Dear Friends:
Most people think Harry Potter and Hogwarts are just a fantasy… but for us, Wizards and Schools are VERY real! For over 25 years, we have been hosting exceptional educational events where you, our students, are the stars of the show. Now the rest of the world is catching on!
“Our time requires humans willing to embrace the wisdom only available through experience and reflection. We need those willing to take on radical levels of personal responsibility as the shepherds of change. Those who insist on true, first hand understanding through their own thought processes, who can see the systems within systems that make the world work, and have the courage to truly question everything. These are the true wizards. This book is designed to set readers on the path that can make each of them such a person.”
    — Tobias Beckwith, The Wizard’s Way
In his new book, The Wizard’s Way Tobias examines the stories of wizards not only from legend–Merlyn, Gandalf, The Wizard of Oz, etc.–but also many true wizards from history, including da Vinci, Einstein, Gandhi and more recent examples including Eve Ensler, Jeff McBride and Steve Jobs. He concludes that these unusually effective human change agents share certain common traits. Traits that are not taught in our schools, but can be learned by anyone willing to seek the necessary experiences and embrace the essential principles.
More:Â http://www.tobiasbeckwith.com/wizard-s-way.html
“Mystery School is The REAL Hogwarts”
 - CNN news
Can you learn to be a real wizard?
Yes! There are now magic schools around the world:
China:
I have been touring in China for many years, and teaching magic to serious students of the art. Magic has taken me around the world and I am fortunate to be able to share my teachings with others, regardless of nationality! Â My video Series Trilogy of Trilogies, is the best selling magic series of all time, thanks to its music-driven style and international approach to teaching magic.
“Magic is an international language that transcends cultural, political & language barriers.”Â
–Â Jeff McBride
A VERY funny take on magic schools here: USA-Chinese magic in the news:
The Gift of Magic – This month of Mystery School Monday
On our Mystery School Monday show, the faculty explores the topic of “GIFT MAGIC.” Gift magic is a style of magic where you leave the participant with a small gift that is a symbol for the magical moment you created together. There are many kinds of gift magic; see them live each Monday on www.mcbridemagic.tv, or in our archive 24/7 after they have aired.
Scholarship Program- Give or take?
The Magic & Mystery School is passionately committed to improving the art of magic by helping magicians become increasingly excellent performers. To expand our ability to do that, the Faculty has created the Magic & Mystery School Scholarship Program.
The Program has two parts to it. The first part is a Scholarship Fund, made possible through generous contributions and gifts from the members of our extended community.
The second part is the School’s commitment to use every one of these dollars to offer scholarships to deserving students to attend one of our Las Vegas-based magic educational experiences. The scholarships are awarded on the basis of need; they are designed to help talented students close the financial gap to help achieve their magic education goal.
Please note: these scholarships offer partial tuition relief. If a person is awarded a scholarship, they will need to cover the remainder of their tuition and travel expenses. We need your help to generate as many of these scholarships as possible. If you are able, please click on the Gift icon below. The other icon takes you to the scholarship application form.
We would like to thank all of you who have donated to our Mystery School Scholarship Program. This program gives the gift of magic to those who need a hand up to get the magic education they desire. If you would like help with your magical education OR you would like to donate to our school, you can get more info here:http://www.magicalwisdom.com/scholarships
  
Donate Here     Download Application
IMMERSIVE THEATERÂ –The ultimate audience participation!
One of my favorite forms of theater is immersive theater, the kind where you are “IN ” the story, or in the play. You have a part. At our early Mystery School events, we explored immersive theater in exotic magical environments like Castles, Ashrams and a Zendo. (Yes, really!)
One of our friends that attended the 2nd year of Mystery School was Erika Larsen. Now she is president of the Magic Castle and also hosts the Beyond Brooklege events. Read on to learn about the extraordinary event that is coming up.
Beyond Brookledge is a fully-immersive, weekend-long theatrical experience that takes place annually at the Historic Mission Inn Hotel in Riverside, California. This year, Beyond Brookledge takes place May 29-31. The event is extremely intimate (only a few dozen tickets are sold), and provides an opportunity for fans of magic and vaudeville to lose themselves in a wonderland where the lines between audience and performers, and between reality and fantasy disappear. The all-inclusive ticket price grants you all-access privileges to ‘round-the-clock entertainment, scheduled meals and treats, a hotel room for two nights, and some intriguing gifts. The hotel itself is a masterpiece of astonishing architecture, and event attendees will have access to some of its most mysterious and closed-to-the-public areas. Spend a mind-altering weekend with Amazing Jonathan, Billy the Mime, Bonnie Morgan, Kristian Hoffman, Mac King, Michael Davis, Scot Nery and some incredible surprise guests. There will also be an amazing display and demonstration of original automata by contemporary master Thomas Kuntz (including several pieces never before seen outside of Kuntz’s studio).
Friends of Jeff McBride can receive a 20% discount on tickets by entering the Promo Code MYSTERY in the Online Registration form at http://www.beyondbrookledge.com/tickets.html.
Detailed information about the event can be found at http://www.beyondbrookledge.com/q—a.html.
ABOVE: THE MAGUS- BY THOMAS KUNTZ. He is one of my favorite artists in the world. If I could, I would have a room devoted to his amazing inventions here at The Mystery School!
April Fools Prank of the Month:
Looks like a magic trick and then… wait for it!
https://www.facebook.com/Shawny3007/posts/10206434153877063?pnref=story
WONDERGROUND NEWS
You are invited to the biggest magic party in Las Vegas!
APRIL- Strolling magic by Will Bradshaw
8PMÂ -Â Â Bill Cook – MC-
Dave Johnson
David Gabbay as Bijan
BIZZARO
9PM -Â Â Christian Diamond
David Gabbay
Dave Johnson
Bill Cook
10PM – Tim Wise MC-
Bill Cook – manip act.
Mat Black
BIZZARRO
PLUS: Bar Magic with Zack Pattee and Scott Steelfyre, the New World Rhythmatism Dancers, Psychic Sideshow with Alan Scott, live art with Areeya and many more surprises and special celebrity guests!!
“Is the spring coming?” he said. “What is it like?”…
“It is the sun shining on the rain and the rain falling on the sunshine…â€
I love Vegas in the Springtime… I know it’s Spring, because it’s been in the high 70’s this week, sunny and pleasant. The mockingbirds have returned, with their white-tipped wings and different songs to sing every time they open their beaks. The finches have built a nest in the pine tree above the waterfall, swooping across the yard with twigs held carefully aloft. The yard is full of music when the people are gone. The lemon tree is blossoming, and the scent coming off the flowers is absolutely intoxicating.
I am finding myself so grateful for my senses, for the simple fact that I have ears that can hear, and eyes that can see (in color, even!)… and, of course, for all of the students coming to the House of Mystery for all the classes this month at the Magic & Mystery School.
“Of course there must be lots of Magic in the world,” he said wisely one day, “but people don’t know what it is like or how to make it. Perhaps the beginning is just to say nice things are going to happen until you make them happen. I am going to try and experiment.â€
   — Frances Hodgson Burnett, The Secret Garden
It’s been a bit of a whirlwind, with a couple of Masterpiece Residencies, a three-day Master Class, a seminar for Speakers and Presenters, and a conference for Medicine and Magic. It’s been so inspiring to see how all these diverse students light up and get excited about magic. It’s also been wonderful having the faculty staying here, for philosophical chats over breakfast, fireside conversation in the evenings, and lunches on the back patio. Spending time with people who matter to me is such a gift; another reason I am grateful on a daily basis.
Oh yeah, and little baby girl lion cubs. I’m grateful for them, too.
The music continues to flow to me and through me. Some of you had been asking me about the next album, and I am happy to tell you that I am working away on my new project, which is tentatively titled Fire Circle Alchemy.
If you’re interested in hearing some of my work, you can find it here:
http://www.cdbaby.com/Artist/AbbiSpinnerMcBride
I recommend you start with Enter the Center.
“I shall live forever and ever and ever ‘ he cried grandly. ‘I shall find out thousands and thousands of things. I shall find out about people and creatures and everything that grows – like Dickon – and I shall never stop making Magic. I’m well I’m wellâ€Â
     — Frances Hodgson Burnett, The Secret Garden
Yours in the magic of Springtime,
Abigail
“Some people die at 25 and aren’t buried until 75.”      Â
   – Benjamin Franklin
It often happens like this…Â
A kid falls in love with magic at 8 years old.
He reads and learns all he can.
His friends love him at school;
His sisters and brothers kid him about it;
His parents like it…
But when he turns 18 he graduates from high school.
This thing called LIFE comes along.
He goes to college… no time for magic.
He gets a job…Â less time for magic.
He starts dating… does a few tricks, but when he gets more work, he stops.
He gets a promotion…Â goes to graduate school,
gets married (magic long gone)….
Then, one day in midlife, after the 2nd divorce and all the kids are out of rehab, he wakes up and sayÂ
F*CK! I LOVE MAGIC! IT’S TIME for me to return to MY PASSION!
…Then he gets back into magic..
and where does he go to learn? Mystery School.
Did you ever abandon your dream? I almost did!
In school, many friends put me down for “showing off” or said things like “Hey Jeff, you better keep your day job.” Â Teachers encouraged me to have “plan B” to fall back on if the magic thing did not work out.”
“Don’t let schooling interfere with your education”- Mark Twain
Sometimes we let other people measure our potential! Deep inside you know what you want in life! Others can guide you on your path, but YOU have to take the steps towards your destiny…
Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.Â
                 – Albert Einstein
When you were growing up…Did your family, teachers and friends really understand your passion for magic?
“When I was 5 years old, my mother always told me that happiness was the key to life. When I went to school, they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wrote down ‘happy’. They told me I didn’t understand the assignment, and I told them they didn’t understand life.”Â
      – John Lennon
We all have “voices of doubt “ in our heads. These are other people’s voices that say things like “Is it too late to live my dream? Do I have the energy and drive to do it in this lifetime?”
IT IS TIME TO TURN THOSE VOICES OFF!
“Try as much as possible to be wholly alive, with all your might, and when you laugh, laugh like hell and when you get angry, get good and angry. Try to be alive. You will be dead soon enough.”
Do you focus on what you enjoy and love?
Bruce Lee knew the power of focus when he said:
“I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks, but I do fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times.”
When will you take the steps to focus on your passion?Â
Will you let another year go by without taking a step towards your destiny? If you want us to help, we are here as guides for your journey of discovery.
Jeff mentors John Walton during his “Rainmaker Residency
“Of all sad words of mouth or pen, the saddest are these: it might have been.”
Live your dreams now! – The McBride Masterpiece Series
http://www.magicalwisdom.com/masterpieces
Mystery School Online:
Every Monday at 7 PM Las Vegas time, join us for Mystery School Monday. This entire month is devoted to the topic of Strolling Magic… see free back episodes too at www.mcbridemagic.tv.
Modern Wizard Jay Scott Berry Headlines at WONDERGROUND on March 19th
WONDERGROUND! The Biggest Magic Party in Las Vegas!Â
March 19th – Meet “Clyde McBride,” your Irish host for the event of the month. One time only, never to be repeated!
8 PMÂ -Â Host: Tim Wise
Jeff McBride
The Halls of Magic
Jay Scott Berry
Dr Solar’s Medicine show
9 PMÂ -Â Host: Christian Diamond
Michael Mirth
Richard Ribuffo
Cody Comet
Master Payne
10 PMÂ -Â Host: Jeff McBride
Kim Z
The Halls of Magic
Jay Scott Berry
Daniel Ka
Special Addendum:
Please enjoy a tour of our online Magic School, on me. It’s FREE!
Go to this link first and sign up for the school. Watch the video 1st…
http://virtual.magicalwisdom.com/members/signup
then after the video go HERE, and take the tour of the online school. I think you’ll be inspired by the tour!
http://virtual.magicalwisdom.com
See you next time!
Jeff
Dear Friends & Colleagues:
Any month that begins with a few words of wisdom from our Dean, the inimitable Eugene Burger, is, in my estimation, a month that is full of promise.
CREATION AND DESTRUCTION
Eugene Burger
My living room window faces the Three Arts Club of Chicago. Designed in 1912 by John Holabird, of the Holabird and Roche architecture firm, it is an imposing building in the Byzantine style which surrounds a lovely outdoor courtyard. The original mission of the Three Arts Club was to provide support and residence for young women coming to the city to study the three arts: music, painting and drama. The last resident left in 2003 and the building has been empty since then.
Various proposals of what to do with this structure have come and gone over the years. Of the proposals, my favorite was turning the building into a columbarium to hold the urns containing the ashes of the dead. Not surprisingly, I was very positive about this idea and felt real disappointment when it fell by the wayside.
The building is now under a major multi-million dollar renovation with the expectation that it will be finished by the Summer of 2015.
Last week, a huge banner, dozens of yards long and about eight or nine feet high, was put up on the side of the building. The side that faces my apartment. On the banner, in letters that are at least two feet high, there is a quote attributed to Pablo Picasso:
“Every act of creation is first of all an act of destruction.â€Â
Below that, in slightly smaller letters is the invitation:
“See what destruction hath wrought Summer 2015â€Â
I expect that these signs will be facing my apartment until the project is completed this coming Summer. Happily, I will be traveling and out of the city for almost all of this time. Traveling does have its benefits.
For the past week, viewing this sign each morning, I began to wonder: Is every act of creation “first of all an act of destruction� It’s a fascinating question, don’t you think?
In the stories of India (which, by the way, have literally taken me around the world), Brahma is the Creator, Vishnu the Preserver, and Shiva the Destroyer who destroys so Brahma might create again.
I don’t know about “every†act of creation but, certainly, many acts of creation involve acts of destruction. Imagine, for example, that I do want to create something, create something of value — perhaps create the presentation for a magic trick. Imagine that I have a piece of magic that has been ready to perform for some time except that I really don’t have any sort of presentation for it that pleases me. In short, I am stuck.
What do I need to “destroy†if I want to succeed in my creation of this magic presentation? What am I willing to sacrifice?
The answer might be any number of things. It all depends upon me.
I may need to destroy the amount of time I spend on the Internet.
I may need to destroy the amount of time I spend watching television.
I may need to destroy the amount of time I spend reading.
And, perhaps most painful for many of us, I may need to destroy the amount of time I spend with friends.
There are many, many things I may need to “destroy†if I am to reach my goal.
And this brings us to what I have always thought was a deep paradox of human existence:
I want change but I don’t want to do anything differently!
Or, to put it the another way: I want things to be different but I don’t want to change anything major in my life.
And the truth seems to be that none of us can have it both ways. If I truly want to create something of value with my magic, if I want change, then I must be willing to begin doing some things in my life differently! Perhaps I need to look with new eyes at how I “spend†my time.
Perhaps it really is that simple.
So tomorrow morning when I wake up and look out my window and see that large sign with Pablo Picasso’s message, perhaps I won’t be so negative about it. Perhaps I will realize that the message is there not only for those who pass down the street but also, and perhaps especially, just for me!
