The Child’s Need for Magic
“I have known many examples where, particularly in late adolescence, years of belief in magic are called dupon to compensate for the person’s having been deprived of it prematurely in childhood, through stark reality having been forced on him. It is as if these young people feel now is their last chance to make up for a severe deficiency in their life experience; or that without having had a period of belief in magic, they will be unable to meet the rigors of adult life. Many young people who today suddenly seek escape in drug-induced dreams, apprentice themselves to some guru, believe in astrology, engage in practising ‘black magic’ or who in some other fashion escape from reality into daydreams about magic experiences which are to chante their life for the better, were prematurely pressed to view reality in an adult way.”
from “The Uses of Enchantment” by Bruno Bettelheim
