The
Prince and the Magician
Once upon a time there was a young prince who believed in all things but three. He did not believe in princesses, he did not believe in islands, and he did not believe in God. His father, the king, had told him that such things did not exist. As there were no princesses or islands in his father's domains, and no sign of God, the prince believed his father.
But
then one day the prince ran away from his palace and came to the next land.
There to his astonishment from the coast he saw islands, and on these islands,
strange and troubling creatures whom he dared not name. As he was searching for
a boat, a man in full evening dress approached him along the shore.
"Are
those real islands?"
asked the young prince.
"Of
course they are real islands," said the man in evening dress.
"And
those strange and troubling creatures?"
"They are all genuine and
authentic princesses."
"Then God
must also exist!"
cried the prince.
"I am God," replied the
man in evening dress, with a bow.
The
young prince returned home as quickly as he could.
"So,
you are back,"
said his father, the king.
"I have seen islands, I have seen princesses, I have seen
God" said the
prince reproachfully.
The king
was unmoved. "Neither real islands, nor real
princesses, nor a real God exist."
"I saw
them!"
"Tell
me how God was dressed."
"God was in full evening dress."
"Were the sleeves of his
coat rolled back?"
The
prince remembered that they had been.
The king smiled. "That is the uniform of a magician. You have been
deceived."
At this, the prince returned to
the next land and went to the same shore, where once again he came upon the man
in full evening dress.
"My father, the king, has told me who you are," said the prince indignantly. "You deceived me last time, but not again. Now I know
that those are not real islands and real princesses, because you are a
magician."
The man
on the shore smiled. "It is you who are deceived, my boy. In your father's
kingdom, there are many islands and many princesses. But you are under your
father's spell, so you cannot see them."
The
prince pensively returned home. When he saw his father, he looked him in the
eye.
"Father, is it true that you are not a real king, but only a
magician?"
The king
smiled and rolled back his sleeves. "Yes, my
son, I'm only a magician."
"Then the
man on the other shore was God."
"The man on the other shore
was another magician."
"I must know the truth, the truth beyond magic."
"There is no truth beyond
magic," said the
king.
The prince was full of sadness. He
said, "I will kill myself."
The king by magic caused Death to
appear. Death stood in the door and beckoned to the prince.
The prince shuddered. He remembered
the beautiful but unreal islands, and the unreal but beautiful princesses.
"Very well," he said, "I can bear it."
"You see, my
son," said the
king, "you, too, now begin to be a magician.
{from The Magus, by John
Fowles and
The Structure of Magic by Richard Bandler and John
Grinder}
Keith and Marnie
Elliott’s “REMEDY” Site
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