There’s nothing like that ‘WOW’ response to a great magic trick, befuddling our minds and leaving us wondering how the hell it was possible.
We love watching good magicians practice their illusions on people, like Darren Brown or Dynamo (he’s our favorite). We had the opportunity to see one of his live shows at Grand West Casino near Cape Town a few years ago. It was amazing! We had great seats even though we weren’t close to the stage. The wild thing is that the cameras scanned over the audience a few times during the show and three of those times right over us, throwing our faces onto the big stage screen. I wish there was a live recording to keep as a trophy. All the illusions and tricks, the sleight of hand, and especially the levitation, were super cool. But there was one particular act that stood out above all the others – the disappearing act.
Dynamo was
on stage and the tension was mounting as he prepared this final trick. It was
like, POOF, and he was gone, disappearing in a cloud of white smoke. Within two
seconds a dark figure appeared right next to Danie, who was seated next to the
center aisle, in the middle half of the theater. Danie looked up to see Dynamo
standing right next to him. The only words Danie could get out was: “Holy f***!”
which could be heard over Dynamo’s microphone. He shook Danie’s hand and ran
back up to the stage, which was a good fifty meters away. It was so cool!!
Danie swore that he would never wash his hand, ha ha ha. But it really was an
amazing experience.
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| Dynamo Show at Grand West Casino 2018 |
Speaking of magic, who of you have heard of magic mushrooms or shrooms, as people in South Africa like to call them? Well, magic mushrooms are an aphrodisiac which people take to have a euphoric and/or hallucinogenic experience. Psilocybin (the “magic” part) found in certain polyphyletic informal group of fungi, turns into psilocin upon ingestion, which then sends the user on a “trip” which can last between four to six hours. The reason why I am telling you about this, will follow shortly. (Please note that we do not encourage the use of any drugs. It can be dangerous)
When Danie
turned fifty, he decided that it was time to “catch up” and do some things
which he had never done before. So, number one on his list was to get a tattoo.
A friend told us about a friend who did tattoos as a hobby and so, off we went
to see him and get Danie his much-desired tattoo. Our first impression of Vicus (Viking) was one of hesitation, that is, until we started chatting and getting to know
him. He is a rough and couldn’t-give-a-damn-what-anyone-thinks kind of guy. He drinks
beer instead of water and smokes weed instead of cigarettes, all day. We became
good friends with Vicus and his girlfriend and often got together on weekends
for a braai (barbeque).
Danie got
his first tattoo, but it didn’t stop there. Every so often, when Vicus came to
visit on a weekend, he would be told to bring his chub machine with, just in
case someone wanted a tattoo or two or three. I then decided, what the hell, I’m
going to get a small tattoo on my ankle. Bloody hell, that was a painful area
to get a first tattoo, and was almost my last one, almost!
Vicus introduced
Danie to cannabis oil (tar) for medicinal use. Danie would take a smidge of
this tar before bedtime and he would sleep deeply without any backache,
or neck pain, or shoulder pain, or whatever pain was present. We even gave it
to our Great Dane at night, who had developed Wobbler’s disease - a slow, uncomfortable
paralysis – and we gave it to our other little dog who occasionally had mild seizures.
Danie introduced
a few people to this amazing medicinal pain “medication” but also warned them
not to drink any alcohol or take more than the recommended dosage (common sense). One old-timer
disregarded the recommendations and precautions, drank wine and took way more
tar than he should have. His family rushed him to hospital, not realizing that he
was tripping. He was angry with Danie, but it was his own fault and he couldn’t
deny it. He was not the only one to make this mistake. Our son-in-law took too
much before going to bed one evening, but when he woke up during the night with an
abnormally thick tongue and extreme thirst, he guzzled down a liter of water. Then
feeling overcome with nausea, he proceeded in the direction of the bathroom,
but recalled that gravity made him so heavy that he couldn’t move faster than a
slow foot shuffle, and sent a gushing stream of vomit in the direction of the toilet,
and missed. Our daughter was not impressed with Danie or Wayne.
On one of our
lekker weekend visits, Vicus brought something that we had never
heard of before – Magic Mushrooms. Danie said, what the hell, and decided to
try it. Not knowing that it took a while to work, he took a little more and then some more.
All seemed pretty normal at first and then suddenly normality disappeared. The first
sign of abnormality was Danie’s conviction that he could walk on water, which he tried to do,
twice. I wasn’t amused the second time I had to give him warm, dry clothes.
It was around hour two that he became intensely aware of his surroundings (we were outdoors), and of nature in particular. He kept asking us if we could see it. See what? The tree pulling up water from the soil into its roots; the energy in the plants; the life-force leaving a falling leaf; the intense colors. It was as if nature was more alive and the hidden became visible. Danie then described the sky coming down and enveloping him like a blanket. He moved into this cloudy space to see if he could find more of something or maybe someone, but only found an inviting bright light. Around hour four he started talking to something in the tree. He said he was having a conversation with an owl. We laughed, but the next minute the owl, who had really been in the tree, flew down and sat right in front of him and they continued their strange conversation. We were pretty freakin’ amazed, to say the least. To this day, Danie cannot recall the exact words they exchanged, but remembers the whole shroom experience very clearly.
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| Danie's Owl |
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| Is it real? |
I did some further study on the topic of magic mushrooms and found some very interesting articles relating to experimental treatment, which you can Google yourself if interested. One thing that did stand out was that, if taken in micro doses, powdered shrooms could enhance your mental clarity. Thinking that this is what I needed at my age, I decided to give it a try. Every morning, I took ‘n tiny knife-tip of powder before heading out for work. One morning I skipped breakfast and left for work as usual. While sitting behind my computer in the office, I became aware that I could suddenly not make out anything on my computer screen. The words were jumbled and flowy. I panicked and told Danie that I needed to see a doctor quickly because I was losing my eyesight. He put two and two together and told me to eat a slice of the leftover birthday cake in the office refrigerator, then close my eyes and relax for a few minutes. It worked, hallelujah, I wasn’t going blind. I stopped taking mind-enhancing powder from that day.
There are
many forms of magic in everyday life - the magic of a smile, a hug, a tender kiss, a
compliment, a thank you, an unexpected gift, a dream come true. One doesn’t have to go to a magic
show or use shrooms or talk to owls to experience magic. It is all around us
and waiting to be uncovered. I often take photos of sunsets from the window in
our little flat, and each one is as spectacular as the previous one. It is
sometimes difficult to recognize these magic moments, especially when times are
exceptionally tough. Every time I think about my children and my granddaughter,
my heart wants to break into a thousand pieces, but I convince myself that I
will see them soon and feel those little arms around my neck again.
Won’t that
just be the magic of all magic moments?!!!
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