Magic is all in your head, all about two things, imagination and will. You have to focus on your desired outcome and you have to have the will to make it happen.
~Jim Butcher in Dresden Files, Welcome to the Jungle
Sounds like hard work and passion is magic, doesn’t it? Hmm. He might be onto something here.
Shawn L. Bird 
Yes. There is nothing supernatural about magic.
🙂
Have you ever read Jack Whyte’s Camulod/Dream of Eagles series? (different name in US market for some reason). He looks at the mythology around Camelot from a historical perspective and treats Merlin as a performer who knows how to use slight of hand, some powders left by Egyptian magicians, and a lot of attitude to manipulate the populace. Really great series. His premise is that Camelot was a left over Roman enclave. (First one is The Skystone- meteorite is found and is used to forge Excaliber…) Fascinating guy. I’ve heard Jack speak several times. He lives in my hometown now though he grew up in Scotland.
It is easier if you spell it correctly … M A J I K
Then I”m looking for the Gathering
The Quickening I can help you with. Although haggis is involved and that scares a lot of people!
Hmm. Never had it. Probably should at least once. I always figured that would involve a Burn’s poem and some serious ceremony to make it worthwhile though. Get hubby into his kilt and out in public. So many challenges. lol
And Drambuie! Don’t forget the Drambuie! Challenges get much easier with lots of Drambuie. Well not so much for a couple American friends of mine. I did warn them.
I’m afraid I don’t drink so I have never had the pleasure. I remain somewhat sad that I missed the opportunity to participate in a whisky tasting with Scottish author Jack Whyte at a Steampunk party last August.
That puts magic in the same boat as anything else that is worthwhile!
Yup.
Reblogged this on H. R. Shavor and commented:
I deeply enjoy Jim Butcher’s Dresden Files series. A friend turned me on to them and it sparked my love of fantasy again. This is a beautiful quote.
I was reading a short story anthology called Dangerous Women (ed. George R R Martin and Gardner Dozois) and really enjoyed a story Jim Butcher had in there, so I ordered this graphic novel from the public library. I think I’ll be reading more of his work.
I remember reading through that book when our local library got it. It’s popular and has a lot of great stories, though I admit I picked it up because it had a Jim Butcher story inside.
I think GRRM does them so that the devoted audiences of one author will be introduced to the work of other authors, which it did for me.
Very true. I always feel like he’s devious enough to do exactly that.