So this might be a silly question but here goes. anybody ever read the young wizards books by diane duane in the early 1990s? i read them as a kid. so i was wondering whether magick in real life is really like that in which duane described in her books? like with manuals and such? i wonder because i know there is a book of shadows which is kinda like a manual. please respond and thank you!!!
I am completely unfamiliar with the books, so as far as how magic is portrayed, I cannot say.
But for the mention of "manuals," the answer is a sort-of yes. There are traditions with stricter or less strict practices. The more formal ones may even have established curricula.
There are also grimoires, which are collections of teachings and rituals that people have decided to publish. They vary greatly in tradition and origin, from the supposedly ancient, to the very old, to the early modern era when an interest in mysticism and spiritism was on the rise again, to the current age. Some are full of tried-and-never proven information while some are full of years' worth of diligent research.
But I'm getting a bit far off-track. The published grimoires and books of shadows; the curricula by the very organized traditions; the books about what magic is and how it works, about learning how to write your own spell, about magic without spells: These are basically manuals, though they are rarely just a try-and-do sort of thing.
I LOVED those books. However, the magick was very inaccurate. You can't simply read a passage in a library book then BAM you are Magick. That's just one example.
For those who don't know the books, here's wht wikipedia has to say toward the plot of the first (of nine):
Nita Callahan, taking refuge in the library from bullies, checks out a book found in the children's section with the provocative title So You Want To Be a Wizard . On the way home, the bullies corner her, beat her up, and take aspace pengiven to her by her uncle. Before Nita goes to sleep, she takes the Wizard's Oath. The next morning she looks at her manual and sees her name in the wizards list.
She goes to a quiet place to work a pen retrieval spell, and meets Christopher "Kit" Rodriguez, also a new wizard. Kit is making a spell intended to surround him with an aura of fearlessness. Combining their intentions, they create a new spell, which presents a vision of an alternate Manhattan: polluted, lightless, and frightening. A terrible being composed of pure desire reaches up to consume them, and to escape, they open their minds to the universe - which ends up bringing an intelligentwhite holefrom space. Translated into English and simplified, the white hole's name is "Fred".
The next day at school Fred and Nita attempt to retrieve Nita's pen from her bullies, but Fred miscalculates the gravity required to lift the pen from the bullies' possession, and instead accidentally swallows it. This makes Fred hiccup objects, including a television, a blueMercedes, and aLearJet. After school, they seek help from the local Advisory Wizards. Fred's problem is fixed, but Nita's pen is not recovered. In order to retrieve it, they must link Fred to a worldgate inGrand Central Stationand pull the pen out of Fred.
Fred also has some alarming news: a crucial book has gone missing. Called the Naming of Lights , it is a compendium of information that describes the true nature of everything that has or will exist. It is also known as The Book of Night with Moon because it can only be read by moonlight. Its shadow, The Book Which is Not Named , contains descriptions that are twisted out of their true patterns. If the Lone Power - the being of desire and hate sensed by Nita and Kit - were to read the shadow Book without the bright Book being read, the cosmos would be irreparably skewed.
In Grand Central, Nita and Kit find that the worldgate has been knocked out of place and is hovering above the station. Nita invokes the air to solidify into a walkway between the roof of thePan Am Buildingand the gate, but before Nita can retrieve her pen, a pack ofwerewolf-analogues attack, causing Nita, Kit, and Fred to plunge through the worldgate.
On the other side, Nita's pen is lying on the floor of a building in an alternate New York City. The landscape is cold, dark and lifeless, populated by predators. Many resemble automobiles, but there are also glowing-eyed dun mice, batlike skinwings, and dragonlike fireworms. This world belongs to the Lone Power, a thing far worse than anydeviland more ancient than the earth.
Nita, Kit, and Fred learn that the two Books are here, and that to get home they will have to read from the bright Book. To find the bright Book, they decide to steal the dark Book from the Lone Power, because they need the Bright Book's power to find the worldgate, which has been hidden in the darkness that the Lone Power has created. On their way to the Lone Power's office, Kit finds a racing car, aLotus Esprit, beside its prey, a "dead" sedan, injured by a piece of metal lodged in its axle. Kit cuts this piece away, and the Lotus roars off, free.
Inside the building, Nita, Kit, and Fred eavesdrop on the Lone Power's phone call to theArchangel Michael. Michael suspects his brother stole the bright Book, while the Lone Power suspects him of sending Nita and Kit to steal it back. Nita and Kit have not previously considered this, but it begins to make sense.
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Old City Hall subway platform
Nita steals the dark Book, and uses it to locate the bright Book in the tunnels under City Hall. Aided by the Lotus Esprit, who has returned to show its gratitude, they proceed to the tunnels, where they discover the Book is guarded by the Eldest of the fireworms. The Eldest - adragon-like fire-breathing lizard - lies on a vast hoard of stolen gold, gems, silver plate, plastic toys, coins, and bones. The wizards bargain with the Eldest, giving it the dark Book in exchange for the bright Book, in addition to securing the hoard with a magical barrier.
The enraged Lone Power comes after them on the back of an eight-legged, skull-faced beast. They flee through the worldgate, and re-enter their homeworld with the Lone Power on their heels. To stop the Lone Power from destroying their Universe, Kit and Nita quickly enlist a wall of magically animated trees and statues around a refuge inCentral Park, and begin to read from the bright Book by moonlight, to undo the changes that the Lone Power has been making during the pursuit.
The Lone Power then puts out the Sun, extinguishing the moonlight that is necessary to read from the Book. Fred sacrifices himself by "blowing his quanta", releasing all his mass as energy in the form of visible light, which, reflected by the moon, becomes moonlight by which the Wizards can continue reading. As Kit and Nita recite the Lone Power's true name, written in the bright Book, Nita makes a slight modification to the text (the symbol), giving the Lone Power the option to become a positive rather than a negative energy.
Renamed and vanquished, the Lone Power withdraws. Nita and Kit go home, their Ordeal complete.
Alright. So there are three details you need to know going into this story:
I had already been practicing for two years prior to this event.
It was raining outside.
Courtney blows everything out of proportion.
So it was 7th grade, and I had the first book checked out from the library. It was 7th period, we were waiting for the buses, and Courtney and I were talking while I read.
Me: I am certain that this is not how it works. Watch, I'm gonna read this, and nothing is gonna happen
Courtney: Ok
I read it. I read it aloud exactly like I would read a spell, with this same intent, focus, drawing from the same places inside me. And when I stopped, the second I stopped, the power went out.
All the students were low-key freaking out, except Courtney who was very much high-key freaking out.
Courtney: Oh my god Joscelyne!!! (my birth name) You're like, magic or something!!!
Me: It was the weather. That's NOT how Magick works guys.
Some chic: It not raining that bad though.
Keep in mind that these were 7th graders, they were gonna buy into anything. At least one of those kids probably still believed in Santa. When we were ushered into the hallway, you can bet your buttons the whole school knew "it was my fault" within minutes.
