The concept of the magic circle is one that is necessarily abstract. However, it's a useful lens to have in your toolkit.

The "magic circle" in this context is the separation between what is real/mundane and what is pretend. It's described by John Huizinga (Homo Ludens) as the pre-defined marked-off delineation that occurs before play begins.

It's the agreement between all players that anyone playing will abide by the predefined rules. Animals don't bite to kill.

Katie Salen and Eric Zimmerman expand this concept more formally in Rules of Play (Rules of Play). They assert that every time a player begins or participates in a game, they enter into a magic circle. Chess players don't cheat.

When players break those rules, the magic breaks and the whole facade breaks down. When an animal bites too hard or a chess player cheats, the play abruptly stops.

I've found it to be a useful lens to look at all systems and organizations that we can participate within. We choose to interact with systems and abide by the explicit or implicit rules of that system. The explicit rules of the company you work for, as well as the implicit social and political rules that must be followed to fit in well.

Other examples are the Plan of Salvation (Magic Circle Plan of Salvation) and Social Contracts (Magic Circle Social Contracts).

Citations

#toolong