Mysteries and the Unexplained in Credo: Magic in Popular Culture

From The Columbia Encyclopedia
In entertainment, the seeming manipulation and supernatural control of the natural world for the amusement and amazement of an audience. Entertainment magic can be divided into four main categories: sleight of hand, also known as prestidigitation or close-up magic, consisting of tricks done close to the spectators in which the eye is deceived by the fast and skillful manipulation of the hands; club or platform acts, in which various apparatuses are employed to create illusions of seemingly impossible events; escape magic, involving complicated breakouts from apparently inescapable situations; and mentalism or mind reading.

From Chambers Dictionary of the Unexplained
A form of entertainment usually performed for large audiences in theatres, in which illusions, sleight of hand and conjuring are performed to make the audience think they are seeing something which is apparently impossible; stage magic often makes use of elaborate, large-scale props and secret mechanisms.

From Encyclopedia of American Studies
Magic has always been a major current in American culture. Yet less is known about the history of American magic than about many other, far less pervasive cultural forms.

From Britannica Concise Encyclopedia
Art of entertaining by giving the illusion of performing impossible feats. The conjurer is an actor who combines psychology, manual dexterity, and mechanical aids to effect the desired illusion.

From Chambers Dictionary of the Unexplained
The practice of escaping from constraints or confinement.

From The Hutchinson Unabridged Encyclopedia
US magician who rose to stardom at the end of the 1990s. Known for his talent, charm, and penchant for extreme endurance tests, he appeared in the US television specials David Blaine: Street Magic (1997) and David Blaine: Magic Man (1999).

From Encyclopedia of American Studies
Possibly more than any other person, Harry Houdini defied the confines of mortality. Although each human lives within the limitations of his or her body, Houdini made himself seem like the exception to natural laws.

From Britannica Concise Encyclopedia
French magician, considered the father of modern conjuring.

From Chambers Dictionary of the Unexplained
A 19th-century English stage magician who famously exposed a number of fake psychics and mediums.

From Chambers Dictionary of the Unexplained
Possibly the most famous ‘sceptic’ and debunker of claims of the paranormal.

From Encyclopedia of Ancient Christianity
Contemporary of the apostles, born probably at Gitton in Samaria, where he met the deacon *Philip who had gone there by order of the apostles to spread the gospel (Acts 8:1-8).

From Chambers Dictionary of the Unexplained
Legendary magician associated with King Arthur.

From Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable
The fairy sister of King Arthur, a principal figure in Celtic legend and Arthurian romances, also known as Morgane, Morgaine, Morgue la Faye and as Morgana. Her name is of very uncertain origin, as are many names of Celtic mythology. It may come from Breton Morigena, ‘born of the sea’, or else Gaulish mawr, ‘great’, and can, ‘shining’. Some say it means ‘dawn’, and so relate it to English ‘morning’. Finally, there is the school that traces it back to Arabic marjan, ‘coral’, from Greek margaris, ‘pearl.’

From Chambers Dictionary of the Unexplained
People who practice sorcery; magicians who use supernatural powers, usually for evil purposes.

A witch is someone who practices witchcraft, an alleged magical or supernatural power.

From Chambers Dictionary of the Unexplained
Male practitioners of magic, popular figures in folklore and literature.

In 100 Ideas that Changed the Web
On 30 July 1999, a couple of amateur filmmakers released an indie flick that would challenge Hollywood's preconceptions about how to make and market a film.

From Chambers Dictionary of the Unexplained
The legend that the discoverers of the tomb of Tutankhamen were cursed.

October 31, the eve of All Saints' Day, observed with traditional games and customs.

Eponymous hero of a series of phenomenally popular prize-winning novels written by J. K. Rowling (1970—).

An item of equipment employed during séances, through which messages can allegedly be received from spirits of the dead.

From Brewer's Dictionary of Modern Phrase and Fable
A horror film (1968) based on a novel by Ira Levin about a young New York couple whose happiness about the forthcoming birth of their first child is undermined by the wife's growing conviction that she is carrying the Devil's child.

From Chambers Dictionary of the Unexplained
A fictional book of magic referred to in the works of H P Lovecraft; although Lovecraft insisted it was purely an invention on his part, it has inspired the publication of a number of texts claiming to be the 'real' Necronomicon.

From Chambers Film FactfinderAfter quarrelling with her aunt, farm girl Dorothy wishes herself elsewhere, only for a cyclone to grant her wish by sweeping her up and away. She finds herself in the magical land of Oz, populated by Munchkins and ruled over by two witches and one all-powerful wizard.

By the time The Exorcist was released in 1973, the nation's confidence in the American Dream—peaceful, prosperous lives centered on nuclear families—had eroded.

In Elsevier's Dictionary of Psychological Theories
The term pseudo-science refers to a system of theories and methods that claims falsely to be scientific, or is a system that is falsely regarded by some people to be scientific.