Magic or Lies?

“Magick is the art of causing changes in consciousness in conformity with the Will.”

- Dion Fortune

My dentist has a little ritual she does with the kids she sees. The first time my daughter had to have a filling done, the dentist told her she would use some "Harry Potter magic" to help make the cavity go away. While she applied the topical gel and then injected the Novacaine, she and her assistant chanted an incantation. In order for the magic to work, my daughter had to close her eyes and to repeat the chant in her head.

We were at the dentist again last week, and since my daughter is getting old enough to begin to doubt in things like Santa Claus, the Tooth Fairy and Harry Potter magic that can take away a cavity, the dentist asked me if she should still use her magic spell. I told her she should. I figured if it still worked for my daughter, why not? If it didn't work, no harm done.

Odin the Wanderer (Georg von Rosen, 1886)
Odin is linked by some people
to the archetype of Santa Claus

"It's a lie," said the dentist."But it's only a little one."

I understood what she meant, but I don't happen to agree. I can see no lie in what she does for the children she treats.

My dentist was trained at Université de Montréal, where the school of dentistry is known for its pioneering in teaching prospective dentists to use psychology to help patients relax and to ease any discomfort they may have. When I sit in that same chair, the things she says to me are not so very different from what she tells my kids. She reminds me to sit comfortably, to close my eyes, and to focus on breathing through my nose.

OK, so there's no incantation and she makes no attempt to hide the syringe of Novacaine from me. But other than that, she follows pretty much the same procedure for children and for adults. She speaks in a soft, relaxing voice. At the beginning of every visit she takes time for small talk about the weather, family, common interests - anything at all really, just so long as we chat and have time to ease into our hour together. I've had very similar conversations before beginning a circle. It's all part of establishing the right atmosphere, and entering the right frame of mind for the work ahead.

My daughter later confided in me that she knew about the needle, but she didn't object to the chanting of the spell. She explained that the first time she hadn't said the words in her head when she was told to. "Alakazam, boom, boom!" may seem a little outlandish to her these days, but it does work. She felt pain when she didn't repeat the incantation to herself, so the dentist gave her a moment to relax and reminded her to say the words silently in her head the next time. And of course, she had no pain that time!

We discussed this on the way home. I asked her if she thought the magic words helped, and she thought they had. So I told her she should remember that for the next time.

It's perfectly fine for her to question and to test. The experience at the dentist's office taught her that, while she may have known about the needle the dentist was trying to hide, there was still merit in the rest of the ritual. It relieved her pain, even though she knew what she (and the dentist!) thought was the secret.

Sometimes in life, the things we think are a big deal really aren't. And things we think are trivial, turn out to be much more useful than we could have expected.