Conventional wisdom holds many different understandings of what magic means. For most people in the Western world, the word magic holds both powerful positive and negative connotations. On one hand, we use the term to express a lack of grasp on reality, such as the psychological term, "magical thinking." On the other hand, we use the word to describe intense and enjoyable quality experiences, so we might say that a romantic date was "magical." Clearly, despite all the bad press that magic (and "magical thinking") has received in this materialistic, scientific age, most of us hold a sense of openness to a world which is beyond that which we can explain from a rational point of view. We remember experiences we have had, at least as children, where we were connected to life and it reflected our joy and creativity.

Removing the judgment, magic can refer to miracles and other events which seem to happen outside the framework of the bounds of the known world. Magic can also be seen as the practice of creating an outcome through intent and ritual. This is how I see magic, but there is an added element which is not commonly understood.

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