Wine & Wizardry

In the summer of 2021 my magic has been BIG and small: a city-sized magic event followed by wizardry at a small wine-tasting soiree

Daniel Greenwolf headlined Waterbury Harry Potter Day
Photo by Jim Shannon of the Republican-American

Hello and Happy Summer! The magic of my summer reached a pinnacle in two special events back-to-back. As producer for “Waterbury Harry Potter Day” I worked with dozens of local businesses, community members, officials, artisans and magicians to transform the downtown streetscape into a wizardly wonder. Hundreds of witches and wizards flooded the sidewalks. They visited Spirit Cafe for butter beer lattes, bought Fascia’s chocolate frogs from Grand News Deli, answered trivia questions at the office of Congresswoman Jahanna Hayes. These and other food & fun were listed on the “magic map” that eventually brought them back to the Silas Bronson Library for a fire-breathing magic show by Celtic Magician Daniel Greenwolf. Daniel was not alone as a magician in conjuring up fun. Bella Greenwolf joined Daniel in his shows, Michael OJ performed street sorcery throughout the day, and the Witchcraft and Birth of Modern Magic evening show at the Mattatuck Museum featured Andy Morgan, Joe Cabral, Michael DiFlorio and Michele Jacome. And, as Cyril the Sorcerer, I enjoyed sharing enviromagic and more with attendees throughout the day.

The host of the wine tasting provided a great number of wine-related quotes which I offered along with my own

Wine combined with wizardry the following day as I provided conjuring and calligraphy for guests at a tasting for wine enthusiasts. I have found that many enjoy the novelty of quill and ink calligraphy in a world of automated printing. I enjoy bringing it to them at events in the form of quotes, charms and even writing out “fortunes”. We followed this early evening fun with a formal performance of Water Wizard, my show about our planet’s most precious resource. It was fitting to share water magic with a group of winelovers!

This summer also marked the launch of Green Magic, a column I will be writing monthly for magicians in The Linking Ring magazine. Changing the world with enviromagic is something I hope many other magicians will do with the advice and suggestions I provide in this column. Our world needs more green magic!

My wish to bring tips, tricks and ideas to other magicians on how to perform enviromagic has come to fruition this summer with a new column

#enviromagic #enviromagician #waterburyharrypotterday #harrypotterday #cyrilthesorcerer #causemagic

Travel by Magic

Harry Potter carries on the ancient tradition of wizards flying upon the backs of hippogriffs. This beautiful drawing was done by Di Acra

“As a modern sorcerer of sustainability it is fitting that I travel upon wind and sunlight.”

As a sorcerer I continue the ancient tradition of traveling by magic.  According to historic accounts, ancient sorcerers might ride upon hippogriffs, the offspring of the mythical griffin and a mare.  Flying brooms and magic carpets were well-known as methods of transport for witches and other wonder workers far before Harry Potter and Disney’s Aladdin.

When I need to “feed” my “hippogriff” away from home I make use of the EV charging stations popping up around the nation.

As a modern sorcerer of sustainability it is fitting that I travel upon wind and sunlight.  In contrast to the wizards of old my transport is of a new sort for a new age:  a Nissan Leaf.  Fueled by the solar energy generated on our roof, and the grid-based electricity which Connecticut allows us to source from the zero-carbon generators of solar and wind, the Leaf does not pollute or contribute to climate change.  This fully electric vehicle may not have the range of a gasoline vehicle or even the gas-electric Prius which I have so enjoyed owning.  But then again, I don’t imagine the hippogriffs of ancient sorcerers could fly forever either.

Magic in Iceland

Iceland is a country renowned as a land of fire and ice, Viking settlers and northern lights.  I was fortunate to take in this magical landscape after performing “Recycling is Magic” for several schools in the Reykjavik area.  While I enjoyed sharing my environmental magic with my Icelandic audiences, the utter elemental beauty of the country reminded me that Nature is the greatest magician.

This adventure began with a magic to rival that of Iceland’s beauty:  love.   My wife and I decided to celebrate our 25th anniversary with a visit to a land for which we had such longing.   We were able to combine our own celebration with a partnership with Landervernd, Iceland’s most prominent environmental organization.  I worked with Landvernd’s Caitlin Wilson, Margret Hugadottir and Gundmundur “Mummi” Gudbrandsson (a fellow graduate of the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies) to create a bi-lingual version of “Recycling is Magic” for elementary school children.  We made some cultural as well as language changes.  For example, my American “ogres” became Icelandic “trolls”, a strong cultural tie.

Given the love that Icelanders have for their majestic landscape I was surprised to learn that their recycling efforts are mixed at this point.  Reykjavik has curbside pick-up for residences, but recycling at businesses and other locales around the island nation is very intermittent.  As such my offer of recycling magic shows tied well into Landvernd’s efforts to help Icelandic schools participate in a growing international green school effort:  Eco Schools.  It was nice to contribute my own small bit of magic to help such a splendid land in its work to protect its environment.  #iceland #enviromagic #spokeswizard #recyclingmagic #recycling

Fair Trade Magic

As a “good wizard” I believe in supporting fair trade as well as environmental sustainability.  Fair trade organizations, such as Ten Thousand Villages, pay artisans, farmers and others in the developing world a living wage for their work.    I support this by buying coffee, chocolate, magic props and gifts from my local Ten Thousand Villages store here in New Haven, CT.   I also support their fair trade efforts by performing “fair trade magic,” in the local store.   I theme the routines to fair trade and use props from the store itself.   Fair trade reverses the trend of creating poverty overseas so that we can have cheap and disable goods at home.

Liz Rider, manager of the Ten Thousand Villages store in New Haven, CT, has partnered with Cyril the Sorcerer to bring several performances of Fair Trade Magic to her location.