Magic today

In addition to its ancient origins, part of the traditional mysticism about wine relates to its euphoric effect. Certainly this would have seemed magical in earhest times. It contributed to involvement of wine in religion, in rituals and in celebration. This fact today is still reflected in the special rituahstic place accorded wines. 

The secrets of alchemy revealed for divination and self-discovery. For hundreds, even thousands, of years, the magical laws of alchemy have been denied us. Does this ancient art really have the power to turn lead into gold Why is its wisdom shrouded in mystery And what relevance does it have today This book, which contains 96 pages illustrated with traditional engravings and woodcuts, answers these questions and more. By interpreting the texts and illustrations of ancient manuscripts, this work enables the participant to reveal for her/himself how the symbolism can help choices made in their own lives"... 

His enemies called him a coarse, shallow charlatan, but he d somehow survived the harsh eraser of history. You can still see Cagliostro today in science fiction movies like Spawn or in dramatic costume movies like The Affair of the Necklace. At least half a dozen films have been made about his life—in Russia, in America, in Germany, in Italy, and in France. In the last two countries, he still features in television cartoons, comics, pop music, and pulp novels. More highbrow consumers encounter him as Sarastro in Mozart s famous opera The Magic Flute, or in Johann Strauss s operetta Cagliostro in Wien. 

Morphy, R., Kay, C., and Rankovic, Z., From magic bullets to designed multiple ligands, Drug Discov. Today, 9, 641, 2004. 

Any discussion of the chemistry of drugs must include some consideration of the nonmedical applications of such compounds. Just as early humans were searching their environment for natural products that would assuage pain and cure disease, so were they also looking for plants and other natural materials with psychoactive effects, materials that would provide an escape from the problems and worries of everyday life, or that would just make a person feel better for a period of time. They also incorporated psychoactive drugs into many of their religious ceremonies. The use of the peyote cactus, magic mushrooms, and similar products dates back centuries, if not millennia, in a variety of cultures. One hardly need point out that the use of psychoactive chemicals for recreational purposes continues in essentially every part of the world today. 

The definition goes on to explain magic as, the use of means (as charms or spells) believed to have supernatural power over natural forces. 1 This would seem to fit most people s idea of magic, but this definition contains the disclaimer believed. This brings up the second essential problem. Modern science views magic as a superstition. This is in spite of the fact that magic, especially in the form of alchemy, is the ancestor of science and an accepted part of ancient Western culture. Also, many people in the West today and in other parts of the world continue to believe in and practice magic. 

Another important early contribution to the evolving proliferation of modernist esoterica was Mesmerism, named after its founder Franz Anton Mesmer (1734-1815). At well-attended seances, Mesmer practiced what we would today call hypnotism. In the early Romantic period hypnosis seemed a kind of white magic, offering proof for the existence of the soul, of a hereafter, and all forms of prophetic, mentally superior Spiritual Vision, in... 

Almost all of the biopharmaceuticals available today, other than vaccines, are proteins or peptides. Of considerable importance among this array of products are monoclonal antibodies. These magic bullets became a reality with... 

---