Magic and Its Evaluation – Reports and Views of Practitioners
Journal of Parapsychology October 1, 2023 Gerhard Mayer
Magicians report experiencing phenomena such as influencing situations or weather, psychokinesis, ESP, and synchronistic events. Evaluating magical practice is difficult because success depends on the magician's goals, and displacement or trickster effects occur, similar to those in parapsychology. Preconditions for successful magic include motivation, an empathic relationship with the goal, no doubts about effectiveness, and not wanting or suffering too much. Dedicated magicians could aid parapsychologists due to their trained focus and ability to work with altered states of consciousness, though motivation may be a challenge.