Ethics for Magical People: Performing Magic (3 of 4)

In the case history of Janet and the Odd Woman, Janet had reached a nadir in her life when a friend suggested consulting a fortune teller. Janet surmised that with all her bad luck that she was under some sort of a curse. After showing Janet the evidence of such a curse, the Odd Woman (the fortune teller) confirmed her worst fears.

Following many consultations, Janet handed the Odd Woman all her money wrapped in a bundle of newspapers. To rid Janet of the curse, the Odd Woman had to cleanse Janet’s money. (According to the Illinois Police, the Bunco artist convinces her victim that his money is at the root of the curse.) Whilst cleaning Janet’s money, the Old Woman fell to the floor. According to her, Janet’s curse was so severe that it forced her down. Following that, she hands the cleansed money to Janet, who then pays the Odd Woman.

After Janet gives her package of cleansed money to a police detective, they discover that it contains only a stack of paper. When she fell, the Odd Woman switched the packages. According to the NABI, after Janet discovered the trick, the Odd Woman would either disappear or threaten to place another curse on her.

To convince Janet of the existence of her curse, the Odd Woman used several types of performance magic. First, she used mentalism to demonstrate that she possessed special powers. To do this, the Odd Woman did a cold reading, thereby convincing Janet that she understood what was happening in Janet’s life.

To demonstrate the severity of the curse, the Odd Woman used table magic. With slight-of-hand, she hid a capsule of blood and hair in her hand, whilst passing an egg over Janet’s body. Smashing the capsule with the egg, the Odd Woman produced hair and pus. She used another slight-of-hand trick when she fell on the floor and switched packages, whilst cleansing Janet’s money.

The other type of magic that the Odd Woman performed was a theatrical séance by simulating contact with various spirits. To further impress Janet, the Odd Woman performed a ritual to speak with several Archangels. These theatrical séances set the stage to for Janet’s belief in the Odd Woman’s supernatural abilities.

Robert Carroll points out that since people do suspend their disbelief, they can be duped into regarding that a mentalist’s act as real. Alain Nu notes that the audience has insufficient experience to judge the credibility of a mentalist’s illusions. Nu says that a credible mentalist will have a disclaimer for his audience. For example, Nu refers to what he does as “ESP – Especially Sensitive Powers.”

In the case of Uri Geller, Carroll says that he is a stage magician (mentalist) who went too far. Since the 1970s, Geller has demonstrated various psychic powers such as bending spoons. Because Geller claims that he has special ESP powers, he charges people for his services to find oil deposits and other things. Carroll views Geller as a “flim-flam artist,” since he bilks gullible people of their money. Meanwhile, James Randi, a stage magician, proved that Geller is a fraud. Randi says that Geller gives other magicians a bad name, since Geller presents his illusions as truth.

Stage magicians create illusions as a part of sacred theater to have the audience ponder new ideas. They urge their audience to visualize other possibilities. Like theater, stage magicians provide an avenue for people to consider the mysteries of life. By bending spoons as entertainment, Alain Nu hopes to entice people to explore fringe science.

Meanwhile, the Odd Woman and Uri Geller create illusions for their own ends. They use their talents for venial purposes – greed and dishonesty. Instead of uplifting people, they endeavor to keep their victims entrapped in faulty belief systems. The Odd Woman and Geller use their magic to shrink people’s worlds, and to shut down their curiosity.

Ethics For Magical People: Performing Magic (2 of 4)

Though many magicians are “honest deceivers,” a few use their talents to defraud people. The National Association of Bunco Investigators (NABI) defines “fortune-telling fraud” as “a crime designed to financially exploit a victim under the guise of providing assistance. It involves gaining the victim’s complete trust and, then through carefully managed manipulation convincing the victim to give valuables to the suspect.” NABI continues that the victims are usually seeking help for problems involving love, money, or health. The fraud convinces her victim that she has special powers to remove the curse that is causing the problem. NABI warns against the “total psychological manipulation of the victim” by the fraud, who often keeps him isolated and vulnerable.

The anonymous author of the “Gypsy Psychic/Spiritualist Scams” website explains how the “fortune-telling con” works. The confidence artist (mentalist) is a good cold reader who convinces his victim of his actual psychic powers. This author goes on to say that the fortune-teller con entices his victim to go into a trance state. “Trance”, as defined the anonymous author, is “a state of mind a person maintains consistently not because it’s truthful…but because a belief system keeps it in place.” Stage hypnotists assist their “volunteers” to go into and stay in a trance. Nu points out that a mentalist with integrity will also assist the volunteer to come out of her trance. Meanwhile, the fortune-telling con will prod the victim to go deeper into her trance, and to remain there.

The difference between a Bunco artist and an ethical mentalist is “intent.” Though both use secrecy to achieve their ends, the ethical mentalist intends to delight her audience, and expand their notions of how the world works. Meanwhile, the Bunco artist wants to isolate his victim in order to steal her money. He scares his target into believing that only he can remove her “curse.” Through secrecy, the Bunco artist keeps his victim entrapped in her erroneous belief system.

Ethics for magical people: performing magick (1 of 4)

When we attend a magic show, we expect to be amazed and amused. A good stage magician will make it seem that “the laws of nature have been violated.” Since people delight at being surprised, stage magicians encourage their audiences to indulge their imaginations. For a brief while, we put aside our skepticism, so that we can be entertained and explore alternative possibilities. Moreover, doing magic involves drama since the audience is waiting to see if the trick will happen or not. Magician Chris Lloyd writes, “Ideally, magic tricks should bring about a sense of wonder and excitement…”

Rossco, a stage magician, writes at the Magic Hat Forum, that “magicians are gatekeepers who keep the mysteries of the world.” He goes on to say, “We do this to provide a sense of joy and amazement (the audience) they so desperately crave.” As gatekeepers, magicians pledge to keep their secrets of magic, as part of the Magician’s Oath. In addition, Preston Houer, a magician for over thirty years, stresses that by not divulging secrets is how magicians let the audience suspend its disbelief.

In his essay “Belief and the Suspension of Disbelief,” Alain Nu, stage magician and mentalist, says that the audience has a contract with the stage magician to “relinquish rational thought to momentarily accept the events which are unfolding.” But he notes that a mentalist (stage psychic) has no such contract. According to Nu, this leads to the mentalist grappling with ethical issues such as some members of the audience believing that he is an actual psychic. Because of this, Nu stresses that the mentalist’s personal integrity is critical to his performance. In his act, he needs to assure the audience that he is only an entertainer.

Robert Carroll, noted skeptic and author of the “Skeptic’s Dictionary” website points out that “Good magicians are good tricksters and good tricksters can fool the smartest of people.” Carroll says that even intelligent people can convince themselves that what they see is true. He cautions how some people are often fooled by psychics (mentalists) since they want to believe in the act. Nu himself says that he blurs the line between fact and fiction to encourage further investigation of unexplained phenomena.

Ethics for Magical People: Healing (2 of 2)

Reiki Symbols

The other thing that novice healers may forget is that the sender and receiver are connected by an “energetic cord”, since this is how the energy is send and received.  If the sender is not careful, they could end up syphoning off the receiver’s energy later on.  It can also happen in reverse with the recipient depleting the sender. For these reasons, Wintersong Tashlin adds that the energy body is just as inviolate as the physical body. 

The Eden Energy Medicine Institute has an ethics committee to outline their code for energy healers.  One section from this ethics code states that, “EH practitioners closely monitor their needs to be liked, to be admired, to achieve status, and to exercise power.”  The Ethics Committee explains that these needs interfere with the healer’s discernment and judgment.  Also the Committee stresses that these desires prompt the healer to make unrealistic claims of effectiveness, which in turn raises the client’s expectations.  To avoid this from happening, the healer should be mindful of their own hidden desires.

Clarifying these desires is necessary.  John Coughlin, author and occult magickal practitioner, suggests asking yourself the question:  “Are you sure the intent of your decision is from vested interest or ulterior motive?”  He continues, “Are you helping your friend for purely selfish reasons?”  Therefore, Coughlin counsels before you offer any type of magickal healing, you need to be crystal clear about your motives.

In the case study of Tracy and Jennifer, they are two fourteen-year olds faced with a traumatic situation.  Because her grandmother is dying, Tracy wants Jennifer, her best friend, to do magickal healing for her grandmother.  Neither has the maturity to deal with this dilemma.  Tracy cannot let go of her grandmother, and Jennifer cannot disappoint her friend.  Meanwhile Tracy’s grandmother wants to be left in peace to die.

As a compromise, Jennifer suggested doing a healing ritual where they would ask the grandmother on the astral plane.  She believes that if Tracy’s grandmother consents astrally, then the girls can send magickal healing. This ritual is problematic since the grandmother may be unconscious and unable to consent.  Moreover, according to John Coughlin, contacting people on the astral plane is difficult even for the experienced magickal healer.  He stresses that this option is the “the escape clause” for doing magickal healing without the recipient’s permission.

The other ethical problem the girls have is Tracy’s intense desire to have her grandmother not die.  Since Tracy’s grandmother is adamant about not receiving any treatment, the ritual would make Tracy the final arbiter of her grandmother’s fate.  This would deny her grandmother, her final agency.

Furthermore, Jennifer’s “healing ritual” would be a violation of Tracy’s grandmother’s stated wishes.  Moreover, the ritual would compromise the grandmother’s religious beliefs.  As a Christian, she would be aghast to discover that she unknowingly participated in a “witchy healing.”

Jennifer could do the following instead.  In the ritual, she could ask Tracy to envelope her grandmother with her love, since they have a natural bond.  This would affirm her love for her dying grandmother.  By doing, this Tracy would begin to understand that she needs to let her grandmother go.  The focus of Jennifer’s ritual would be Tracy, instead of her grandmother. 

Works Used:

Coughlin, John, “Magical Ethics and Pseudo-Metaphysics”, Author’s Website, 2004, http://www.waningmoon.com/jcoughlin/writing/pseudometaph.shtml.

----, “Ethics Code for Energy Healing Practitioners”, Eden Energy Institute, 16 September 2010, http://innersource.net/em/images/downloads/EEM_Ethics_Code.pdf.

Feinstein, David, Douglas Moore, Dale Teplitz, “Addressing Emotional Blocks to Healing in an Energy Medicine Practice: Ethical and Clinical Guidelines”, Energy Psychology 4:1, May 2012,

http://efttappingexpert.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Feinstein12.pdf.

Harrell, Kelly, “Intentional Insights: Q&A From Within”, blog, http://www.intentionalinsights.com/.

Kaldera, Raven, “Wyrdwalkers: Techniques of Northern-Tradition Shamanism”, Asphodel Press: Hubbardston, MA, 2006.

Morningstar, Sally, “The Art of Wiccan Healing”, Hay House: Carlsbad (CA), 2005.

Tashlin, Wintersong, “Invoking Consent”, Huginn Journal 1:2, Midsummer 2011, http://huginnjournal.com/issues/v1i2/.

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Ethics for Magical People: Healing (1 of 2)

 An examination of a case study of people who want to send unasked-for "magickal" healing. I was a victim of this where well-meaning people send me "Reiki" energy to heal my brain injury. I ended up being more harmed by the input of this energy healing.

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"First, Do No Harm"

Since magickal healers are not considered to be a part of the medical profession, they do need to be informed of the ethics of informed consent.  When someone is in distress, it is common for their friends to send Reiki (and other forms of healing energy) without asking the person first.  Simply because these friends have good intentions does not mean that the Reiki will alleviate the person’s distress.  For example after my traumatic brain injury, I received unasked-for energy healing.  My friends thought that they were helping me, but they did not know that the brain has its own energy fields.  Their magickal energy overloaded my injured brain, instead of helping to heal it.

Since then, I have urged people to ask me before doing any magickal healing.  For me, I view sending unasked-for healing to be a violation of my person.  My doctors and I know what is better for my recovery than the “do-gooder” healer.  Many casual workers of energy healing believe what they do is benign, but do not consider that they need to grant the distressed person their own agency.  An important part of my recovery is to take back my own power in deciding my treatment.  Wintersong Tashlin, activist and shaman, calls the practice of sending unasked-for energy to be “benevolent harm”.  It takes away the person’s consent, and makes the sender the final arbitrator in the recovery process.

Moreover, several magickal healers have emphasized that sending unasked healing could be a violation of the Universe’s plans for the suffering individual.  In her blog, Kelly Harrell, neo-shaman and author, cautions about the modern attitude, in Western medicine, that every broken thing must be fixed.  Because of this attitude, the desire of the healer to cure the illness becomes more important than the “Highest Outcome” for the client.  The Universe may decide that death is the answer for ending the person’s pain.  She says that an ethical healer must be a part of “All That Is the Universe”, since the healer’s job is to connect “the Universe” with the client.  The ethical healer balances “the Light” and “the Shadow” of the Universe to achieve the best outcome for her client.

In “The Art of Wiccan Healing,” Sally Morningstar, a Wiccan healer, writes that it can be morally wrong to interfere with a person’s suffering.  She explains that “the Law of Karma” governs how people are supposed to experience their life.  To send unasked healing could subvert a person’s Karma (Fate).  The Universe decides what the Highest Good is for each person, and that may include suffering.

Raven Kaldera, a Northern-Tradition shaman, discusses this doctrine of Karma from a Northern Pagan point of view.  In his book, “Wyrdwalkers,” he explains that everyone is interconnected within the “Well of the Wyrd” (Web of Life).  If he interferes with someone’s Wyrd (Fate), he may weaken other Threads in the Tapestry (Web) of Life.  Therefore, it is not the healer’s place to end the pain, without checking with the Gods first.  The Norns (Fates) may have dictated that the person has to work through the pain.

The conclusion of these various healers is that the Universe may have planned for the sick person’s suffering.  Therefore, the main task of the healer is to align the person with Will of the Universe.  A healer does not dictate how the person heals, only the Universe.  In concrete terms, in order to treat measles, you kill the germs, not cover up the rash.  Doing magickal healing may only cure the rash.

When sending magickal healing, many novice healers believe that they do not cause distress.  However David Feinstein, clinical psychologist and energy-healing ethicist, points out that energy sent to alleviate pain does impacts the body.  (I experienced this phenomenon with my brain injury.)  Feinstein stresses that this flooding of energy overwhelms the emotions of the distressed person.  This energy will often break through emotional blocks that the person may not be aware of, thereby causing a traumatic breakdown.  Feinstein counsels that the most ethical approach is to do the healing in a structured setting with the recipient understanding the risks.