Bringing Your Shadow Out of the Dark: Breaking Free from the Hidden Forces That Drive You

by Robert Augustus Masters

Magical thinking. Magical thinking is a mode of prerational cognition in which we assume that we have—or can have—a causal role in events that we actually have no control over. This way of thinking is entirely natural in early childhood (think of four-year-olds assuming that they’re making the sun follow them as they walk along), and it shows up in adulthood in various forms. When we get lost in magical thinking, we’ve regressed to early childhood—for better, as in the creative throes of artistic passion, or for worse, as in the egocentric spirituality of those who believe that all we have to do to change our reality is think differently (as if all that a starving mother in some barren land has to do is repeat some positive affirmations about being more prosperous). Magical thinking can also show up when we’re feeling strongly overwhelmed or are unusually distraught; for example, someone close to us has suddenly died and we find ourselves imagining that if we just do certain things a particular way, that person might come back to us. Magical thinking gives us a sense of power over things over which we have no power. Think of the appeal of fairy tales to a child—tales in which a rejected or neglected child often gains the power to dramatically affect their world for the better. There’s nothing wrong with magical thinking, but it’s important not to let it get behind the driver’s wheel.