Magic is an art. That's the bare bone truth of it. It involves misdirection, lots of planning and even more practice. But magic no longer becomes an art if you use it for self gain, for power or wealth. Then it becomes an elaborate scam. Dedi is a perfect example of this. He used illusions to benefit himself and lived a life of power and wealth because he deceived a king. But today magicians are much less deceiving and follow a set of rules. One of the main rules are to never deceive someone unless they allow you to. If you are ever interested in magic Penn and Tellers Fool Us TV show is a great place to be entertained. Today magic is not so influential in our everyday lives. We rarely see it on TV and things like video games and sport have taken our interest. But the small magic community today is growing quite steadily. Youtuber's like Shin Lim, Chris Ramsay and Ving Gingh are teaching the next generation of magicians in a unique and fun way. Magic conventions attract thousands of people from all over the world. People like David Blaine and Dyanmo are still managing to amaze people worldwide in a unique and talented way. Like throwing up a live frog or casually floating up the Eiffel tower. So yes maybe magic isn't as popular or influential as it was but that doesn't mean its gone. If you look hard enough you'll always find magicians out their ready to entertain. Whether its on the streets or on Tv magicians are always ready to trick and amaze you.
The 1800's Our journey is drawing to a end. I will publish one more blog after this talking about modern magic toady. But the 19th century is a key note of magic history and influence for a couple of reasons, but the main one being Houdini the master of escapes and self proclaimed king of cards.But first lets talk about a man called Jean Eugene Robert-Houdin. What a name! He is considered a father of modern magic, moving it from circuses and streets to elegant stages and drawing rooms. He ushered in a new age of magic. But he started off as a apprentice watchmaker who practiced magic in his spare time. Some of his tricks are nothing short of amazing like making a handkerchief appear out of an orange or levitating his son using "magic ether". But his most amazing trick was in 1856 when he managed to stop a war with magic. Interested? Here's how the story went. Napoleon was getting anxious about the religious Arabic tribe called Marabouts rebelling against him. The Marabouts had many magicians in their tribes that the tribal leaders respected and feared. They told their leaders to rebel against the french. Napoleon asked Jean Houdin to go to the tribe and show them that french magic was superior to their magic. So Jean Houdin began his journey from France to Algeria. Here's what he did. He told the tribal warriors that they were as weak as women and could not lift this simple wooden box he brought. The warriors were highly offended and angry yet no matter what they tried they could even ten men couldn't lift this small wooden box. So Jean Houdin said " you are all as weak as women but i am as strong as ten men". He then very easily lifted the box by himself. No matter how hard the Marabouts magicians tried they could not lift the box. How did he do it? Magic. Thanks to him a bloody war was stopped and thousands of lives were saved. And thanks to him people like Houdini dazzled the world with amazing feats of escape and illusions. This is a prime example of how magic influenced leaders of the world.
Where to begin? The burnings at the stake? The countless crusades against "dark" magic? Or how about how "magic" was used for medical purposes? You might be wondering, how on earth did sleight of hand and entertainment turn into a bunch of weird wizards claiming they can perform unheard magical miracles? Well it began when not only magicians began using magic. Monks, doctors, priests, midwifes, folk healers and diviners all at some point decided to jump on the bandwagon for "magic". How did this happen, how did misdirection and illusions turn into spells and hex's? Ever played Chinese whispers? What happened was the truth of events that magicians performed at were blown way out of proportion and soon everyone wanted a part of the action. Remember in ancient times magicians were literally worshiped much like todays sports stars and actors. So who wouldn't want that? And soon it was accepted that magic was a real thing and could cause amazing miracles. Monks and priests could apparently perform prayers that healed the sick. Doctors could heal any wounds with only three drops of your blood and some herbs as well as uttering a secret spell. Diviners could tell you're future by simply looking at your palm. So how on earth did sleight of hand and misdirection turn into spells and incantations? Have you ever played Chinese whispers? The aim of the game is to have one person begin by whispering in someone's ear, just a random phrase or word and the word or phrase would have to travel from one person to the next and be repeated at the end. But most of the time people will mishear the word or phrase and something "hi how are you?" could become "fishes aren't actually Christian". The point I'm trying to make is that events were misheard, exaggerated and completely blown out of proportion. Magicians became feared and respected. So of course everyone wanted to become a magician or wizard. Who doesn't want power and respect? What could go wrong? Witch trials. Priests, popes and monarchs all feared and respected. Most even had magicians as close advisors. But those found guilty of placing curses or nit healing someone properly were put on trail and often executed. In the 15th century witch trails became increasingly common as friars preached fear and doom to the common folk who became increasingly paranoid of witches and sorcerers. Neighbour reported neighbour and many were burned alive on no evidence other than what one person said. A book published in 1487 called Malleus Maleficarum did not help matters. It roughly translates to "Hammer of the Witches". And within its content it detailed how to execute witches and how to transport them from place to place. These "witches" were said to perform dark magic and harmed anyone they came into contact with. Whereas priests and doctors apparently performed white magic that healed and benefitted others. In conclusion during the medieval ages there was a high risk and reward system in place for those who claimed had magic. If you could prove you were a good magician then you had a place beside the king or even the pope. But if you were accused of dark magic then you would be brutally executed. Yep medieval Europe sure was a great place.
Today there are many famous magicians who dazzle and amaze the world. For example Shin Lim a cardist magician amazed the world as well as fooled two of the best magicians in the world Penn and Teller. David Blaine literally made having a frog in your throat a real thing and puked out a live frog in front of millions on TV. These tricks dazzled the world and caused a huge spike in interest for magic. But in ancient times magicians were considered almost godlike. The first ever magician to be recorded was in 2700B.C and his name was Dedi. But there is no actual archaeological or historic proof that he ever existed in the first place. Dedi appears in the fourth story of a fictional book called the Westcar Papyrus. But despite people arguing whether Dedi was real or not some of the tricks he does are very real. For example the ball and cup trick was performed to the king Khufu as well as decapitating several animals and making them "come back to life". Both tricks are entirely possible today and the King Khufu being superstitious immediately let Dedi live in his palace alongside his sons. Dedi was apparently 110 years old and could also predict the future, he only lived to 110 years old by living off 500 loaves of bread, a shoulder of beef and 100 cups of beer. So take this story with a pinch of salt. When I first heard this story I was extremely sceptical of the evidence of the story. The drawings in the tomb of Baqet the 3rd showed a very faded picture of a magician performing the classic ball and cup trick. But one thing is certain. The ancient Egyptians were a very superstitious people who valued their priests who could apparently talk to mystical gods and perform amazing feats of magic. These priests were highly influential and advised the powerful pharaoh's on important matters as well as living a life of power and wealth. But this is only one example of magicians and those who claimed they had magical powers being almost worshipped. There are many other examples of these mysterious figures being praised and put on a pedestal. This is only one example. There are many more amazing stories like this out there. Interested?
Hi.... I guess I should tell you about what I will be posting about. Its about magic. Unfortunately not the wizard and Harry Potter kind. But like the ancient magic kind. From when the first person ever began his trade of sleight of hand. To what todays magicians do to entertain a large audience worldwide. But magicians were not always entertainers. In ancient times you needed quick wits and quicker hands if you were to survive in places such as ancient Egypt or through the Dark Ages. Magicians were thieves, beggars and the desperate who mastered sleight of hand in order to survive. But then they began bewitching leaders of powerful empires to listen to their every word with small and simple tricks. Cults were formed and thousands flocked to these mysterious figures who could disappear and reappear in an instant. I will be writing about all this and more. Would you like to join me?
