I suppose the thing with magic is that a lot of it is about writing anyway. “To cast a spell.” That’s a fancy way of saying spelling. Grimoire, the big book of magical secrets. That’s a French way of saying ‘grammar.’ It’s all about language and writing. It’s all about incantation. It’s all about all these things. And so magic, really, it turns out to just be a continuation of the stuff I’ve been doing anyway. Using certain arrangements of words or images to affect people’s consciousness.
Tag: videos
Placebos as a science of rituals and spells
In exploring possible meanings of “critical magick”, I find myself collecting perspectives on magick from many different fields, many ways of knowing. Placebo researchers use the words “magic” and “ritual” more than you might expect from scientists. Here is Ted Kaptchuk, professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, giving an introduction to placebo studies. He explains a definition of placebos not as fake treatments, but rather as the impact of all the cultural and relationship stuff that happens along with treatments.
‘Placebo effects’ is a way of quantifying and measuring everything that surrounds pills and procedures, mainstream or alternative. They’re about the rituals, the words, the engagements, the costumes, the diplomas, and those special things you get when you go to a healer.