Magic -- Speculations

I am not a believer in magic in a literal sense, though I believe in a somewhat airy-fairy way that there is magic all around us. For instance, though can't dominate the ecology as humans do, animals have senses that we don't and the smarter animals are aware, after their fashion, of things we can't perceive.

For example, dogs can identify some cancers by smell, and dolphins can echolocate structures inside the bodies of other animals. It is possible that, though they can't do geometry, even simple animals could have cognitive abilities we don't. For example, a dog might perceive patterns of smells that would correspond to differences in the compounds they are smelling.

To be able to do literal magic might correspond to having a sense normal humans don't. This suggests that in a world where magic is genuine all the wild metaphor of occult writings could correspond to things directly sensed by talented people but not describable in normal language.

It might be possible, in a magical world, to come up with dry scientific accounts of mystical phenomena that were of great utility but missed entirely the human experience of magicians. In the real world the formulas H2O and CN- are both useful description of chemical compounds though they say nothing of the experiences of drinking, bathing, being poisoned, or seeing blue.