasons (this is also sometimes called "psychic assassination")So, such persons and organizations as I have named above have a strong vested interest in ensuring that people do NOT believe in such things!

Dean Radin, one of the world's foremost parapsychologists has written a very ambitious book which explores magic from a scientific point of view, demonstrates its validity through a number of his own ingenious experiments, outlines its history and relationship with science, religion and philosophy and attempts to explain both its power and limitations.For many people magical events are terrifying or unsettling, upsetting their rational conceptions of being able to explain and control their lives yet most people believe in some kind of paranormal phenomena (psi) and many indulge in positive thinking hoping to influence themselves and their environment. But psi and magic are essentially the same. Radin explains that psi is a real phenomenon because, after 150 years of research, " telepathy, clairvoyance, precognition, and psychokinetic effects have all been independently repeated in laboratories around the world".Over two thousand years ago, Plato and then later neo-Platonism proposed that there was a deep connection between mind and matter and that man could access a higher consciousness through his own "divine spark" from which he could directly influence the physical world. This was a world view which supported the development of magic and was also adopted by the esoteric traditions of religion like Gnosticism, Kabbala, Sufism, Shaivism, Tantric Yoga and Buddhism. It was also studied by scientists like Paracelsus and Isaac Newton. Perceived as very real threats to the church's monopoly over the truth, all forms of magic were considered heresy and outlawed by the Catholic church in the 13th century. In the early twentieth century, Max Weber celebrated the disenchantment of western society from all supernatural concepts (including magic and religion), as a liberation from the beliefs of savages. Paradoxically while Weber celebrated ,the very foundations of 19th century science, based on the assumptions of realism, causality and locality, were being undermined and eroded by quantum theory and Einstein's theory of relativity. For example, as Radin points out " from quantum theory we also know that “spooky action at a distance” definitely exists, so the commonsense meaning of locality is a special case of a more comprehensive world view." Today we have a new church, the "church of science", where the editor of Nature referred to Rubert Sheldrake's first book "A New science of Life" as the best candidate for burning while the editor of a journal on psychology retracted the publication of one of Radin's experiments and refused to publish a further paper because proving psi was real was like showing "pigs could fly". The church of science is fighting hard to preserve the dying dogmas of materialism at the same time that some quantum physicists are pointing to the evidence for retrocausation (the future influencing the present) and for panpsychism (the idea that matter at all levels, including fundamental particles, has an inherent property of sentience, or mind.)Against this background, Radin conducted a number of experiments to test the New Age belief -"You create your own reality" which is the core of magic practice.Radin elaborates "The essence of magic boils down to the application of two ordinary mental skills: attention and intention. The strength of the magical outcome is modulated by four factors: belief, imagination, emotion, and clarity."In one study, Radin showed that force of will produced objectively measurable changes in plant growth with odds against chance of 38 trillion to 1.Another study by Radin showed that intention influences RNG (random number generator) outputs not by “pushing” the RNG by force but rather through a goal-oriented or teleological effect. This accords with magical lore that " one way to manifest a goal through force of will is to affirm that the goal has already been accomplished". Our intentions seem to cause a gravitational space-time warp.A third study with 80 million trials of precognition of card selection by a computer showed that precognitive perceptions are influenced by the probable (and not the actual) future.A fourth study demonstrated Global Consciousness, where 32 quantum noise generators(QNG) (sampling random electronic noise for 5 days) showed a common (non-random) spike within minutes of the surprising results of the 2016 US presidential elections. The odds against chance are 226 million to 1. This suggests "that when millions of minds intently focus on the same event it causes a ripple in the fabric of space-time" because the samples over time should be independent in a random system and the QNG devices should be acting as separate objects.Further studies by Radin show how a controlled use of a positive magical technique influenced the fingertip volume and heart rate of the targeted volunteer.There is enough proof that magic is real but what are its limitations? Psi ability is normally distributed in the population just like any other ability so we all have some ability but we can't all be psychic super stars. Psi is produced by our unconscious so if there is a conflict between our conscious will and our unconscious, our psi ability may be blocked by self-defeating behavior. Beliefs influence psi ability and our cynicism may block us. Most importantly though my will may be the opposite of your will so the net result is a natural tendency for inertia and stability in the universe. On the other hand, when millions of people have the same emotion, they resonate together and that ripple is strong enough to make random events more coherent. For most of the time everyday reality remains solid and predictable.Radin concludes that we need to start taking magic seriously.I recommend you to take this book seriously.You won't be disappointed.

I was a half-hearted believer who’d kinda lost her faith along the way… until reading this. Now I’m convinced beyond a shadow of a doubt magic is real. I’d been going through a rough patch emotionally when December started (to put it lightly), and by chance (or was it?) a friend on IG posted a reel of Dr. Radin on her Stories. I commented how interesting he seemed, and she wrote back and recommended this book. On Dec 11, I attempted a small experiment that Dr. Radin suggested, where you designate a special journal for your magic/intentions/ manifestations, to focus intention and attention towards what you’re writing. I was still in emotional distress, so I’d first written in my daily journal expressing the desire for a sign that I wasn’t alone, to be shown the way regarding a difficult life choice I’m currently facing. And in a separate journal that I’ve had for 20 years (special gift from a friend that I rarely write in, which is now my “magic” journal), I wrote an intention for the following day. It’s a looong story, but the next day I manifested what I wrote in my journal—right at 2:22 pm on 12/12/2022. I was f***ing stunned, it snapped me right out of the funk I was in.Part of the reason the intention was granted at all was because I’d spent the last hour or so of the day in service to another person, was helping a coworker out. If I hadn’t helped him (which I briefly considered, because it was cold and I was tired), I don’t think it would’ve happened, and definitely not at that time.I haven’t tried anything else yet, but totally plan to—excited to see what magic happens in my life moving forward.Blessings to you all : )

I LOVED this book! So far I've read it twice and I might read it another time just for luck (!)If you already know quite a bit about magic (I do, coz I use it in myself) then this book will add extra reasons to like it even more.If you don't know anything about magic, then Dean's book will give you something very interesting to think about.Mr/Dr Radin is a scientist and professor and has spent the last 40+ years researching human consciousness, mostly the psi (parapsychology) phenomena.The book is written in a light-hearted way in parts and sincere in others and introduces the concept that 'magic' actually is a thing. He demonstrates the scientific evidence that thoughts are 'things', that we can sense others’ emotions and intentions from a distance and that intuition is more powerful than we could ever have thought (well, that's the average person, for sure)He covers the history and origins of magic, the science of magic, the practice of magic and forward into the future of magic.I especially liked the inclusion of this wonderful quote from the Defense Intelligence Agency (US):"The evidence for a valid information transfer anomaly [a euphemism the committee used for remote viewing] meets all recognised statistical and methodological criteria. This means the anomaly cannot be explained by poor experimental design, incorrect protocols, faulty analyses, or fraud. The magnitude of this anomaly is considered to be medium when compared to other known human behaviors."Now, when someone has devoted such a large portion of their life to the subject, then we as the 'general public' need to pay attention.You're not going to wire people up to sensors, or research how blessed tea will make you happier, but he has.So, read this book and find out the reality of magic, not the hearsay.Fab:) xx

The book Real Magic gives a fascinating insight into both the historic and modern perspectives of magical practice. The modern ‘magic’ that Dean Radin refers to embodies a range of ‘psi’ phenomena whose occurrence is stubbornly statistically significant. Their magnitude may be modest, but after hundreds of thousands of high quality experiments, instances of remote viewing and precognition for example, are persistent outcomes that cannot be explained away by chance or poor methodology. From a conventional scientific point of view these are anomalies that do not fit the existing paradigm. For Dean Radin these phenomena are an inevitable consequence of a universal consciousness that underpins the very fabric of space-time itself. For most of us the myriad distractions of the everyday world dull our senses, but with concerted effort, yoga and meditation, it seems that gifted individuals might be capable of amazing things. But as Radin says “Magic is real, but no one said it’s going to be fast or easy.”

A distillation of numerous scientific reports from throughout the years, not an easy read. I only skipped through it. The author does offer some techniques that he maintains, under his scientific scrutiny are near enough essential to get magik, / the law of attraction to work in your life. Chief among the techniques would be the importance of entering the gnosis / trance state / meditative state, before stating your desires, which could be reached by effortless one pointed concentration, whether on your breath, wall gazing, really listening to music, or whatever method would suit you. Being very clear on what you want, and some people can tap into their psychic abilities with ease, while others will struggle to do so. So this book is more a deep dive into the history of magik, and its uses. Certainly not an engaging book, more a textbook of boring, long drawn out reports.

A bona fide scientist is skeptical but open-minded, whereas many in the profession today are skeptical, but closed-minded. Dean Radin fits firmly into the former category. Real Magic is a thoroughly engrossing book that proves the existence of a realm of reality strongly suspected by many through personal experience, but little discussed due to the all-pervading dogma of scientism that currently dominates thought. But, the tide does seem to be turning, thanks to Dr. Radin and a number of others contributing to this courageous vanguard.

Absolutely brilliant and also applied science of magick. As a former research scientist myself I found this fun to read and probably easier as it felt quite academic, so perhaps could be a touch heavy for anyone unused to heavy academic writing. It certainly took some concentration to read sections on particle physics but I loved it all. So well thought out and put together. Hoorah!