Magic is naturally believed in by children but adults usually become more sceptical.
Most magic turns out to be clever illusion based on knowledge of how humans perceive things and how such natural facts can be manipulated for profit.
However some things still seem hard to explain.
One of the things most difficult to explain away is when a past prediction seems to come true, as with some parts of the writings of the famous seer Nostradamus (who was famous even whilst alive for accurate predictions) and also for example the Joyoboyo prophecy in Indonesia.
There are disputes about when the Joyoboyo prophecy was actually written down and also what exactly is contained in it, as many versions online seem to be not quite what it really stated.
King Jayabhaya or Ratu Joyoboyo was King of the kingdom of Kediri on Java from 1135 to 1157 A.D. and well known for his prophecies which were included in long epic poems.
Anyway it seems in one part to have said that Java would be ruled by whites for three hundred years and then by the "brothers" (in some versions it is interpreted as yellow dwarves but I am not sure if that is really in the prophecy) for a short period of the life of a corn stalk.
This is of course is now interpreted as the long Dutch rule followed by the Japanese invasion and short occupation and then Indonesian independence.
Mainly for this reason many people believe that other parts of the prophecy will also come true in future, such as the prediction of a just king or Ratu Adil eventually coming to power after a terrible period in the world (a common feature of many prophecies worldwide).
There are of course many other famous predictions in the world, including whole books of them such as the Sybilline Prophecies in Ancient Rome and Greece and many others around the world.
The Sybilline prophecies were in Greek in poetic form and were consulted at numerous periods of crisis in the Roman Empire but exactly what they said was not made public and the books were destroyed in various episodes over the centuries by fire and deliberate destruction.
Of course some people refuse to believe in the possibility of such future predictions at all,
and certainly it is good to be sceptical about such claims as con tricks and illusions can be awfully clever and difficult to unmask.
An example is the phenomenon of firewalking in some Pacific Islands such as Fiji where people walk on red hot volcanic rock.
In the past I believed the firewalkers really were in a trance which made them impervious to pain, but it now turns out that such types of rock can be red hot on one side but much cooler on the other side!
A safe path of cooler side rock is no doubt left for the walkers to cross over without getting badly burned. This fact is of course unknown to most of the audience.
So even though it is very hot a trained firewalker can withstand the heat on the safer parts of the rock!
So a surprising natural property of volcanic rock has been cleverly turned into a major entertainment spectacle and in the past a way of increasing no doubt the prestige of chiefs or priests or warriors.
Another example is the practise particularly in India of sticking needles through mouths or other parts of the body, seemingly without pain.
The pain however can be dulled beforehand by clamping or stimulating other areas of the body or anatomical correspondences as in Zone Therapy or Reflexology or Acupuncture anaesthesia.
This medical knowledge has then been used to make a living in entertainment just as firewalkers have done with their volcanic rock trick.
We are all familiar with magicians on stage and T.V but in those cases we know it is all trickery but we do not know how it works. Only when it is explained in detail do we start to see how it is done.
Most magic turns out to be clever illusion based on knowledge of how humans perceive things and how such natural facts can be manipulated for profit.
However some things still seem hard to explain.
One of the things most difficult to explain away is when a past prediction seems to come true, as with some parts of the writings of the famous seer Nostradamus (who was famous even whilst alive for accurate predictions) and also for example the Joyoboyo prophecy in Indonesia.
There are disputes about when the Joyoboyo prophecy was actually written down and also what exactly is contained in it, as many versions online seem to be not quite what it really stated.
King Jayabhaya or Ratu Joyoboyo was King of the kingdom of Kediri on Java from 1135 to 1157 A.D. and well known for his prophecies which were included in long epic poems.
Anyway it seems in one part to have said that Java would be ruled by whites for three hundred years and then by the "brothers" (in some versions it is interpreted as yellow dwarves but I am not sure if that is really in the prophecy) for a short period of the life of a corn stalk.
This is of course is now interpreted as the long Dutch rule followed by the Japanese invasion and short occupation and then Indonesian independence.
Mainly for this reason many people believe that other parts of the prophecy will also come true in future, such as the prediction of a just king or Ratu Adil eventually coming to power after a terrible period in the world (a common feature of many prophecies worldwide).
There are of course many other famous predictions in the world, including whole books of them such as the Sybilline Prophecies in Ancient Rome and Greece and many others around the world.
The Sybilline prophecies were in Greek in poetic form and were consulted at numerous periods of crisis in the Roman Empire but exactly what they said was not made public and the books were destroyed in various episodes over the centuries by fire and deliberate destruction.
Of course some people refuse to believe in the possibility of such future predictions at all,
and certainly it is good to be sceptical about such claims as con tricks and illusions can be awfully clever and difficult to unmask.
An example is the phenomenon of firewalking in some Pacific Islands such as Fiji where people walk on red hot volcanic rock.
In the past I believed the firewalkers really were in a trance which made them impervious to pain, but it now turns out that such types of rock can be red hot on one side but much cooler on the other side!
A safe path of cooler side rock is no doubt left for the walkers to cross over without getting badly burned. This fact is of course unknown to most of the audience.
So even though it is very hot a trained firewalker can withstand the heat on the safer parts of the rock!
So a surprising natural property of volcanic rock has been cleverly turned into a major entertainment spectacle and in the past a way of increasing no doubt the prestige of chiefs or priests or warriors.
Another example is the practise particularly in India of sticking needles through mouths or other parts of the body, seemingly without pain.
The pain however can be dulled beforehand by clamping or stimulating other areas of the body or anatomical correspondences as in Zone Therapy or Reflexology or Acupuncture anaesthesia.
This medical knowledge has then been used to make a living in entertainment just as firewalkers have done with their volcanic rock trick.
We are all familiar with magicians on stage and T.V but in those cases we know it is all trickery but we do not know how it works. Only when it is explained in detail do we start to see how it is done.
Firewalking is quite a spectacle but it is not magic.
You can also cook marshmallows or light cigarettes on the fire afterwards.
You can also cook marshmallows or light cigarettes on the fire afterwards.
Magicians are a stock figure in many cultures, sawing women in half and producing rabbits out of hats.
The famous Indian rope trick is another example of clever illusion.
Is future prophecy also a trick or a trick of the mind?
Time Travel
Is time travel possible? It would help to explain the ability to prophecy the future wouldn't it. Personally I think time travel of some sort is likely to be possible, although I am not clever enough to see how it can be done.
Some scientists dismiss the idea as nonsense and others consider it possible, perhaps only backwards in time though as some suspect. Various theories of time seem to support the idea of time travel in some way.
Anyway an advanced civilisation may well be able to travel in time in some way which would explain an awful lot about human history. Perhaps Dr Who was not so far fetched after all.
The evidence seems to me that some people can see the future in some way although perhaps not without a degree of error.
There are too many examples of accurate predictions to be just trickery or luck or coincidence. Examples of trickery also abound so we should not be too quick to accept things without thorough investigation, but I do not think it is all trickery.
Belief in magic is still around in many countries, particularly in poor uneducated ones, and Indonesia is no exception.
Black magic is well known in many areas of Asia but then Europe still believed in witches for example in Shakespeare's time. In a way the success of Harry Potter draws on this childhood belief in magic.
The famous Indian rope trick is another example of clever illusion.
Is future prophecy also a trick or a trick of the mind?
Time Travel
Is time travel possible? It would help to explain the ability to prophecy the future wouldn't it. Personally I think time travel of some sort is likely to be possible, although I am not clever enough to see how it can be done.
Some scientists dismiss the idea as nonsense and others consider it possible, perhaps only backwards in time though as some suspect. Various theories of time seem to support the idea of time travel in some way.
Anyway an advanced civilisation may well be able to travel in time in some way which would explain an awful lot about human history. Perhaps Dr Who was not so far fetched after all.
The evidence seems to me that some people can see the future in some way although perhaps not without a degree of error.
There are too many examples of accurate predictions to be just trickery or luck or coincidence. Examples of trickery also abound so we should not be too quick to accept things without thorough investigation, but I do not think it is all trickery.
Belief in magic is still around in many countries, particularly in poor uneducated ones, and Indonesia is no exception.
Black magic is well known in many areas of Asia but then Europe still believed in witches for example in Shakespeare's time. In a way the success of Harry Potter draws on this childhood belief in magic.
Witches,wizards and witch doctors are a prominent group in past history and many people still have a lingering interest for such things,
perhaps as a relief from the mundane boring world most of us grow tired of in everyday life.
perhaps as a relief from the mundane boring world most of us grow tired of in everyday life.