Docc Hilford Our Magic Edited

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next moment
expect his audience to adopt a serious view of medieval magic. The specta-
tors, of course, are
always aware that the whole is "make-believe." They have to set aside their
critical faculties
in order to enter into the spirit of the thing. That, as a rule, they are perfectly
willing to do,
since all they want is to be entertained. They are ready to take any point of
view the
performer may suggest, and to imagine for the moment that the situation is
precisely as the
performer has stated. But having "made believe" to that extent, it cannot be
imagined that
they will be able suddenly to change their adopted point of view for another
which is equally
unsubstantial and entirely dissimilar, without having all their make-believe
thrown to the
winds and their critical faculties fully revived. No, in such a case the perfor-
mer's previous
efforts will have been wasted. The impression sought to be produced will be
entirely
destroyed, and the spectators will revert to the attitude of commonplace scep-
ticism they
began with. They will have to commence their mental adaptation once again,
upon an
entirely new basis, and with the memory of their recently checked self-de-
ception fresh upon
them. Any procedure of this kind can only result in confusion and loss of ef-
fect.
Conversely, if a purely modern conception is presented, consistency demands
that all
procedure and all adjuncts shall be entirely modern in character. Were the
performer
suddenly to depart from his normal procedure, for instance, and adopt the sty-
le of an ancient
necromancer, he could never expect to be taken seriously. He would be laug-
hed at openly by
his audience if he entertained any such ridiculous notion. That kind of thing
can only be done
by way of burlesque.
There is, however, one very effective method of combining ancient legends
with
modern ideas, which, in addition to the proof it gives of the soundness of the
principles of
consistency, is extremely useful in aiding the modern magician to give his
conceptions a
definite application. This consists in the supposed introduction of ancient
magical traditions
into the actual affairs of modern life, and the suggestions that the magical
theory had a
foundation in fact. Usually, the procedure is somewhat as follows:
It is assumed that the magician has discovered some ancient charm, talisman,
incantation, or spell, with which he decides or is caused to experiment. On
doing so, he finds
that apparently the legendary power attributed to the particular fetish in ques-
tion are really
genuine, and remain efficacious even in our own age of scepticism. The pos-
sibilities of
magical and dramatic effect derivable from a situation of this kind are practi-
cally infinite.
This is a fact which has long been understood and frequently utilized in lite-
rature. But,
strange to say, this magical idea has not been developed to any great extent in
connection
with the art of magic itself. In plays such as "Niobe" and "The Brass Bottle,"
for example,
this conception has provided a basis for valuable and artistic work. And in re-
lation to magic,
it presents facilities for introducing legitimate and convincing effects, which
should by no
means be neglected.
An illusionary presentation, conducted on such lines, may be rendered tho-
roughly
satisfactory with very little difficulty. The effects produced being apparently
substantiated by
the authority of early tradition, and the powers invoked having, as it were,
descended from
the age of miracles, all criticism as to sufficiency of cause is disarmed at on-
ce. The sceptical
attitude common to modern thought becomes entirely out of place, and quite
irrelevant to the
issues involved. Material scepticism becomes subdued to the influences of
that poetic and
imaginative faculty which every man possesses, in a greater or less degree,
no matter how
uncompromising may be his professed antagonism to anything beyond the
bounds of plain
common sense.
In this connection, however, as in all matters relating to art, it is necessary to
guard
against the ever-present danger of allowing originality to be overshadowed by
the attractions
of blind imitation. Indeed, it is conceivable that what we have said on this
present point,
unless it is consistently read together with the context, may eventually create
a serious
hindrance to the progress of our art. There is every reason to fear that if one
magician were to
achieve a success with some particular development of this idea, that form of
presentation
would be generally regarded as the
essential
embodiment of the idea, from which no
departure could be made. And, in answer to all criticisms, it would be said--
"There is nothing
to criticize. This is the very thing with which So-and-so has made so great a
success."
Therein we find typified the common fault which hitherto has debased the
practice of
magic, and has helped to prevent the elevation of magic to the status of a fine
art. Until that
fault can be corrected until such slavish imitation of successful work becomes
a matter for
general and honest condemnation, we must be prepared to admit that after all
is said and
done, magic has not risen above the level of mere mechanical drudgery, the
sort of work
which is only undertaken by those who are incapable of doing anything bet-
ter.
This must not be! In itself, magic is a profession which should yield pride of
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