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Magical Thinking

The practice of Green Psychology helps us to continually grow so that we replace outdated beliefs and behaviors with healthier ones. In doing so, we free ourselves to more consciously live our unique lives.

Along the way, we grow through different stages of development. Each stage includes various beliefs and particular ways of relating with other people. The one constant, at every stage of development, is that we adopt beliefs and behaviors (largely unconsciously) in an attempt to minimize our anxiety.

From a very young age, to a potentially old age, some of the beliefs we adopt are magical beliefs. Early in life, magical beliefs have a quality of fantasy—Santa Claus, and the tooth fairy. Later in life, magical beliefs manifest as personal rituals. We may carry these beliefs with us to our graves, or we may adopt other beliefs that help us minimize our anxiety. Do magical beliefs serve us well? Do we possibly limit ourselves with magical thinking? Do other people in our lives help themselves with our magical beliefs, or might they hurt themselves?

These are the questions we invite you to explore. From a Green Psychology perspective, there is no judgment that magical beliefs are good or bad. Our intention is to stimulate awareness, individual consideration, and responsible choices—remembering that what’s best for us isn’t necessarily what’s best for another. To begin, we’ll share our definition of magical thinking.

“Magic” and “mystery” are words we use to describe things that are inexplicable or un-provable or unpredictable. Typically, we consider things magical when there is a perceived gap between cause and effect. If we can’t understand how the effect was produced, or we can’t replicate it, we refer to the effect as magical or mysterious.

Within the spectrum of magical thinking, at one end we might find the skeptic, at the other end, the schizophrenic. In between, we have our superstitions, private rituals, prayers, and formulas equating positive thinking with positive results. We may comfort ourselves with prayer, or by knocking on wood, or lighting a candle to protect someone we love. We may believe that “we attract into our lives whatever we think about,” “we create our own reality,” “the universe presents us with challenges for the sake of our personal evolution.”

All of these are ways to minimize our anxiety—to comfort ourselves. We use magical thinking to convince ourselves that we live in a just world—that good begets good, to derive a sense of control while living in an uncertain world, to make ourselves feel special. Although in the short-term, magical thinking can reduce anxiety; our concern is that attachment to any belief may hinder individual development. Excessive reliance on magical thinking may lead to increased anxiety, a lack of compassion, self-recrimination, inaction, or troubling student/teacher relationships.

Increased anxiety can occur when, in the process of individuating (becoming our own person), we don’t fully assume responsibility for ourselves. As long as we consider others responsible for our lives—mom or dad, siblings, partners, spiritual teachers, therapists, guides, or the universe—we remain less than fully accountable. As we assume a greater degree of responsibility, we relinquish more and more of our magical thinking.

Why do we relinquish magical thinking as we assume more responsibility? Because the more responsibility we assume, the less comfort we find in the inexplicable. We need to know what is necessary in order for us to pay our mortgage. We need to know what we need to do in order to get a promotion, to safely care for our children, to find and to be a reliable partner. As we learn how to create these results, we minimize our anxiety, and therefore have less need for magical thinking.

Another concern we have about magical thinking—an inadvertent consequence—is an apparent lack of compassion. This occurs when we adopt beliefs, many of which are magical, that result in blaming-the-victim. We hear this when one person tells another, “you create your own reality,” or “you create your illness,” or “you attract into your life whatever you think about.”

Does this mean that people who contract cancer, who are in serious accidents, who died or are suffering as a result of the earthquake in Haiti, who are victims of violence, children raised by abusive parents, the five-hundred thousand women in the Congo who have been raped, are all responsible for their suffering?

Some people may rely on karma to explain such suffering. There are many different interpretations of “karma,” but the mostly widely used is that we reap the fruits of the seeds we sow. Karma is one way to fill in the perceived gap between cause and effect, and for people who believe in karma, our only suggestion is to be mindful about imposing your beliefs on other people.

We’re quite sure that people who adopt magical thinking don’t mean to be insensitive in any way—probably the opposite, most people who adopt magical beliefs are people of good intention. Yet, those of us who live privileged lives—lives in which we actually do have a high degree of choice—may not be demonstrating compassion when we espouse certain forms of magical thinking.

To promote compassion, Green Psychology encourages us to be very considered in our thinking—to consider the uniqueness of each person and their context. Some people live in contexts with limited choices due to their stage of development— physical, psychological, spiritual—or due to their environment. If we’re not highly considered in our thinking, we’re unlikely to be considerate in our actions.

We have also identified that self-recrimination might be another unintended result of magical thinking. Although magical thinking—when it works—contributes to feeling as if we’re special, when it doesn’t work, what does this say about us? If thoughts create reality, and our reality is one of suffering, in addition to our suffering, now we blame ourselves and feel guilty. But is it realistic to believe—regardless of the quality of our thoughts—that we can avoid all suffering?

Inaction can be another consequence of magical thinking. If we’re floundering in our lives while waiting for the universe to show us a sign, we may use magical thinking to justify inaction—not taking full responsibility to actually go out and do the things we need to do to create the results we want.

Finally, we concern ourselves with what we perceive as abuse of power in some student/teacher relationships. Magical thinking can contribute to abuse when it’s used to justify the teacher’s authority and power, while disempowering the student. Such relationships can be unhealthy re-recreations of a parent/child dynamic.

We also witness confusion as a result of teachers who promote the illusion that we can escape human frailties and human suffering by relying too heavily on positivistic thinking to address existential issues. In our experience—supported by research—such methods can be repressive, and the benefits short lived.

Green Psychology recognizes the value of magical thinking at certain stages of development and in certain contexts. Stepping into the world of Green Psychology, we can still use magical thinking, but with greater awareness that we are choosing to surrender some responsibility. With this awareness we are less likely to victimize ourselves and less likely to impose our beliefs on others, so we avoid the blame-the-victim dynamic. We are more likely to empower ourselves, to access our compassion, to accept our—and other’s—humanity, and to relate as adults, even with our teachers.

Green Psychology presents a developmental model, which suggests that beyond magical thinking is critical thinking. Critical thinking is the ability to evaluate one’s own thinking—to think about the ways in which we think. To ask, “do my beliefs, magical or otherwise, serve me?” “Is my life working?” If we continually evaluate our thinking and the results we get, we learn and grow. We are then able to access our own practical wisdom.

Within the Green Psychology community, we appreciate the power of thought (magical and critical), ritual, and prayer—while also acknowledging, “things happen.” Life includes loss, pain, suffering, accidents, the genetic and geographic lotteries—and we can’t control all of these things—no matter how well we think or pray. What we can do is take responsibility for how we respond to whatever happens in our lives. By doing so, we can improve our self-esteem, enjoy healthy relationships, find meaningful purpose in our lives, model mental and emotional health for our children, and we can gracefully witness our aging parents. At an even higher level of mastery, we can take responsibility for how we make meaning of the events in our lives. This is the essence of Green Psychology, which can best be learned by attending our retreats.