History behind the magical materials

_Elsa_

‘Historically, many self-proclaimed magicians have required rare and precious materials, such as crystal balls, rare herbs (often picked by prescribed rituals), and elements such as mercury. This is less common in fantasy. Many magicians require no materials at all; those that do may require only simple and easily obtained materials. Role-playing games are more likely to require such materials for at least some spells to prevent characters from casting them too easily.

Wands and staves have long been used as requirements for the magician. The first magical wand was featured in the Odyssey, used by Circe to transform Odysseus's men into animals. Italian fairy tales put wands into the hands of powerful fairies by the late Middle Ages. Today, magical wands are widespread and are used from Witch World to Harry Potter. In The Lord of the Rings, Gandalf refuses to surrender his own staff, breaking Saruman's, which strips the latter of his power. This dependency on a particular magical item is common, and necessary to limit the magician's power for the story's sake – without it, the magician's powers may be weakened or absent entirely. In the Harry Potter universe, a wizard must expend much greater effort and concentration to use magic without a wand, and only a few can control magic without one; taking away a wizard's wand in battle essentially disarms him.’ (Source)

‘The Secret Tools Magicians Use to Fool You - You've probably seen magicians pull playing cards from thin air, make silk handkerchiefs change colors, or cause cigarettes to vanish. What you likely didn't notice—assuming the trick was successful—were the secret gadgets and modified props, called "gimmicks," used to fool your eyes. From fake thumbs to silicone eggs, they only work by evading detection. 

Magician David Kwong breaks down magic into what he calls the "7 Principles of Illusion" and explains what goes into the execution of a magic trick.’ (source)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-_2mj1pwveo

Wow! So that’s how they do those tricks! Yeti and Chewy are quite impressed.

The sad wizard stops feeling sad as he looks in the direction of where Yeti, Chewy and the magician are. He decides to head on over to say hello. He doesn’t want to interrupt the magician so he just waits for a free moment to introduce himself.

“Let me share a bit more about what we can teach you about your brain,” says the magician.

Let’s continue - What Can Magicians Teach Us about the Brain?

Start at the beginning – Yeti and Chewy learn all about magic