Magic

When I was a kid, one on my favorite things was illusions and magic.  The ability to make something disappear or make an illusion out of something that I would never ever find out how it happened blew my mind. As I grew up I realized that they are much more types of magic then just simple card tricks and making a ball disappear underneath a cup. Then I was exposed to illusionist and magicians such as David Copperfield and Chris Angel. What they did blew my mind and at points I even tried to YouTube how to levitate so I could try and do what they do. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to levitate or pull off any of the tricks that they preformed. But thanks to this project, it made interested into what magic really is, and got me more intrigued into the theory that “seeing is actually believing”.

Magic comes from the Greek word mageia. In ancient times, the Greeks and Persians had been battling for years and the Persian priest which were called “magosh” in Persian, came to be known as “magoi” in Greek. The rituals that the Persian priest used to practice came to be known as “magika”, which through time eventually ended up meaning a foreign, unorthodox, or illegitimate ritual practice.

In the middle ages, everyone believed in magic and it was often times linked to religious beliefs and other superstitions that people believed in. What really had people drawn into the idea of magic is that society thought that if you were capable of preforming magic tricks then you were also capable of having the power to heal, protect, or even influence destiny. More often than not the practice of magic was associated with having ties with the devil so the Church’s had no appreciation for what other people sought as entertaining and they were persecuting people who did this.

Fast forward to the 19^th and 20^th century, now the Church’s and society have accepted the idea of magic because we grew to love the idea of entertainment and now we have Professional magicians who blow peoples mind with illusions and tricks. If we were going to credit someone or something for making magic so important in our lives, it’s fair to say Vegas is one of the most important players. In a city that thrives off of entertainment, why not bring one of the most entertaining things to your city? Massive theatres were created for Magicians to preform inside of casinos and night after night people would come to watch and see all types of tricks ranging from disappearance of stage girls all the way to cars and elephants. Some magicians go as far as to making the Statue of Liberty disappear.

Now today magic is one of the most profitable businesses. With TV shows, clubs, and conventions where magicians can meet and exchange tricks and ideas, there’s no telling where the world of magic is going to take us or how far it will actually take us.

Works Cited 

http://www.magiczoom.com/history-of-magic.htm?sid=%E2%8C%A9_site=en

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_(illusion)

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=david+copperfield+v