A science-backed guide to discovering the real power of magic and implementing it in your life, from the renowned author of <Real Magic<

There is an idea that shakes the core of our scientific principles: That our consciousness participates in creating our physical reality. It''s an idea that runs counter to the materialist worldview we''re all taught in school. But the outer edges of scientific inquiry bleed into what can only be called ''magic.''
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;Dean Radin, Ph.D., is at the forefront of researching magic from a scientific standpoint. In <Enchantment<, he shines a light on today''s scientific breakthroughs, from quantum mechanics to the mind-body connection to non-local consciousness, that can best be explained by what we currently call magic (or <psi<).&nbsp;In short, today''s magic is the science of tomorrow. He shares his own groundbreaking research on <psi <phenomena, and explains how you can start utilizing these findings in your own life today.
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;Accessible and practical, <Enchantment <offers magical methods from the perspective of a scientist, demonstrating how to effect change with exercises and hands-on techniques. In short, magic is a mental skill, like meditation or mathematics. You will find a quiz to discover your natural talents and foundational activities for strengthening your skills, including:

<lAffirmations (word magic)</l<lSigils</l<lKnots</l<lCandle magic</l<lWriting magic</l<lSpell-casting</l

With his uniquely science-backed approach, Dean guides you through testing magic on your own, for example through dream precognition, evoking synchronicity, and more.&nbsp; <Enchantment< is a journey to the outer edges of our understanding of the universe, showing where science is leading us: namely, to magic.

Autorentext
Dean Radin is Chief Scientist at the Institute of Noetic Sciences (IONS), Associated Distinguished Professor at the California Institute of Integral Studies, and cofounder and chairman of the biotech company, Cognigenics. He earned an MS (electrical engineering) and a PhD (psychology) from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, and in 2022 was awarded an Honorary DSc from the Swami Vivekananda University in Bangalore, India. He is the author or coauthor of some 300 scientific and popular articles, four dozen book chapters, and nine books, four of which have been translated into 15 foreign languages: The Conscious Universe (1997), Entangled Minds (2006), Supernormal (2013), and Real Magic (2018).

Leseprobe
Introduction

There may be no such thing as the “glittering central mechanism of the universe” to be seen behind a glass wall at the end of the trail. Not machinery but magic may be the better description of the treasure that is waiting. —­John Archibald Wheeler

In a series of invited lectures to a special study group at the Naval War College, one of the topics I discussed was the scientific evidence for telepathy—­direct mind-­to-­mind communication. During a break, two submarine commanders approached me and described a strange episode they had independently experienced. While under maneuvers and submerged at classified depths, a crew member in each commander’s sub urgently requested that they surface so they could call home. They were certain that something bad was happening in their family. The commanders replied that after their undersea exercises were completed, then they could contact their families.

Each sub surfaced days to weeks later, and in both cases, it turned out that something upsetting had indeed happened in their family at the time that each crew member made their request. Importantly, both commanders noted there were no false positives; that is, these were the only times any crew member had asked to surface early.

A typical operational depth for a submarine is 150 to 300 meters, and based on the commanders’ remarks, these subs were likely at the deeper end of that range. At such depths, the only way to receive a signal from the surface world is through extremely low-­frequency electromagnetic transmissions, which require antennas tens to hundreds of kilometers long. The rate of these transmissions is only about one letter per minute. Even if a human brain could detect and decode such messages (which is exceedingly unlikely), those transmissions are used solely for military purposes. They aren’t used to send personal messages to crew members about their families. Moreover, submariners are carefully selected for their exceptional mental toughness, resilience, and emotional flexibility—­not the type of person you’d expect to report a fanciful telepathic experience while deep underwater.

But they do.

You may have experienced something similar—­a time when you just knew that something unexpected was happening to a loved one at a distance, and later you discovered you were right. Or you found yourself thinking about an old friend and soon received a call or an email from them. In fact, two nights before writing this passage, I had a dream about a friend from summer camp, over fifty years ago. Out of the blue, “Joan” showed up in my dream. I hadn’t thought about her in years.

The next morning I received a blind-­copied email from Joan, which prompted me to write back and ask why I was suddenly included in her mailing list. She explained that her realtor had mentioned Edgar Mitchell—­an Apollo 14 astronaut—­and that Edgar had talked about the noetic sciences. Because I work at the Institute of Noetic Sciences, which Mitchell founded in 1973, Joan thought of me. That night I dreamed about her.

Because of commonly reported experiences like this, most people, including scientists, quietly maintain some belief in psychic and magical phenomena. At the same time, mainstream science insists that these phenomena can’t exist because the mind is solely a product of brain activity, so everything having to do with mental activity, including consciousness, is locked inside our skulls. End of story.

But there’s a problem with that story.

Psychic and magical experiences are frequently reported, and they require that consciousness somehow transcends the brain and extends into the physical world. Until about five hundred years ago, most people believed that consciousness was fundamentally interconnected with the physical world, and from that perspective the existence of psychic effects like telepathy and magical effects like divination was taken for granted. Then, as science became the dominant way of understanding reality, magic fell out of favor, and generations of students were trained to see reality solely through the lens of materialism, the philosophical assumption that everything, including consciousness, is made of matter and energy. That worldview has become so entrenched in our way of thinking about reality that science textbooks don’t bother to mention that nearly all the physicists who developed quantum mechanics believed that consciousness played a key role in the physical world. Some, like Max Planck, believed that consciousness was the only primary reality.

But science marches on, and we are now in the midst of a remarkable period of remembering what our forebears knew. Science is rediscovering magic.

About This Book

This book is about the science, theory, and practice of real magic. These practices come in three flavors: enchantment, divination, and theurgy. Enchantment is the ability to mentally modulate aspects of the physical world and shape destiny. Divination involves perceptions that transcend the everyday limits of space and time. Theurgy is about spirits and spiritual development.

Magic, like meditation or mathematics, is a mental s…