September 2025
A paradigm shift is under way in science. The notion that there is more to this reality than matter is slowly, yet steadily seeping in. It is really about reenacting ancient knowledge, which is called magic, according to “The Science of Magic: How the Mind Weaves the Fabric of Reality” by Dean Radin, chief scientist of the Institute of Noetic Sciences (IONS).
The author, Dean Radin, is chief scientist at IONS. PHOTO Canva and IONS
Radin’s book, which follows his 2018 release of “Real Magic: Ancient Wisdom, Modern Science, and a Guide to the Secret Power of the Universe”, will be released on 21 October.
He sees a link between the mystical inner space, psi phenomena, and what is called “magic”. After at least half a century of almost complete disregard of consciousness in conventional science, things are changing. Science has gone from uncritical acceptance of reductionist materialism to serious consideration of postmaterialist ideas. The revival of psychedelics and the lively, renewed consciousness research are at the center of this change.
Following his own Near-Death Experience, Radin pivoted from a materialist to post-materialist scientist.
That transformation of worldview also happened to the founder of IONS. Apollo 14 astronaut Edgar Mitchell reported that his detached view of Earth prompted reconsideration of how science views consciousness.
Radin, who also is a transpersonal psychologist, said in a webinar that, in a sense, outer space is mirrored by inner space.
“We are now in a period of reenchantment”, Radin said.
Research on psychic capabilities — which appear to be magic because we don’t fully understand the mechanism at play — has validated these phenomena. This “magic” is akin invoked by shamans, Radin explains. Numerous rigorous experiments on telepathy have shown psi is real, is natural and is an innate sense that can be developed.
One experiment, which has stood the test of repeatability by different researchers, involves asking participants to describe what picture another participant in a different location is viewing. After over 4,700 sessions described in 109 peer-reviewed studies between 1970 and 2022, the hit rate is 31.4 percent. Random choice would give 25 percent. The likelihood of this difference occurring by chance, according to Radin, is 2.9 sextillion to one. Studies on precognition and the feeling of being stared at have rendered similarly robust results.
This scares academics. But there is no need to panic about reenacting old knowledge, he asserted: “It’s more like a spiral than going backwards”.
Radin foresees that the ‘science of magic’ will be the science of the 22nd century. Perhaps it will happen sooner.
A few universities today offer graduate degrees in topics focused on humans’ unseen abilities, such as transpersonal psychology and magic. Three examples are Sofia University (California, USA), International University of Professional Studies (for online distance education, based in Hawaii, USA) and University of Exeter (UK).
“These subject matters are not completely mainstream yet, but this is a big change. And the interest in this kind of research is exploding, not least in the tech industry. And they have money”, Radin said.
Written by Anders Bolling
Edited by Liza Horan
