Is Magic Real?

“Is magic real?”

This is a question I’ve been asked more times than I can count. At library visits. In crowded school auditoriums. At book festivals, in letters from fans, and even in interviews. Someone will look at me with a curious expression — sometimes shy, sometimes bold — and ask: Is magic real?

My answer is always yes. But perhaps not in the way you might expect.

Magic, for me, is the word I use to describe the indescribable. It’s my way of naming the mysterious and wondrous qualities we experience every day but can never fully explain. Think of the love that forms between two people. Where does it come from? How does it grow? Or consider the first green shoot that pushes up from the earth after winter. Something so small. So fragile. And yet, it carries the promise of an entire forest.

Magic is the shimmering blue of a Morpho butterfly’s wings — a color not created by pigment, but by microscopic patterns that bend and scatter light. Magic is the humming, unseen energy inside the human mind. Magic is the astonishing variety of life that has evolved on our planet over billions of years. And magic is the web of connections, so intricate and so elegant, that underpins everything in our universe.

These things are not spells or potions or wands. But to me, they are far more powerful.

The Magic of Stories

When I write about wizards and dragons and ancient forests, I’m drawing from these real-world mysteries. The magic in my stories is a metaphor. It’s symbolic of the deeper forces we all feel but cannot measure:

Wonder. Hope. Courage.

The instinct to reach for something greater than ourselves. The belief that, even in the darkest times, a spark of light is worth protecting.

In my books, magic is something characters must earn. They must listen closely to the world. They must choose kindness when it’s difficult. They must trust in their own potential. That journey is not so different from what we face in real life.

When I tell stories, whether in books or on my podcast, Magic & Mountains, I’m still exploring the same core truths. Stories may feature dragons or ancient forests, yet the heart of those tales is always about our world. Our choices. Our courage. Our care for one another and for the Earth.

Because the greatest magic of all is not something we find outside ourselves; it’s something we uncover within.

Magic in People

If you want proof that magic exists, look at human beings.

A child who learns to read. A musician who shapes emotion into sound. A caregiver who sits beside someone who is suffering. A teacher who believes in a student before that student believes in themselves.

These acts may seem ordinary, but they are extraordinary in their effect. They change lives. They reshape futures. They create ripples we may never fully witness.

In the Merlin Saga, young Merlin begins with no idea of his abilities. Yet through struggle and kindness, he discovers a new way of seeing… one that comes from the heart. That same kind of inner sight lives in all of us.

Every person carries a well of potential — some of it known, most of it still hidden. That hidden potential? It’s magic.

When I speak with young people, I often tell them that the hero of a story is not the one with the strongest powers or the most impressive abilities. The hero is the one who chooses compassion. The one who listens to their conscience. The one who keeps going even when it is hard.

That is magic in action.

The Magic of Imagination

There is also the magic of imagination — that incredible ability we humans have to picture something that does not yet exist. When I write, I begin with a tiny seed of an idea. A character. A question. A whisper of a place I’ve never seen. And with patience, attention, and a bit of courage, that seed grows into a story.

But imagination is not limited to writers. Engineers use it. Scientists use it. Gardeners, architects, parents, explorers — anyone who envisions something new is practicing magic.

I’d say that the human imagination is one of the most powerful forces in existence. It has built bridges, cured diseases, discovered new worlds, and written new futures. It has also created kindness where there was pain, and hope where there was despair.

It is the spark that allows us to create. To innovate. To hope.

And hope is itself a form of magic. It lifts us. It moves us forward. It helps us believe that a better tomorrow is possible.

If that’s not magic, what is?

Magic in Nature

Walk outside and listen. Truly listen. Notice how the wind moves through the trees. How the clouds shift across the sky. How birds call back and forth as if in conversation. These experiences are not merely pleasant scenery. They’re reminders that we live in a world full of life, motion, and mystery.

Whenever I spend time in the mountains, I feel both small and vast at once. A single wildflower in an alpine meadow can remind me how fragile life is, and how extraordinary. Nature has always been one of my greatest teachers. It encourages wonder, yes, but also humility. And humility is a companion to wisdom.

Science can tell us a great deal about how things work. And I have deep respect for science — it’s one of humanity’s most remarkable tools for understanding the world. But even the most thorough explanation cannot fully convey the feeling of witnessing a sunrise or sitting beside a quiet stream or watching a leaf spiral to the ground.

Those feelings matter. They remind us that we, too, are part of nature.

And nature, if we pay attention, can teach us. Patience from the long growth of trees. Resilience from the return of spring. Humility from the vastness of the night sky.

There is magic in all of this. But you have to be willing to see it.

So, Is Magic Real?

Yes.

Magic is real. It’s all around us, woven into our experiences, our relationships, our natural world, and our inner lives. We don’t need spells or charms to witness it. We simply need to pay attention.

When you take a deep breath beneath a canopy of trees, or laugh so hard your sides ache, or hold someone’s hand when they need comfort — you are touching magic. When you imagine a future that does not yet exist, or plant seeds you may never see fully grown, or choose kindness in a difficult moment — you are practicing magic.

And perhaps the most beautiful part of all is this:

Magic grows when it is shared.

So ask yourself: Where did you see magic today? Was it in something grand and astonishing, or something quiet and small? And how might you bring a little more of that wonder into the world around you?

Because the world needs magic. Not the kind that flies or glows, but the kind that reminds us of who we are, and who we can become.