MAGIC WORDS Tamâghis Ba'dân Yaswâdda Waghdâs Nawfanâ Ghâdis Origins: "These magical words seem to be Aramaic." They are ascribed to "the famous tenth-century Spanish scientist Maslamah b. Ahmad al-Majrîtî." Facts: This magic phrase is called "the dream word of the perfect nature" and is to be said upon falling asleep to clear the way for supernatural percep tion and wish-fulfillment.4 Common Magician's Applications: Hypnotism, levitation. Tara Mystique: "Tara is a magical word to all us Irish . . . and a magical place. It was the center of all Ireland, the home of the High Kings. Before there was a Rome, or an Athens, far, far back when the world was young and hopeful, there ruled in Ireland great kings who were as fair and beauteous as the sun. They passed laws of great wisdom and gave shelter and riches to poets. And they were brave giants of men who punished wrong with fearful wrath and fought the enemies of truth and beauty in Ireland with blood-gouted swords and stainless hearts. For hundreds and thousands of years they ruled their sweet green island, and there was music throughout the land. Five roads led to the hill of Tara from every corner of the country, and every third year did all the people come to feast in the banquet hall and hear the poets sing. This is not a story only, but a great truth, for all the histories of other lands record it, and the sad words of the end are written in the great books of the monasteries. 'In the Year of Our Lord five hundred fifty and four was held the last feast of Tara.'" The Arch-Druid of Tara is depicted as "a leaping juggler with ear-clasps of gold, and a speckled cloak; he tosses swords and balls into the air, and like the buzzing of bees on a beautiful day is the motion of each passing the other." Facts: "In Hindu mythology, Tara is a star goddess who encompasses all time and the spark of life."7 Tara is a beloved mother goddess in Tibetan Buddhism. 2 Ibn Khaldun, Muqaddimah: An Introduction to History (1967) Ibid. 4 Ibid. 5 Alexandra Ripley, Scarlett (1991) 6 James Bonwick, Irish Druids and Old Irish Religions (1894) 7 Patricia Telesco, 365 Goddess (1998)