Saturday, August 24, 2013

Systems of Magic

Hello readers! It's Saturday, so I thought I would actually post something on time! Isn't it funny how that goes?

A few weeks ago, I had the chance to visit the lovely and wonderful and amazing Experience Music Project museum, which is located in the perpetually socked-in-and-raining haven of Seattle, Washington.

This insanity right here is a museum.
Though it does house some incredible exhibits about music - specifically Jimi Hendrix, Nirvana, and Women of Rock, which are all pretty awesome - it is also the home of exhibits on science fiction, horror, and fantasy. There is literally something for everyone to geek out about in this building, from the first models of electric guitar, Lady Gaga's first piano, and Nirvana's In Utero stage mannequins to Data's uniform, the Alien, original manuscript pages of Bram Stoker's Dracula, and the plot chart for the Lord of the Rings penned by J.R.R. Tolkien himself.

But, as the title of this post suggests, I'm here to talk about a specific part of the Fantasy exhibit: systems of magic. There was a portion of this  exhibit which was set up like a library. Unlike typical libraries, it housed a table, the surface of which was a touch screen. You can click on the "books" floating around on it and they open to reveal various things. One such book outlined the different classes of magic typically found in works of Fantasy. I have reproduced them below. Please understand that all material in quotes does not belong to me and I do not claim that it does. 

Capiche? Good. Read on.

Ten Types of Magic: Overview. "Many types of magic that appear in fantasy fiction [today] are rooted in older traditions, as well as some rituals that continue to be practiced today in religious settings. Some fantasy stories stay true to long-held beliefs about magic, while others run wild with new rules and techniques. Because magic can work for the forces of both good and evil, it is up to the practitioner to determine what kind of effect their actions will have."
1. Nature-Based Magic. "Nature-based magic is grounded on theprinciple that the universe it made up of four elements - earth, air, fire, and water - and that the universe can be controlled through magical manipulation of them. This system of magic is common in much of today's fantasy, including the animated series Avatar: The Last Airbender and A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin. Some stories, like the Final Fantasy video game series, integrate additional elements beyond the basic four such as ice and lightning."
2. Sympathy. "Sympathy magic creates a link between two like objects and allows the practitioner to control one object through another. The most famous example of this is the voodoo doll, which allows a practitioner to remotely affect a person by manipulating a doll. The Kingkiller Chronicle by Patrick Rothfuss, Among Others by Jo Walton, Enchanted by Orson Scott Card, and A Song of Ice and Fire by George R. R. Martin all depict variations of sympathetic magic."
 The photo which accompanied this caption is of a "Haplit doll, coffin, and needles used in Filipino folk medicine".
3. Transmutation. "Transmutation is a form of magic that transforms one object into another object. The most common practice is alchemy - the pursuit of transforming common metals into gold. Transmutation sometimes requires the use of a magic circle, a sigil with an arrangement of symbols, which is meant to contain and concentrate the energy summoned by the magic user. This practice can be seen in the anime series Fullmetal Alchemist, The Magicians by Lev Grossman, and The Song of the Lioness by Tamora Pierce."
Alchemy is one of my favorite concepts, but more on that in another post…
4. Transfiguration. "Transfiguration relies on similar principles as transmutation, but involves the magical transformation of living things rather than inanimate objects. This practice was prominent in the Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling, in which Professor Minerva McGonagall describes it as "some of the most complex and dangerous magic you [students] will learn at Hogwarts". Other examples of transfiguration appear in Neil Gaiman's novels American Gods, Stardust, and Anansi Boys, and in classical literature including Ovid's Metamorphoses and Homer's The Odyssey."
5. Divination. "Divination, or fortune telling, involves the use of objects, either natural or specifically designed, to predict the future. This can include reading tarot cards, star charts, tea leaves, and crystals. A prominent example from fantasy literature is Lyra's alethiometer in Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials series, which combines magical ritual with the interpretation of symbols. Psychic visions, such as those experienced by Fiver in Watership Down by Richard Adams and Tiresias in Oedipus Rex by Sophocles, are also divination experiences." 
6. Name Magic. "Name magic involves a process of learning the "true name" of a person or object in order to gain control over them. In the film Spirited Away, for example, the witch Yubaba steals the names of her workers in order to prevent them from leaving her realm. Other fantasy stories that show examples of name magic include The Kingkiller Chronicle by Patrick Rothfuss, The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley, and the comic series Fables by Bill Willingham."
7. Conjuring and Invocation. "Conjuring and invocation magic includes everything from invoking gods to conjuring demons, and these rituals can be simple or elaborate. Morgaine's invocation of the old gods in The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley and Aragorn's invocation of the power of his ancestors in The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien are both forms of this kinds of magic, though the latter is particularly subtle. This practice may require a pre-determined space, in the way that the invocation of an Endless in the Sandman comic by Neil Gaiman requires standing in a gallery and holding a special sigil." 
8. Concoctions. "Concoctions are magical potions created for specific purposes, often healing or transformation. The three witches in Shakespeare's Macbeth famously mix ingredients including eye of newt, toe of frog, wool of bat, and tongue of dog into their boiling cauldron. Magical concoctions also appear in The Odyssey by Homer, "The Little Mermaid" by Hans Christian Anderson, the Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling, and the Broadway musical Wicked."
9. Object Magic. "Object magic involves the use of physical objects such as amulets, talismans, charms, and magical jewelry for certain goals. These objects can be magically charged for specific purposes, including healing, protection, or curses. An example of this is the spindle in the Brothers Grimm fairy tale "Briar Rose", which has been cursed by an evil fairy as a weapon against the princess. Other examples of object magic also appear in One Thousand and One Nights, The Lord of the Rings, the Harry Potter series, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer."
See also Brom's The Plucker.
10. Symbol Magic. "Symbol magic involves enacting change by drawing specific symbols. Symbols can also be evoked with energy, or drawn with specific objects. These symbols, the most famous examples including a five-pointed star or a circle, have esoteric meanings and each has specific properties. Symbol magic appears prominently in the Abhorsen series of fantasy novels by Garth Nix, in which a practitioner can create spells and bindings using special marks such as the Charter Mark."
A friend recently recommended the novel Elantris, by Brandon Sanderson, and told me that it uses symbol magic.

This is all so fascinating to me not only because of my love of fantasy, but also its basis in folklore and in religion and spirituality. For example, from my little experience thus far, many pagan practices are based in nature magic, any may also involve the making of concoctions or potions, divination through use of a pendulum or otherwise (object magic), and the use of sigils. Sympathy magic makes me think of reading an article about witch bottles or witch jars. Name magic evokes the faery tale Rumpelstiltskin, or any faery tale, really.

Anyway, I hope that this is a good resource for those of you who are magic enthusiasts, fantasy enthusiasts, or just curious. I'm hoping to delve more into the traditions that are the basis of these systems; hopefully more of that material can appear soon.

Have a good rest of your weekend everybody, and happy magicking!

1 comment:

  1. It was a wonderful day. I wish we could do it again, and again, and again.

    ReplyDelete