Not Real Magic

"I'm writing a book on magic," I explain, and I'm asked, "real magic?"  By real magic people mean miracles, thaumaturgical acts, and supernatural powers.  "No," I answer: "Conjuring tricks, not real magic."

Real magic, in other words, refers to magic that is not real, while the magic that is real, that can actually be done, is not real magic. 

-- Lee Siegel, conjurer and author of Net of Magic: Wonders and Deceptions in India, quoted in Noesis #206, September 2020