Do You Believe in Magic?

There was a song in 1965 by the Lovin' Spoonful that asked this question:  Do you believe in magic?  We usually think of some religious item as a talisman, or perhaps a sports team will think of one player as a talisman.  I did some research into what defines a talisman and the more common talisman was a cross as jewelry.  Some people get a cross tattoo to ward off evil as a talisman.  It could be a grandmother's wedding ring worn as jewelry like a necklace.  Some baseball players would never wash their socks for a whole season.

So, a talisman is usually a religious object to ward off evil and bad luck, but a talisman could be most any revered object.  When I smoke my pipes, I have a small stone angel that comes in its own pouch that I place carefully on the table next to me.  But while I have my "Angel" pipe that could be another talisman, I have another pipe that just might be a talisman also.    That pipe is my Gettysburg pipe.  I've affectionately called this pipe my "haunted" pipe, but I've thought of it as a kind of talisman as well.

I can't say any of my pipes have brought me good luck, but smoking a pipe seems to help with my blood pressure.  I have a pipe tamper tool that was a gift from one of my son's, and I could consider that as a talisman, if I so desire.  I store some pipes inside my pipe cabinet, while I keep both my "Angel" pipe and my Gettysburg pipe on top my pipe cabinet.  I have another angel on top my pipe cabinet.  But I am thinking that instead of my Gettysburg pipe being haunted, it just might be the opposite.  

Our minds believe in magic from a very early age.  Our young minds didn't grasp what goes into a carton of milk, but at breakfast, there it was.  As an adult, we still don't want to stop believing in magic.  Magicians aren't just entertaining for children, but as adults we are fascinated by magic.  And the more amazing a trick, the more we want to believe.  It might be that magic involves the supernatural.  We just want to believe.  It's like that with my several talismans I possess, including my two pipes.  There is that same kind of magical wonder in my two angels.  

I don't really need my Angel's, my "angel" pipe, or my Gettysburg pipe, but as an adult, I still want to believe they have magic, if not mystical powers I can't explain.  I smoke my Gettysburg pipe perhaps more often than most, but not because I think it's haunted.  And in regard to my "angel" pipe, I have wondered how my wife came across it, since it seems her having done so is a rather minor miracle in itself.  I'm guessing my Gettysburg pipe was made sometime in the 1930's, but that is just a guess.  However, it seems my Gettysburg pipe is by far the most mysterious pipe I own.  I COULD attribute magical powers to this pipe.  Or I could say it's just an old pipe and there's nothing to it and the 'angel" pipe was meant to be.  But I could wonder how it is that I, of all people, possess these pipes.  Why are they mine?  

I could believe I have my own talismans.  This Gettysburg pipe i'm smoking today could be one.  But do I REALLY believe these inanimate objects have special powers?  Let me say I WANT to believe.  I COULD say that like a certain player on a ball team has certain powers for the team, I COULD be a talisman not for myself, but for others.  I COULD be.  Who's to say I'm not?  A talisman could be anything you want it to be.  Who's to say you're wrong?  Do you believe in magic?  Thank you for your time and Peace to each one of you.

Dave