Man needs miracles. This need when deeply observed, is the expression of a hunger for power, a need to break free from his countless limitations. But superficially, it expresses itself in the need to witness the dazzlingly fantastic and seemingly impossible.
But what exactly is a miracle? It is the occurrence of a phenomenon which defies the normal processes through which Nature seemingly operates. Magic is different. It is a tricking of the mind and senses, an illusion created by carefully applying the normal laws of Nature to create an illusion e.g. sleight of hand. It works even with the mind. The mind can so concentrate on one object as to become oblivious of others. Used differently, this faculty of concentration creates the magic of mind-games.
Miracle is not a trick or illusion. But neither is it supernatural. It is supernormal, in the sense that it does not work through the normally known operations of Nature. It does not displace normal operations. It really brings out into the normal world another play of forces and fields. To one who knows them, these forces are perfectly normal and natural. But to one who does not know how to handle them, they appear miraculous and supernatural.
