"A smart man makes a mistake, learns from it, and never makes that mistake again. But a wise man finds a smart man and learns from him how to avoid the mistake altogether." - Roy H. Williams "The Wizard of Ads"
A wizard is someone who has gained a special kind of wisdom -- that first-hand knowledge that can only be learned through experience. But we can take a shortcut to that knowledge by studying the stories of those who have gone before us. Here is a collection of just such extraordinary people, and what we have to learn from each one.
The few wizards seen at the top of this page are great examples of the diversity of types where true wizardry can be effective. Let's start at the top left:
Jeff McBride - Magician: I've known Jeff for 25 years, and been involved in his career since he broke onto the scene as a top opening act for such superstars as Diana Ross, Tom Jones & Tina Turner. He created a whole new way of performing magic using mime, masks, martial arts and what he described as "renaissance Kabuki from Mars." His amazing showmanship and creativity have allowed him to re-create himself many times over. That is only one of the skills that make him a true wizard.
"The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing. One cannot help but be in awe when he contemplates teh mysteries of eternity, of life, of the marvelous structure of reality... Never lose a holy curiosity" - Albert Einstein
(Home Page)
Mohandas Gandhi: Do you want to know about using leverage to create change? Gandhi was the tiny man, dressed only in a dhoti, who managed overthrow one of the most powerful empires in history, the British Raj, without an army, without significant funding -- without any of the accoutrements that might normally accompany such an undertaking. All he had was an unshakable faith in his own principles, and a deep love of his people. A true wizard if there ever was one!
Albert Einstein: Young Albert was not popular among his professors. It wasn't that he wasn't a brilliant student, but that he insisted on always thinking for himself, questioning the basic assumptions that lay beneath what the professors sought to teach him. At a time when others were declaring that all there was to know about physics had already been learned, young Einstein published 5 papers in a single year, each of which stood a different branch of the physical sciences on its head, laying the foundation for todays physics, with quantum theory, relativity and much more.
Oberon Zell-Ravenheart: The man created real unicorns, and is founder of the Grey School of Wizardry. What more do your really need to know?
Sylvia Brallier: Her insatiable curiosity and thirst for experiences beyond the everyday led Sylvia to create a unique and highly effective form of therapeutic training she terms "ShamaSoma." It is a blend of many things, but primarily somatic hypnotherapy, multi-cultural shamanic practices and body-centered emotional and spiritual disciplines drawn from various yoga and tantric traditions.
Steve Jobs: A thirst for real-world experience took young Jobs away from college and off to India and life in an Oregon commune when young. His unique interests in combining technology and art led to the building of Apple, and his arrogance and lack of wisdom got him kicked out. The school of hard knocks turned Jobs into a uniquely gifted entrepreneurial CEO of two of the world's most successful (and disruptive) creative companies: Pixar and Apple.
Eve Ensler: After a success on Broadway, most playwrights are content to sit back and collect royalties from touring productions while they work on their next play. Not Ensler. The Vagina Monologues was revolutionary in its use of taboo to fight injustices towards women that were so ingrained in society as to be almost invisible to much of that society. Instead of royalties, Ensler used the play and it's message to start a movement. What started as V-Day has become One Billion Rising... a movement dedicated to ending gender violence towards women worldwide.
These are just a few of the wizards whose stories, principles and techniques appear in The Wizard's Way. Read more in the book, or subscribe to our newsletter by clicking below.