Mystic, part 2.

Here I am at 4 in the morning reading the OED entry for "mystic." See previous post for context. 

I have to open a new post to show you something I found that has nothing to do with the "mystical cord" [sic] that was or may have been Queen Elizabeth. 

For years now, I've run into the name Donald Trump not only in the many, many stories about him but in all sorts of articles that have nothing to do with him. Just now, I found this in the OED, under the meaning "Of or relating to mysterious or occult rites or practices":

1577   in T. Thomson Acts & Proc. Kirk of Scotl. (1839) I. 384   The heid given to the laird of Dun..being thocht be him obscure and mystick....

1644    J. Milton Doctr. Divorce (ed. 2) 42   Their filthines was hid, but the mystick reason therof known to their Sages.

1697    J. Dryden tr. Virgil Æneis  i, in tr. Virgil Wks. 212   I have search'd the Mystick Rolls of Fate [L. fatorum arcana].

1725    W. Broome in A. Pope et al. tr. Homer Odyssey III.  xi. 59   And mutter'd vows, and mystic song apply'd To griesly Pluto, and his gloomy bride.

1785    R. Burns Poems 59   When Masons' mystic word an' grip, In storms an' tempests raise you up.

1805    W. Scott Lay of Last Minstrel  v. xxvii. 151   Cared not the Ladye to betray Her mystic arts in view of day....

1911    F. H. Burnett Secret Garden xxiv. 261   Every beautiful morning the Magic was worked by the mystic circle under the plum-tree.

1996    Spy (N.Y.) Apr. 28/1   Short-fingered acolyte Donald Trump may have been introduced to the mystic secrets of the East by dim New-Agey trophy wife Marla.

Look at Spy Magazine, in there with all those exalted poets. I remember when Spy Magazine was new, and I read it throughout its run (1986 to 1998). I remember when the main thing I knew about Donald Trump was that Spy Magazine would always call him "short-fingered." Those were simpler times. 

Ah! I've found the old issue of Spy — here. It's an article about Feng Shui, analyzing various NYC buildings, with the help of R.D. Chin. Here's what the OED found worthy of its list of "mystic" quotes:

 

And right next to that:

 

Yes, those were simpler times. You could joke about "the bombers" — the 1993 bombers. Energy goes in cycles....

We don't joke about improving the energy of the World Trade Center with chintz curtains anymore. We don't fixate on the size of Donald Trump hands. And it's been a long time since it seemed pleasingly cheeky to say things like "mystic secrets of the East."