--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: This is how magic is done. By hurling…" description: "\"This is how magic is done. By hurling yourself into the abyss and discovering its a feather bed.\" — Terence McKenna" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/826/terence-mckenna-287_abyss_this-is-how-magic-is-done-by-hurling-you_1279988.png" --- # This is how magic is done. By hurling yourself into the… ![“This is how magic is done. By hurling yourself into the abyss and discovering its a feather bed.” quote by Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/826/terence-mckenna-287_abyss_this-is-how-magic-is-done-by-hurling-you_1279988.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/826/terence-mckenna-287_abyss_this-is-how-magic-is-done-by-hurling-you_1279988.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/826/terence-mckenna-287_abyss_this-is-how-magic-is-done-by-hurling-you_1279988.png) > “This is how magic is done. By hurling yourself into the abyss and discovering its a feather bed.” [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Magic involves diving into the unknown, finding comfort in unexpected places. **In simple terms:** Magic is diving into the unknown and finding comfort. Key Takeaway Embrace uncertainty to discover hidden comforts. Themes exploration magic comfort Mood adventurous reflective Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - adventure sports - creative brainstorming - spiritual practice Key Concepts Existential risk psychology of fear Questions to Reflect On - What abyss are you willing to explore? - How do you find safety in uncertainty? A Different Perspective Risk can lead to danger. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Abyss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/abyss/) [Abyss Discovering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/abyss-discovering-3262960/) [Bed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bed/) [Courage to love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/courage-to-love/) [Discovering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/discovering/) [Discovering Feather](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/discovering-feather-4132857/) [Done](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/done/) [Feather](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/feather/) [Feather Bed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/feather-bed-942002/) [Feathers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/feathers/) [Hurling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hurling/) [Impossible dream](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/impossible-dream/) [Magic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/magic/) [Mind blowing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mind-blowing/) [Nature love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature-love/) [Psychedelic experience](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/psychedelic-experience/) ## Related quotes > [Nature loves courage. You make the commitment and nature will respond to that commitment by removing impossible obstacles. Dream the impossible dream and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/nature-loves-courage-you-make-the-commitment-and-nature-will-respond/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [Nature loves courage. You make the commitment and nature will respond to that commitment by removing impossible obstacles. Dream the impossible dream and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/nature-loves-courage-you-make-the-commitment-and-nature-will-respond-2/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [“I feel like I am either on the cusp of something great, or standing on the edge of my abyss, discovering something brand new,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carroll-bryant/i-feel-like-i-am-either-on-the-cusp-of-something-great-or-standing-on/) [Carroll Bryant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carroll-bryant/) > [The world is MADE up of language. We can SAY that the world is composed of little demons doing calisthenics, each one the size…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/the-world-is-made-up-of-language-we-can-say-that-the-world-is/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [There is a sort of fair play, and if you can get in touch with that in your life, if you can have that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/there-is-a-sort-of-fair-play-and-if-you-can-get-in-touch-with-that-in/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [You will not be carried to Heaven lying at ease upon a feather bed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-rutherford/you-will-not-be-carried-to-heaven-lying-at-ease-upon-a-feather-bed/) [Samuel Rutherford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-rutherford/) > [“Life is always either a tightrope or a feather bed. Give me the tightrope.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/life-is-always-either-a-tightrope-or-a-feather-bed-give-me-the/) [Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) > [“There is nothing more delightful in life than a feather bed and an open fire—except a feather bed with a warm and tender lover…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diana-gabaldon/there-is-nothing-more-delightful-in-life-than-a-feather-bed-and-an/) [Diana Gabaldon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diana-gabaldon/) > [For me, art history is like a feather bed - you fall into it and it catches you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-salle/for-me-art-history-is-like-a-feather-bed-you-fall-into-it-and-it/) [David Salle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-salle/) > [“A plumped feather bed may have looked divine, but occupants quickly found themselves sinking into a hard, airless fissure between billowy hills. Support was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-bryson/a-plumped-feather-bed-may-have-looked-divine-but-occupants-quickly/) [Bill Bryson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-bryson/) > [“When I get up in the morning, I go right back to bed again. I feel best in the evening the moment I put…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/s-ren-kierkegaard/when-i-get-up-in-the-morning-i-go-right-back-to-bed-again-i-feel-best/) [Søren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/s-ren-kierkegaard/) > [Life is always a tightrope or a feather bed. Give me the tightrope.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/life-is-always-a-tightrope-or-a-feather-bed-give-me-the-tightrope/) [Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) > [Time is the warp and matter the weft of the woven texture of beauty in space, and death is the hurling shuttle.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-dillard/time-is-the-warp-and-matter-the-weft-of-the-woven-texture-of-beauty/) [Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/) > [“He looked up through long, wet lashes and narrowed crystal-blue eyes at her. With a final swipe of the towel to his head, he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michele-mannon/he-looked-up-through-long-wet-lashes-and-narrowed-crystal-blue-eyes/) [Michele Mannon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michele-mannon/) > [I was at Mount Tamalpais near San Francisco hiking when a boulder came hurling down the mountainside and smashed my left hand. When I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-casals/i-was-at-mount-tamalpais-near-san-francisco-hiking-when-a-boulder/) [Pablo Casals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-casals/) ## More by Terence McKenna > [History was an incredibly damaging experience, and now it's over . . . in a sense.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/history-was-an-incredibly-damaging-experience-and-now-it-s-over-in-a/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [We are somehow the children of the planet, we are somehow its finest hour; we bind time, we bind the past, we anticipate the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/we-are-somehow-the-children-of-the-planet-we-are-somehow-its-finest/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [The history of man that you don't know is what your unconscious is made out of. Just as the history of yourself that you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/the-history-of-man-that-you-don-t-know-is-what-your-unconscious-is/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [We are consciousness. We may not always be monkeys.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/we-are-consciousness-we-may-not-always-be-monkeys/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [What is happening here is we are living past the age, by the millions, living past the age where cultural values make any sense…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/what-is-happening-here-is-we-are-living-past-the-age-by-the-millions/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [What history is, essentially, is a careening, out-of-control effort to find our way back to this state of primordial balance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/what-history-is-essentially-is-a-careening-out-of-control-effort-to/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [And what is the primary datum? It's the felt presence of immediate experience. In other words, being here now is the primary datum.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/and-what-is-the-primary-datum-it-s-the-felt-presence-of-immediate/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [Our culture difinitely takes an egocentric dominator view. The fear of the psychedelic experience is quite literally the fear of losing control. Dominator types…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/our-culture-difinitely-takes-an-egocentric-dominator-view-the-fear-of/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [Every step into freedom contains within it the potential for greater bondage.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/every-step-into-freedom-contains-within-it-the-potential-for-greater/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [This is the message of your life and my life - it’s that nothing lasts. Heraclitus said it: Panta Rhei. All flows, nothing lasts.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/this-is-the-message-of-your-life-and-my-life-it-s-that-nothing-lasts/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [I often like to think that our map of the world is wrong, that where we have centered physics, we should actually place literature…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/i-often-like-to-think-that-our-map-of-the-world-is-wrong-that-where/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [Knowledge, or verbal facility, is no proof that you know what you're talking about.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/knowledge-or-verbal-facility-is-no-proof-that-you-know-what-you-re/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [No culture on earth is as heavily narcotized as the industrial West in terms of being inured to the consequences of maladaptive behavior. We…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/no-culture-on-earth-is-as-heavily-narcotized-as-the-industrial-west/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [Man was not put on this planet to toil in the mud. Or the god who put us on this planet to toil in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/man-was-not-put-on-this-planet-to-toil-in-the-mud-or-the-god-who-put/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [If you take psychedelics and the Internet and music and put all of that together you have the basis for a new community that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/if-you-take-psychedelics-and-the-internet-and-music-and-put-all-of/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) [Explore all 745 Terence McKenna quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) ## More Abyss quotes > [We never think that our mothers will die. It was like suddenly an abyss opened at my feet - I was standing on nothing.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-okri/we-never-think-that-our-mothers-will-die-it-was-like-suddenly-an/) [Ben Okri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-okri/) > [Early on a difficult climb, especially a solo climb, you’re hyper-aware of the abyss pulling at your back, constantly feeling its call, its immense…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jon-krakauer/early-on-a-difficult-climb-especially-a-solo-climb-you-re-hyper-aware/) [Jon Krakauer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jon-krakauer/) > [“The whole organization seemed to be in free fall, indulging in a collective fantasy in which experienced colleagues refused to admit that their every…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-whole-organization-seemed-to-be-in-free-fall-indulging-in-a/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Adam became so proud that he wished to become God and died for his pride; the Son of God humbled Himself unto death, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-of-kronstadt/adam-became-so-proud-that-he-wished-to-become-god-and-died-for-his/) [John of Kronstadt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-of-kronstadt/) > [The cradle rocks above an abyss, and common sense tells us that our existence is but a brief crack of light between two eternities…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-nabokov/the-cradle-rocks-above-an-abyss-and-common-sense-tells-us-that-our/) [Vladimir Nabokov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-nabokov/) > [In the end things must be as they are and have always been--the great things remain for the great, the abysses for the profound,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/in-the-end-things-must-be-as-they-are-and-have-always-been-the-great/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [I admire the Elsie Tanners and Barbara Windsors of the world: people who have crawled back from the abyss. I'm quite camp in that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jenny-eclair/i-admire-the-elsie-tanners-and-barbara-windsors-of-the-world-people/) [Jenny Eclair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jenny-eclair/) > [I've been to unpretty places with the roles I've played, and I'm attracted to reckless abandon. I like being taken to the edge of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rhys-ifans/i-ve-been-to-unpretty-places-with-the-roles-i-ve-played-and-i-m/) [Rhys Ifans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rhys-ifans/) > [I look into my heart and see the abyss looking back at me.' 'I won't let you fall.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nalini-singh/i-look-into-my-heart-and-see-the-abyss-looking-back-at-me-i-won-t-let/) [Nalini Singh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nalini-singh/) > [There is no drop of water in the ocean, not even in the deepest parts of the abyss, that does not know and respond…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-carson/there-is-no-drop-of-water-in-the-ocean-not-even-in-the-deepest-parts/) [Rachel Carson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-carson/) > [“But first whom shall we send In search of this new world, whom shall we find Sufficient? Who shall tempt, with wand'ring feet The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-milton/but-first-whom-shall-we-send-in-search-of-this-new-world-whom-shall/) [John Milton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-milton/) > [Many women don’t know what orgasm is. Many men don’t know was total orgasm is. Many only achieve a local orgasm, a genital orgasm;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/many-women-don-t-know-what-orgasm-is-many-men-don-t-know-was-total/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Fear not. For fear itself is fed by fear, and all fears pass. Did no one tell you so? Come take my hand, my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/felix-dennis/fear-not-for-fear-itself-is-fed-by-fear-and-all-fears-pass-did-no-one/) [Felix Dennis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/felix-dennis/) > [God gave the sea the danger and the abyss, but it was in it that He mirrored the sky.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fernando-pessoa/god-gave-the-sea-the-danger-and-the-abyss-but-it-was-in-it-that-he/) [Fernando Pessoa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fernando-pessoa/) > [We belong to an age where apocalypse is our daily bread, coffee's black, and we know we're part of the abyss. Red Spider White…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-aldiss/we-belong-to-an-age-where-apocalypse-is-our-daily-bread-coffee-s/) [Brian Aldiss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-aldiss/) [Browse all 625 Abyss quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/abyss/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "This is how magic is done. 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