Really interesting conversation. I wanted to comment on the topic of Stephen Skinner and the need for precision when doing magic. I am a practicing astrologer and tarot reader and Skinner's point about needing to strictly follow the 'liturgy' of magic or divination is absolutely true and gets at the fundamental paradox of magic and the occult in general. Go to any astrology conference and pony up to the bar at 1AM and begin a conversation with just about any astrologer and they will all say the same thing (at least after a few drinks). 1. Of course astrology works, it is truly amazing and by practicing it we are constantly reminded of the wonders of the universe. 2. We have absolutely no idea how it works, and technique and rules, while absolutely necessary are at the same time absurd and ridiculous.
How can this be? We need the rules, techniques, traditions etc. to make sense of the chart, but at the same time almost all of us recognize the fact that Indian astrology and Chinese astrology work just as well as Western astrology but use very different systems. Most of us will also admit (maybe after a few more drinks) that there have been times when mistakes have been made about dates, times, etc on charts, but the readings went fabulously. I have done literally thousands of tarot readings, and occasionally I have made serious mistakes in the 'liturgy' of the readings and it makes no difference, the readings went well.
The key is the energy. When people come to me with very serious issues and the energy is right, it is astounding what the cards can do. It never ceases to amaze me yet I know that it is not the 'cards' per se yet it took me years of study of the cards to be able to do truly profound readings. This is the paradox at the heart of this issue and I am afraid Dr. Radin will never discover the answer in a lab and maybe that is why he has begun to use the 'm' word, because those of us who practice these rites know they can never be 'explained' as they transcend all of our conceptions of spirit and matter. As a fine writer once wrote "You tear apart the baby's rattle and see what makes the noise inside, but there is a veil covering the unseen world which not the strongest man, nor even the united strength of all the strongest men that ever lived could tear apart."
Something happens in divination, and I suspect the same in magic though i have very little experience with it. Something in the the mix of desire, tradition, belief, liturgy etc. makes all this work, and it works. There is a wonderful astrologer, Geoffrey Cornelius, who wrote maybe one of the most influential books of the last 20 years or so in astrology
The Moment of Astrology: Origins in Divination. I highly encourage anyone interested to explore Geoffrey Cornelius's work, here is an interview with him.
http://theastrologypodcast.com/2015/11/24/geoffrey-cornelius-moment-of-astrology/
Cornelius gets at the essence of this question by focusing on the moment and the direct interaction between the astrologer and the querent, something happens at that moment between the two people and the chart that creates the 'magic' or the divination. His work has given many a much deeper understanding of what is going on. The key point is we KNOW these things work but my guess is we are simply going to have to move past the idea of an explainable mechanism, we are going to have to live with that enigma.