Illusions about Illusions

Abstract

I am here to persuade you that magic runs rampant in our lives and that this is a good thing. We are all magicians—illusionists—who survive, take pleasure, and find meaning in life by means of the illusions we create. Therefore, I am a magician … and so are you.

Robert E. Neale is a freelance writer and magician who previously taught for twentyfour years as Professor of Psychiatry and Religion at Union Theological Seminary in New York. He is the author of numerous books and essays on magic, psychology, and religion, as well as a prolific creator of magic tricks. Neale’s cross-cultural chapter explores illusion-making, both in magical art and in everyday life. As a model for understanding illusions about illusions, he proposes “the monkey movement”: the ancient image of a monkey being both drawn toward an image in the water and reminded that the image is but a reflection. Neale suggests that the “monkey movement” between illusion and disillusion (and back again) is a familiar feature of human relationships with objects, people, ideas, ideals, and spirituality. Might it also serve as an aesthetic ideal for stage magicians?