Do you Believe in Magic?

One of the lesser-known stories about my life is how magic and witchcraft seemed to have had a fascination with me. This is not something I have told many people about and it is anything but trivial. If you ask folks these days if they believe in magic, they will point you to popular culture and shows like Harry Potter or the Lord of the Rings. They might see it as a little bit of fun, or entertainment. For me, the experience thereof has been a little different.

Like a lot of people, I was introduced to the concept of magic in books. Authors like Enid Blyton, Roald Dahl, and J. R. R. Tolkien were the earliest writers of the fantasy genre I was exposed to. And yes, it was just a bit of fun. Things like sorcery and demons were vehicles to tell a story of fantastic beings, supernatural characters, and magical abilities. You may ask, how is this different from Marvel comic books and the like? The short answer would be, not very.

When I was 10 years old, I received a package in the mail. To this day, I do n