From a young age I was obsessed with the mysterious, the

The words of Drummond Money-Coutts—“From a young age I was obsessed with the mysterious, the esoteric, the paranormal.”—speak not merely of curiosity, but of a sacred hunger—the yearning that has stirred the hearts of seekers since time began. In this confession lies the essence of all wonder, the spark that drives humanity to look beyond the visible, to question what lies beneath the surface of existence. To be drawn to mystery is not to reject reason, but to reach for the realms where reason cannot tread. Money-Coutts, a magician and illusionist, inherited not only a fascination with the unseen, but the ancient lineage of those who dared to walk the fine line between illusion and revelation. His words echo the voices of the philosophers, mystics, and sages who sought to pierce the veil between the known and the unknowable.

From his youth, he was captured by what the ancients called thauma—the Greek word for wonder, the beginning of all philosophy. In his pursuit of the esoteric—the hidden teachings of the world—he joins a timeless brotherhood of those who refuse to live only by sight. He reminds us that the paranormal, whether one believes in it or not, symbolizes something larger: the human refusal to accept the boundaries of the ordinary. To gaze into the unknown, as he did from childhood, is to feel the pull of eternity whispering through the everyday, inviting the spirit to awaken. For those who listen to that whisper, life is not a dull succession of facts, but a sacred riddle waiting to be solved.

Throughout history, this obsession with mystery has been the seed of revelation. Consider Isaac Newton, who, though celebrated as a man of science, spent much of his life studying alchemy and hidden scripture. He did not see contradiction in this, for he believed that behind every law of nature lay the breath of the divine. Or think of Leonardo da Vinci, whose notebooks are filled not only with sketches of machines and anatomy but with encrypted codes, symbols, and riddles. Like Money-Coutts, they understood that knowledge and mystery are not enemies, but companions. The rational and the mystical are two wings of the same bird; together, they allow the soul to soar beyond the limits of common thought.

To be “obsessed with the mysterious,” as Money-Coutts says, is to possess what the ancients called the fire of Hermes—the messenger who moved freely between worlds, carrying truth wrapped in enigma. For the magician, the artist, or the philosopher, this fire is the source of creation itself. It is what compels a person to look at the stars and feel both awe and belonging; to study the unseen, not for power, but for understanding. The esoteric does not mean secret for the sake of secrecy—it means knowledge that reveals itself only to the patient, the disciplined, and the pure of intent. Money-Coutts’ lifelong fascination with the paranormal thus becomes more than entertainment—it becomes a reflection of humanity’s oldest impulse: the quest to touch the infinite.

But there is also a warning hidden within his words. The ancient mystics knew that the search for hidden truth is perilous. Icarus, in his yearning to fly toward the sun, ignored the boundaries set for him and fell from the sky. Likewise, one who seeks the mysterious without humility risks being consumed by illusion. The mystery must be approached not with greed or pride, but with reverence. The wise seek not to control the unseen, but to learn from it—to let it shape their vision of what it means to be human. True seekers understand that every veil lifted reveals another, and that the journey inward is infinite.

In this, Drummond Money-Coutts’ fascination becomes a symbol for the spiritual journey of all humankind. Every soul begins as a child, wide-eyed before the unknown. As we grow older, society teaches us to doubt, to explain, to reduce the miraculous into mechanisms. Yet the deepest wisdom lies in preserving that childlike wonder—the part of us that still looks at the night sky with awe, or feels the brush of something unseen and calls it mystery rather than madness. The esoteric is not only in books of hidden lore or ancient rituals—it lives in every heartbeat that dares to ask, “What if there is more?”

Let this then be the lesson for those who would walk the path of wonder: cherish your curiosity, but temper it with wisdom. Do not seek the mysterious only to astonish others or to escape the world, but to deepen your connection with it. Study what is hidden, but do not lose sight of what is true. Learn from the magician’s art—that illusion can awaken insight, that mystery can lead to meaning, that to glimpse the unseen is to remember how vast creation truly is. Above all, never let the flame of awe die within you, for that flame is the soul’s light—the same light that guided the ancient seers, the same that shines in every heart that refuses to stop asking why.

In the end, Drummond Money-Coutts teaches us that to love the mysterious is to honor the divine complexity of existence. The world is not meant to be solved like a puzzle, but experienced like a poem—its beauty lying in what cannot be explained. To be “obsessed with the mysterious” is, in truth, to be deeply alive—to live as those before us once did, with eyes open to the unseen, hearts attuned to wonder, and spirits forever reaching toward the stars.