The Course makes important reference to the idea of “magic” as being the unconscious use of our thought and power. Lack of awareness combined with power suggests danger, and in the Course the results of this combination as “magic” has the appearance of being harmful, even destructive. This reference includes the aspect of magical thinking (“magic thoughts”) in the service of fantasy, and of actual “enchantment.”
While modern society long ago moved past an actual belief in the fairy tale version of enchantment (while still being fascinated with it in numerous variations in popular culture), in modern life we still encounter actual aspects of this strange phenomenon. For instance, addiction in any of its many forms can be seen as a kind of modern manifestation of enchantment, tragic in its results and extremely difficult to “get out of” or free from. The manipulation of attention through multiple means, such as mass media, advertising, and statistics, that makes up so much of our world, is another kind of modern enchantment that has tangible harmful and even destructive consequences for society and individuals. The hypnotic effect of overwhelming sexual attraction and infatuation that can overtake a person and wreak havoc in lives has a strong enchantment quality to it, particularly considering that the Holy Spirit’s Guidance, including in relationships, always leads to Peace. And the compulsion of “group think” that overtakes people’s values and better sense – from feeling compelled to participate in a group activity one really doesn’t feel good or right about (“going along with the crowd”) to the devastating impacts resulting from the “fog of war” – is also a current regular “enchantment” experience we deal with in our lives.
Finally, it can rightly be said that perceiving a world that isn’t there, as we do our entire lives until we learn to see and then awaken, is the greatest enchantment imaginable. Indeed, the entire world of illusions is the most profound manifestation possible of the wrong use of thought and power combined, enchanting those caught in it into believing that their hallucination is real, and maintained through fantasy. Thus becoming free of enchantment and of fantasy and their attendant magic thoughts, in all of their forms, through learning to see and then awaken, can be thought of as another way of perceiving our single purpose in life.
At the same time, in current common usage in the English language the terms “magic” and “magical” as adjectives and “magic” as a noun have a completely opposite connotation than the unconscious and harmful or destructive use of thought and power depicted as magic in the context of the Course. These terms in common usage connote “miraculous,” “transcendent,” or “in the presence of Grace.” A search on these terms will result in countless examples from literature and news on the common positive usage of these terms, and rare examples of their specialized usage of enchantment in the Course. Likewise, the common usage of the adjective “enchanting” in English is also very positive, meaning “lovely” or “delightful,” with its noun counterpart, “enchantment,” having similar connotations, including “delight” and “fascination.” The Course’s idea of enchantment as manipulation or hallucination will rarely be found in modern English usage.
A contrast also exists between the use of the term “darkness” in the Course and in its usage particularly in some spiritual contexts. In the Course, “darkness” has no positive connotations. Its meaning as the physical absence of light is extended in the Course to include the spiritual absence of Light, or ignorance. In this context darkness has no reality and therefore no true, eternal Purpose, being merely the temporary absence of light, physical or spiritual. In contrast, in some spiritual contexts the idea of darkness indicates the idea of the great Mystery of the Cosmos and of Being which human understanding can never comprehend, and/or of a cosmic balance of universal forces: light and dark, masculine and feminine, etc., without which one or the other would be meaningless.
This dichotomy between the use of the terms “magic” and “enchantment” in common English usage and the use of the term “darkness” as a profoundly meaningful idea in some spiritual contexts, and the use of these terms in the Course can cause a kind of dissonance in the mind of the reader of the Course. Such dissonance is avoidable. It just needs to be kept in mind that the Course never uses the term “magic” in the sense of what is miraculous, transcendent, or in the presence of Grace, or “enchantment” in the sense of delight, or “darkness” in the sense of the great Mystery of Being or a cosmic balance of universal forces. Being a course in miracles, it states directly when something is miraculous or an aspect of Grace, and also when something stirs true joy. The Course’s use of the terms “magic” and “enchantment” always refers to the combination of unconscious thought and power that has the appearance of being harmful and destructive. With regard to darkness, the Course asserts that when we awaken to our true Being from the dream of this world nothing will be hidden from us or mysterious to us, and all things will naturally be in Balance fully in the Light as they always have been and always will be in Reality.
Being aware that the Course’s use of the terms “magic,” “enchantment” and “darkness” is quite specialized, it can simply be understood that the common or spiritually specific usage of these terms as positive qualities does not mean the same thing as, and therefore need not conflict with, the Course’s use of the terms.