Dear Saint Anthony, please come around. Something's lost and it can't be found.
You know what flummoxes me? The above isn't some cutesy saying, or nursery rhyme, or mnemonic device... it's a prayer. You're supposed to concentrate on the object you can't seem to find, and recite this chant. Then a miracle happens. Saint Anthony, aloft on wings of joy and enlightenment, will descend from heaven just to point you to your car keys.
I tried it once, when I was a kid. I lost my class ring, and knowing that was an offense punishable by death, I prayed to Saint Anthony. Lo, and behold, I found it shortly thereafter.
Turns out it was slightly to the side of where I always put it when I went to bed. All I had to do was...think...about...
HEY!
WAIT A MINUTE!
That wasn't Saint Anthony on his miracle wings of finding! That was me! I concentrated. I thought about it. I figured it out. I slowed down and thought methodically about the possibilities.
My suggestion to you is this:
Don't rely on magic. Don't rely on incantations. Think. Use your brain. Weigh what is possible, what is probable, and what is provable.
You'll find you are the magic. You can do anything if you don't chain yourself to superstition for the sake of tradition.
You'll find a lot of shit that would otherwise be lost.
