To write a spell, first, determine your specific intentions and goals. This will allow the magic to reach out for your desired results. Focus on writing the spell, gathering supplies, casting the spell, and analyzing and adapting it accordingly. It is easier and more ethical to change oneself than to change others.
When creating your own spells, consider how your attitudes, beliefs, thinking, or behavior could be influenced by energy work to solve your problem. For example, if you hate your boss, instead of using energy work to solve your problem, consider using energy work to change your attitude.
Writing your own spells allows you to tailor the spell to meet your personal needs and expand your craft knowledge. There are easy templates available to follow, whether you’re trying to create a spell for love or create an original eclectic witch book of shadows. In How to Create a Real Spell Book, you’ll find easy-to-understand explanations on the many aspects of spell writing.
The process of creating your own spells can be broken down into three sections: past (or trouble), present (or request), and future (intention/the desired). Beginners should master the art of protection spells first, starting simple and building confidence off of it.
In conclusion, writing your own spells is a personal and fulfilling experience that allows you to customize the spell to your specific intentions and beliefs. By following a simple formula, you can create a powerful and effective spell that can help you achieve your goals.
📹 Basics of Writing Spells For Beginners || Simple Witchy Things #pagan #witch #magic
Hello to all of you wonderful people. This video has been the most requested things for me to share among some of my …
How do you write realistic magic?
In order to create a work of magical realism, it is first necessary to establish a realistic setting that focuses on everyday life. This can be achieved by using metaphors as a starting point. It is essential to integrate the fantastical elements in a manner that renders them indistinguishable from the ordinary.
How to write a magic character?
To create realistic characters, focus on creating strong, multi-dimensional characters with flaws, insecurities, and past events that shape their character. Understand their emotional range to write consistent responses to their situations. For deep-level character exploration, use tools like the Character Builder at One Stop for Writers. Additionally, dialogue is crucial for fleshing out a character beyond any magic they may bring. Remember to create characters that readers can relate to and understand, ensuring a cohesive and engaging story.
How do you write the word magic?
The Merriam-Webster. com Dictionary offers a comprehensive definition of “magic,” with updated example sentences and advanced search capabilities available at no cost.
What are the 7 types of spells?
Casting spells is a crucial skill for all witches and wizards, as it allows them to perform various magic tasks. In the Harry Potter universe, there are seven types of spells: charms, curses, transfigurations, healing spells, jinxes, hexes, and counter-spells. Each type has its own properties and purposes, all able to be cast with a single wand.
A charm, or enchantment, gives an object or organism new properties, such as levitate or affect appearance or emotions. When cast with the intent of lasting within a person or object, the receiver becomes bewitched. Dark charms, or curses, can cause immense pain or even death. Despite their potential, charms can be harmless and even helpful for wizards, making them essential for mastery of magic.
What is an example of a spell incantation?
Traditional magic words like Abracadabra, Alakazam, Hocus Pocus, Open Sesame, and Sim Sala Bim are used in rituals to burn images of enemies, such as Šurpu and Maqlû in Babylonian incantations. In the Orient, snakes are used in incantations to entice them out of hiding. In Mesopotamian mythology, Udug Hul incantations are used to exorcise demons who bring misfortune or illnesses, such as mental illness or anxiety, which can cause disastrous events like divorce or property loss.
What are the five 5 magic words?
“The Five Magic Words Activity Workbook” is a fun and interactive book designed to teach children essential values like kindness, empathy, and politeness. It focuses on hands-on learning and cooperative play, encouraging children to explore the magic words “please”, “thank you”, “sorry”, “excuse me”, and “you’re welcome”. The book offers weekly activities that develop social-emotional skills and strengthen character, making it an excellent resource for parents and children to engage in meaningful learning experiences.
What is the real chant of incantation?
In the movie, Ronan urges the audience to chant “Hou ho xiu yi, si sei wu ma” to stop a curse from escalating. Ming, Dodo’s caretaker, searches online for its origins and finds a secluded monk practicing Tantric Buddhism in Yunnan who can translate the incantation. The Minnan language, which originated in Fujian province, spans across a range of Sinitic dialects, mainly spoken in Fujian and much of Taiwan.
It is practiced along the coastal regions of eastern China, spanning from lower Zhejiang to the island province of Hainan. Yunnan lies southwest of the language’s influence, so it is not impossible that Minnan could have made its way there.
The “Hou ho xiu yi, si sei wu ma” mantra has no relation to any of Tantric Buddhism’s spiritual practices. Tantra religions share a commonality: sacraments or rituals are used to conjure divine energies. Incantation, for example, features a sacramental young girl covered in writing to appease Mother Buddha, which is not found in Tantric Buddhism.
What is the most powerful incantation?
Elden Ring offers a variety of character builds, allowing players to fight and play without fearing confrontation with bosses. Incantations, spells powered by faith, can be found throughout the map, including hidden spots. These incantations are essential for a balanced mix of offensive and supportive abilities to defeat foes and keep players safe. The Shadow of the Erdtree DLC expands the list of the best incantations, with the best incantations featuring a balanced mix of offensive and supportive abilities to defeat foes and keep players safe.
What are the 5 unforgivable spells?
The Unforgivable Curses, also known as Avada Kedavra, Cruciatus, and Imperius, are powerful and sinister spells in the wizarding world. First classified as “Unforgivable” in 1717, they were tools of the Dark Arts and were subject to strict penalties. By the 1990s, using any of these curses on a fellow human being would result in a life sentence in Azkaban without parole, unless there was sufficient evidence that the caster did so under the influence of the Imperius Curse.
Many Dark wizards attempted to use this excuse to prevent incarceration, particularly after the First Wizarding War. Exceptions exist, such as Solomon Sallow, who used one on a Dark wizard without legal repercussions, and Aurors were permitted to use them during the First Wizarding War and during the height of the Second Wizarding War under Lord Voldemort’s regime. However, this would have been repealed following Voldemort’s demise.
What are the five magic words?
“The Five Magic Words Activity Workbook” is a fun and interactive book designed to teach children essential values like kindness, empathy, and politeness. It focuses on hands-on learning and cooperative play, encouraging children to explore the magic words “please”, “thank you”, “sorry”, “excuse me”, and “you’re welcome”. The book offers weekly activities that develop social-emotional skills and strengthen character, making it an excellent resource for parents and children to engage in meaningful learning experiences.
📹 How To Write Great Magic — No Way Home, Harry Potter & God of War
Nobody talks about the most effective way to write magic into a story. In this video essay, I break down what it is, and how you can …
I hope you enjoyed the article! If you don’t know, I run a discord server where we chat about writing our own stories plus our general love for good movies and games. You’re more than welcome to join our community by clicking this link: discord.com/invite/aJpYPQX Looking forward to seeing you there! – Henry
They did it. They managed to write an ending more depressing than Infinity War’s. To clarify, as soon as we recovered from the shell shock of that ending, we understood that “they’re gonna come back, right?” There was an expectation that this disastrous outcome will be undone. No Way Home doesn’t establish that. It sets a new permanent status quo for the character. No one knows who Peter is and he has to live with that for the foreseeable future. Dude is alone in the universe.
A common misconception when writing magic is that you can do whatever because magic has no rules. But the magic in virtually every well-written series is defined by its rules that maintain immersion. The moment you break an established rule with the excuse of ‘because magic’ you will have broken the audience’s immersion
Just wanna point out that the phoenix in Chamber of Secrets wasn’t a Deus Ex Machina. A Deus Ex Machina is something that comes out of nowhere with no previous mention or explanation that solves the main problem or all problems in the story. Since the phoenix was shown and mentioned, with its abilities being explained early on (the tears healing powers), it is instead a form of Chekhov’s Gun. Where in a story if a gun is mentioned early on, at some point, that gun must be used in some way. Otherwise you’d just be wasting the readers time explaining this gun to them.
I’ve always loved magic systems. In a story I’m working on, magic is harnessing the power of gods and other spirits for your own purposes. If you wish to learn minor, harmless spells, go ahead, anyone can do it with enough practice. But if you want to become truly skilled in magic, you must combine this magical essence with part of your soul, essentially passing on ownership of your soul-fragment to whatever god controls the magic you’re learning. To become more skilled, you must give up more and more of your soul until there’s nothing left to give, and the gods have absolute ownership of you forever. This makes for a nifty allegory for sacrifice and consequences, and also serves as a convenient explanation for why not everyone is an all-powerful wizard, it’s rarely worth it.
The version of the story of Midas you tell here is a later version in the original version he doesn’t turn his daughter to gold, and Dionysus didn’t simply turn it back when Midas showed regret for his wish, he led him to a river and told him to bathe in it so that the water would wash his gift away.
Peter trying to rebuild his life from scratch might just be one of the most difficult things these characters could possibly overcome in their lifes. I only wonder whether the spell that erases people’s memory of him also erases every shred of physical and/or virtual document that proves his existence
I believe Full Metal Alchemist pulls it off in a great way. When the magic of alchemy has an unbreakable rule – equivalent exchange. You cannot pull something out of thin air, it has to come from something. You can’t conjure a stone spear, you must have stone to transform it into a desired shape. The most brutal example of this rule was when the main heroes wanted to use alchemy to revive a dead person. The spell consumed their flesh, ridding one of a leg and arm, while the other lost his entire body and had his soul transferred to a set of armor to survive. Magic. Has. Rules.
This put into words something I couldn’t explain for years. I’ve been writing stories since I was a kid, and sci-fi and fantasy are by far my favorite genres in writing, which is exactly what my current story is based around. I didn’t realize that I was doing this until I saw the article all the way through, but I’m looking back at the story that I’ve made so far and I’m realizing that I did exactly this. The story I’m working on covers a “truth” surrounding trauma and mental demons, and I’m realizing that the magic I have set here reflects that much more clearly than it would have other wise. The collective unconsciousness is stronger than I thought it was.
I love that you got me to think about why I remember the king Midas story so well when I hear other stories every day. After all king Midas isn’t really a great story. It’s really fairly bland. Yet we remember it because of the underlying truths behind the story. In other words the “foundation” that the story stands upon is memorable. Bringing it to stories today, I suppose that is why a movie like morbius is currently getting so much flack. It has no message. It’s clearly only trying to help set up a spider-verse for profit, but has no lasting message. Compare that to iron-man 1 which set off the mcu. The message of the movie is responsibility, and change. Tony took responsibility for his weapons getting in the wrong hands, but he starts the journey to fix his wrongs and change as a person. From there the mcu could be born because the underlying message of its flagship film was strongly connected to a powerful message.
I think it’s also important to define Magic as a broad term as well. Everything, Everywhere, All At Once is a good example. It’s not magic per se, but unrealistic science. That film utilizes universal truths as well. This concept that no matter what the people we truly love do, there’s no place we’d rather be than with them. Perfectly explained through this new ability to literally be anyone, anywhere, in the infinite multiverse.
I’ve always loved good magic systems that have a lot of thought put into them. The magic system I’m working on for a story is based around microorganisms that can change based on the will of the one casting magic, and also the microorganisms connecting to the very soul of people and giving them powers based on who they are. I’d like to think I’m going with scientific reasoning behind many things in my magic system. I try my best to look at how things could work in my world. Magic is the be all end all in my world. Your articles have helped me so much with making almost everything in my story work together. Your articles are giving me so much motivation to write and I’m struggling to find the exact words to say next to really express how grateful I am for finding and enjoying your articles
Magic isn’t the only unrealistic plot device that can be used to enhance the story. Fantasy and sci-fi are, in my opinion, gateways to talking about things that are very real and sometimes even taboos. It gives you more freedom to talk about real things as a core, with the nice, flashy and unique touches that come with the genres. I’m Dutch, so I don’t know how this is outside of the Netherlands, but it frustrates me most literary genres aren’t being taken seriously. We can pretty much only read novels. It all feels limited and similar. Fantasy and sci-fi can be about things that are just as real as novels can do. The fact that there’s magic, dragons, spaceships or whatever else there might be doesn’t make the story unrealistic. Only the setting is unrealistic but that’s a good thing as it allows you to discover a new universe, set up your own rules and that you can bind the story’s themes to your setting, allowing for more freedom and symbolism. I’m planning on writing books myself and if I can write in an engaging manner, I hope the next generation doesn’t just have to read novels for school.
I adore the King Midas analogue here. I think almost anyone concerned with creativity will inevitably wrestle with the reality that not every idea can be worth its weight in gold. And I think the worst art is produced by those who operate under the presumption that any idea THEIR mind touches IS turned to gold, no matter what.
“When I name dropped King Midas I bet that the majority of you had no bloody clue who the man was. His name didn’t ring a bell for you.” Well, that’s an insane lack of faith in your audience. King Midas is easily one of the most recognizable names in Greek mythology. His name is probably more known by the general public than that of Hephaestus or even Icarus, particularly considering how his tale has been told as a bedtime story for kids for decades, probably even centuries, so you don’t even need basic knowledge of Greek mythology to know his name. “The Midas touch” is literally a common idiom. I mean, come on, man.
To be fair though, at the end of No Way Home, Peter kind of looses everything. He doesn’t have material wealth, but he also doesn’t have any loved ones anymore either. He’s basically alone right now. He has nobody. I’d argue that the true meaning of No Way Home’s plot is the self sacrifice required to be a hero. Because it’s true that he did learn a lesson, but at the cost of loosing everybody that meant anything to him, so it’s not like he could learn to appreciate them more, unlike the story of King Midus.
I loved what you said about the most captivating stories being the ones that tell us truths and inspire us to live better. My favorite TV show is Adventure Time. Yes it’s dumb and silly and colorful and it aired on cartoon network, but even as an adult perusal that show helps align me how i want to live my life. The ever present themes of contentment and love that are throughout make it my favorite show of all time, as opposed to something like spongebob (which i also enjoy, just not nearly as much) which is just colorful and dumb and funny..
Well, I don’t have any magic in the book I’m writing but you made me realize something. There’s a part where my main characters make an improbable escape and I wasn’t confortful with it, but by adding a consequence to pay (like Peter Parker’s identity) it will seem less deus-ex-macchina. Thus, that improbable escape will now cost the life of one of the main characters (he was going to die later but I can rewrite that).
I feel like you would really like the webserial Worm. Not only is it the best superhero story I’ve ever experienced, the way in which it uses it’s power system is truly breathtaking. It manages to be wholly original while also giving a depth to standard superhero powers that I’ve never quite seen before.
As an individual who’s developing a magic system I just defined a few simple rules. There is conjure and manipulation, healing is relative to your intelligence and magical prowess and there are no deus ex machinas. Magic is a utility, not a solve all. Making restrictions has made it alot more fun to work around those rules in creative ways without breaking them.
Idk if you watch Re:zero but it does pretty much the same thing you’re describing in this article. Maybe not all the magic in the show is used like that, but the main character’s Return By Death ability is a really good example of what you’re describing I think. Every time he dies he returns back in time to a previous “save point.” So this magic in some way is what forces him to grow as a person and so far in the series he’s learned several important and invaluable lessons. Because of this power he’s forced to grow unless he repeats the suffering over and over. And what’s funny is I don’t think this specific ability will be explained fully in the future but to me that makes it all the more special.
Another great magic system, transcending the screen to the page, is Witch Hat Atelier. Instead of saying the spells or using wands, they’re drawn. Depending on how perfect the outer circle is when you complete it, what stuff surrounds the basic sigil, etc, a variety of effects can be achieved. It gets really creative with some of them (though really I just wanted an excuse to gush about a manga I love. The mangaka also has a history with Marvel fun fact!)
i love Tom’s peter and his growning as a character, we first see him in civil war just months after losing uncle and while he already learn from his Uncle Ben’s phrase “when you can do the things that i can but you don’t, and then the bad things happen? they happen because of you” and how he should use his powers to help people around him, but what’s amazing is that he didn’t fully understand it yet and it took the lost of his aunt for him to actually learn that he must always do the right thing, even if it means losing everything
No Way Home is interesting for me because I have many logistical issues with its ending (Does Peter still exist legally? Was his documentation erased? Has any article footage of him interacting with people been edited? Are those schoolbooks at the end there because he has to retake his GED because he lost all of his records? How did he rent the apartment without those records?), and yet I don’t care all that much. Because the ending is still a bold move that teaches a good lesson and I respect that. This is why every creative writing teacher puts more importance on themes than plot; a plot can make total logical sense, but still be unmemorable without a powerful message.
Here’s my take: If Peter was wise, it wouldn’t be him letting the runes complete as intended, it’d be him not immediately resorting to magic to gaslight the entire universe just because his friend and girlfriend can’t get accepted into college. As for Midas: His mistake wasn’t making the wish, it was what he wished in particular. Dionysus was like “Dude, you sure about that? Don’t you want to try another wish?”
Wow I genuinely didn’t like chamber of secrets when I was younger because it absolutely felt like that phoenix came out of no where to save the day. I just figured that millions of people adored the series and wouldn’t wanna hear the negative opinion of a kid. I’m so glad you gave me a new perspective!!
People talk about the phoenix plot device in the chamber of secrets all of the time. Not only does the phoenix come in and gouge out the basilisks eyes, but how did it get down there in the first place? What happened to the wall of rocks that ron couldnt get through? And then after harry gets bit by the basilisk, the phoenix happens to have healing tears that are the only thing that can cure basilisk venom? Then the phoenix just scoops them all up and flys out of there? I mean, im a huge harry potter fan, but damn. That book should be called Harry Potter and The Chamber of The Plot Device 😂
Really interesting ideas here, which I agree with strongly. I really like the narrative descriptions you touch on, but I’d also like to raise some criticism / some things which the “brilliant” NWH magic did: Basically, why on Earth does Doctor Strange have a massively different power level depending on the movie? Like are you seriously telling me that the man who defeated Doormamu by literal force of will can’t simply handle a teenager? Really? Maybe you would’ve thought he could’ve planned this out a bit? Again, I still agree that it serves as a great setup for a cathartic ending, but it was massively overshadowed for me by the ridiculous “logic can be what we want it to be” moments in the film.
Speaking as someone who writes as a hobby (I can’t call myself a writer because as of yet I can’t seem to force myself to finish the stories) I’ve worked on and off on projects for years, turning them over in my head writing and rewriting them cause they didn’t fit right and then I’d get to a point where I’d say “That’s what I was going for” cause it clicks at that point, I just know for certain this is what needs to happen. And then I’d turn to another part of the project and work on that, leave it, come back, start working again, another piece clicks, etc. And then I have a lightning bolt moment where I realize this message or theme I have inadvertantly created that I wasn’t even intending to has worked it’s way into various parts of my story. And I look at it and wonder “Does this story have a mind of it’s own and I’m just telling it?” I’ve been working on one story for easily half my life (it’s gone through a lot of changes) and I only just realized a few days ago “Holy shit, one of my themes is the regret, guilt, and self forgiveness (which I did not intend), and it’s beautifully weaved into these five separate aspects that I’ve been working on at completely separate times.” I’ve also realized at separate times that I’ve inadvertently created messages about faith, about identity, about accountability, etc. All completely unintentional, the building blocks that led to them just fit right. And if that’s happening to me, someone who can’t even call themselves an amateur writer, I’d be shocked if all writers of great works truly conceptualized how their different choices worked on so many levels.
I’ll say this Dr.Strange in No way home was really the victim of Disney writing, the power levels are off, the first spell felt okay because of the runes but man just casts a universal memory wipe easily without the runes at the end….. I personally couldn’t accept it, no consistency with the characters power levels and just used as a plot device
6:15 The original version of this myth doesn’t even have his daughter exist. In fact, it’s far more comedic, because the god he asks for a boon is Dionysus, god of drunken revelry. A god who is hesistant because EVEN THE EMBODIMENT OF THE DRUNKEN PARTIER KNOWS WHAT A BAD IDEA THIS IS. Midas isn’t so much greedy as he is dumb as hell. It’s one of the few examples I know of where the original myth is LESS dark than the modern tellings.
I would like to throw in that – as advocatus diaboli – it is also a well-known human truth that big money superhero movies are somewhat hamstrung in creativity simply because they are so expensive to make. An alternative explanation to the Spiderman catharsis is that in previous movies with Toby Maguire the character distances himself from his friends as well. Spiderman’s whole romantic relationship is basically stuck in a loop because he’s always drawing back from it and then trying to start over. And Spiderman distancing himself from his friends in order to protect them has been done multiple times, I think? So it was no surprise that the newest itteration would “learn the same lesson”. They did it probably the best with this last one, though, because the previous versions made it seem like it’s a character flaw of Peter “not being strong enough” to balance out the fear of loss. As an obvervation on the whole, it does seem like magic works as a somewhat enclosed system. In Harry Potter, the only thing that can beat a magical monster is the “deus ex machina” phoenix – another magical creature that seems to be the perfect counter to the basilisk. The only thing that draws the second creature to aide, however, is Harry’s commitment. As writing the book goes, I have to support the theory that this is wholy accidental on Rowling’s part. My thought is that she played with mythical creatures and wrote herself into a corner, thus had to introduce the phoenix as a get-out-of-jail-free-card.
The rules to my magic are as follows: Celestials that inhabit the physical plane have access to abilities that can change elements of our universe, of that which it consists of, that we can’t, those being Space, Time, Matter, and Energy. They can create matter out of nothing, whereas by our understanding of matter, everything is made from something. There is a finite amount of matter that we can use but a celestial can produce more out of sheer will, as an example of their ability. It’s fairly free form but there are certain actions that must never be performed. Doing so would unravel the very multiverse they inhabit. You can travel through time, you can even slow it down to a point of near complete stillness; but it must never, under any circumstances, be reversed, as time only flows in one direction. Just felt like sharing as rules to magic systems are fascinating to explore.
Yaay, happy to see the shoutout to the Mistborn series! If I’m honest, I enjoyed the second era (with Wax and Wayne) more than the first, but since I read things out of order anyway (started with the first Wax and Wayne novel, then jumped back to The Final Empire) it was nice to get a deeper insight into some of the references dropped in The Alloy of Law by reading about their source in the earlier books.
I’m not sure about this. I think Fawkes blinding the basilisk and healing Harry’s wound is questionable storytelling. The ending of Chamber of Secrets never really impressed me, in the books or the movies. I’d even suggest that the reason nobody complained about that ending in the movie is because it was faithful to the book, and fans appreciated the accuracy. To clarify: I’m not saying it’s terrible. I never particularly disliked the ending of Chamber of Secrets, either. But this encounter with the basilisk always felt quite underwhelming to me compared to other climaxes in the series (and certainly compared to climaxes in other movies), and maybe this double whammy of deus ex machina (which I’ve never really acknowledged before) is the reason for that lukewarm response. I think if I re-wrote the scene, Fawkes would still come to Harry’s assistance (illustrating that bravery has its rewards), but Harry would be more proactive in defeating the beast. Harry and Fawkes would be more of a team, as opposed to Fawkes pulling Harry’s butt out of the fire on two separate occasions. But, hey, who am I to question J.K. Rowling? She’s a pretty good writer. lol And I always enjoy your articles and respect your opinions. In fact, I agree with your opinions 99% of the time. I’m only commenting now because this is one of the rare occasions when our opinions don’t perfectly align. Keep up the great work.
The broader and looser a magic system’s rules are, the less satisfying it is for major problems of the story to be solved with magic. Demonstrating a clever combination of firmly defined rules (such as establishing that something is impossible and always kills the caster if even attempted, then tricking the villain into attempting to do it in his hubris thinking he’s above the rules) can be a very satisfying conclusion to a climax.
1. Harry Potter thing – I feel like you’re looking a bit too deeply into this. People don’t complain about the phoenix thigs, because it’s a payoff for a setup earlier in the story. More people complain that the sword came out of a hat, something that didn’t have enough of a setup, but could still be explained by your way of overanalysing, like “it shows that brave actions are rewarded” or something. 2. Magic used in NWH is quite bad, honestly. Yes, the premise is good “take accountability for your actions, don’t look for a shortcut, as it will make things worse in the end”, but the thought behind it sucks – “make everybody forget”, but what about articles? What about signs? What about text? What will replace the memory of people’s actions, while protesting Spider-Parker? And that’s just one part of it, that doesn’t take into account all of the bad writing all around the movie, including some of the Strange’s spellcasting and deus-ex-machine-ing what he can and can’t do.
The main criticism of magic ia that “it can do anything”. This is a criticism i hate because its the laziest, least thought out one you could possibly give. Brandon Sanderson even talked about this at one point i think. You can essentially do whatever you want no matter how much or how little magic youre system has. You could solve all of your protagonists problems right away. You could have him find a hundred thousand dollars under his floorboards and use it to invest and get more money and live a comfortable life, but thats not an interesting story. In the same sense, you could do anything with magic in your story, wether it has rules or not matter little, its all in the way you actually use it in the story. Same reason Tolkien doesn’t have the Eagles fly the Hobbits to Mordor, because it doesn’t make for a good story. And thats all the reason you need not to use your rule-less magic system to solve something. Mythology has zero fucking rules for its magic, yet it sticks in out minds forever and never lets go. How did Midas get his curse? Well, god gave it to him, doesn’t matter! What matters is he’s made a bad choice and it will ruin his life, who cares how his curse works? As long as you have a good story, basically, you can use ANY magic system to tell it. Tl;dr its all in the way you use magic that makes it good, not how many or how little rules it has.
I was in an Extremely stressed out and vulnerable and often deeply unhappy place in my life (-dv-) when I saw No Way Home At that time I could not accept that ending, nor experience any catharsis from it. It had no aesthetic or moral or emotional value for me because of what was going on in my own life. I couldn’t bear to watch Peter go through the ultimate Metaphysical and Existential gut punch, Utterly beyond his control… On the other hand, I know how to transcendent and uplifting a tragic ending can be. I had that reaction to *”Mystic River”*… I can still remember coming out of the theater around 8 PM in the cool dark dark evening air. Very exalting. When you can handle it. Great tragedy can be almost electrifing, giving an Uplisted, and Inspired, and Awed feeling… Great creators are like God(s), they create something where there was nothing–and when the creation pierces profoundly–we’re just in Awe…
It’s funny, but I took away precisely the opposite conclusion you perhaps intended. You see, I enjoy the social sciences very deeply and passionately, so I’ve spent a lot of time studying them. I’ve looked into the history of moral philosophy, studied cultures ancient to modern, read literature from different places and eras, read up about the development of schools of political thought… And I have to say, the idea of “universal moral truths” is, ironically, not in itself a universally held belief. It’s an invention, largely of the Modernist school of thought that sought to produce singular grand narratives with which to frame the world… Grand narratives that always just so happened to center on European values and European history and European culture, tidily brushing under the rug everything that didn’t quite fit. If anything, the case being made here is greater proof of Simon Blackburn’s argument for moral quasi-realism – the notion that morality isn’t a materially real thing, but people behave as if it is; as it is with all social constructs. I believe that to be descriptively true across all of human history. And if moral “truths” constantly have to be backed up by reality warping in order to manifest physically in a narrative, maybe what it really means is that moral ideals are just that: Ideals. Things that exist in people’s minds, that can only be physically real if the supernatural exists to alter the laws of the universe for their sake. As for specifics, though..
Hello! I just wanted to say that I really love your content. I love movies, shows and books. I’m constantly analysing everything in a scene, especially dialog. I was really hoping you had a job opening on your website. I would love to help you grow it in whatever way I can. I can do article editing and research. I’m a software tester at the moment so I have a good eye for detail and I’m good with tech and analysis.
I’m sorry, but I have to disagree on Spider-Man. Readers, if you enjoyed NWH, I’m not invalidating your enjoyment and you can still find it great in spite of the massive problems I perceive. I see your point with the movie, but just because it managed to give Peter a great arc and used the magic to enable it, that DOES NOT make it a great magic system. That is just a good aspect of the story that the magic was used for among, well, everything else, but the magic itself is ultimately still the most ridiculously nonsensical plot device I’ve ever heard of in film. The writers chose to give Peter a great arc that happened to involve the magic, but said magic is primarily just used in the story in the first place because it was the best way the writers could think of to justify the multiverse fan-service event they wanted, and to prove that the magic itself is not responsible for the great arc in the film, it’s not as if there are well-established rules for how it works set out from the beginning so that we know what choices Peter must make in order for it to work, no, the writers could have just as well done anything with his arc using the magic without having to mess with the established rules, because there simply are none. The magic is just a lazy device enabling whatever the plot demands, and the writers just happened to use it to give Peter a good arc, and in my opinion, that arc is the only thing decent about the film.
I would argue that when one chooses a path (and thus the accountability and responsibility of that particular path), all other potential paths are sacrificed. The problem comes when a person chooses a path without taking into consideration what has to be sacrificed in return. I agree that this is the beaufiful yet hard dance all adults go through. Coming to an understanding that you in the end are the captain of your own ships destiny and the sacrifices you choose now will steer you into the future you are wholly responsible for.
This is some great advice. I’ve been working on a magic system for my own series for a while now. It involves harnessing the power of nature, and usually involves turning yourself into a human animal hybrid. Paper are usually limited it into what kind of animal they can turn into based on the biome they grew up in. Usually anyone can learn the skill. What without crop or training you could risk who’s in yourself in your animal form physically and mentally. Not only that it often manifests in people unexpectedly due to changes in their own environment. Thoughts? Feel free to critique.
One point from another article of yours, the end part of no way home brings up the “world is about to end” device, but instead of having a world that doesn’t end and the characters live happily ever after, well, of course, until the sequel arrives, there is a trade off. Peter’s sacrifice could be argued to be bigger than him giving his own life for the universe he lives, having everyone forget you, and now I quote vsauce, is truly death.
life is a magic i do believe is the best written piece of magic i never read. i just live it. great magic needs no writer, it makes his own rules. but if you want to write about magic, you need a hero who like to plan and loves control and knowledge. a good mage is alwyas a good villain, but its rare to see a good hero be a mage. a mage who knows to use magic and you are aware of magic, good magic, works…there is no fight.
I was writing a comic book series. There’s a character with the power to turn any metal to gold. It is more of a controllable power but it focuses more on the ability to indulge on unlimited greed and wealth which our hero has to change in this conflicted character. The main idea being “if we can get everything we ever wanted with no consequences, should we? Or should we not because it could do things to our mind.” Thoughts on where to go with this?
My favorite things in all of fiction is literally manifestations of internal struggles or metaphors. Not sure if you’re an anime person but that’s why I find Stands from JoJo’s bizarre adventure to be genius. As they are embodiment of a character, and can be used to characterize a character and their internal struggles through a magical punchy ghost. Such an Pannicota Fugo who has many anger issues and repressed emotions. And his stand is this raging poisonous monster that goes berserk, a manifestation of his toxic and insane rage.
i heard what you are saying about the chamber of secrets, but ohhhh boy thousands and millions of words of fanfiction are dedicated to that clear deus ex machina (and how manipulative dumbledore can so easily be read as). the fanfiction community really, really noticed. noticed that the traps were easy enough for 1st years to pass too
The blades of chaos are at this point, the physical representation of not only what the Greeks did to him, but what he had done to them. The blood, pain and death he had endured and had equally dealt with are all tied to the blades themselves. For lack of a better metaphor, they are the chains binding him to the dreadful past he escaped from when arriving in the Norse universe. When Mimir earlier warns him about Atreus and his nature, after hearing the rejection, he asks “So you value your privacy more than your son?” to which he gets a rather straightforward reply “I’m going to chop off your head now”. After then having witnessed the effect his selfishness had on his son and how it could even kill him, he learns he has to change. To eventually decide to pick up the blades once again answers the question Mimir asked. The answer being that his past is not worth more than his son. How was the above instigated? A magic sickness with no explanation other than “He doesn’t know his past, this makes him sick”. To basically repeat what was said in the article, magic and fantasy, in general, are powerful because it is not grounded or limited by realism. It allows you to create imaginative ways to present your themes without relying on natural ways. In real life, Kratos would have been fine never telling Atreus about his past and for good reason too. Magic allows you to explore another angle you couldn’t before because reality doesn’t follow the same rules. Now, this isn’t almighty. The scale of magic doesn’t have to be believable but what does is its effect.
The initial spell failing in No Way Home came off less like Spiderman’s problem and more like Strange messing up. Anyone who has ever worked with customers knows you need to sit down first and define what the correct solution for them is. Because there is a huge difference between what a customer says they need, and what they actually need.
B4 perusal this article fully I’m going to say the magic is written well when it plays into cause and effect, not just cool magic make things go boom. No way home has a action and reaction that leads to reflection and growth. I don’t remember chamber of secrets too well its been many u years. But GoW also focuses on the effects of using magic as a way out and how in reality you have to face and accept the consequences from your action. Magic is most engaging when it’s a terrifying device not used to save the plot, but instead create it in a very twisted way. A really cool show me and my mum enjoy is witches of easy end, a show that focuses on a witches who try to use magic as a way to fix things but ultimately realise there is no give without take righting the wrong ultimately leads to a twisted way of creating more wrongs
I love the article! Gives really good advice and teaches it’s own lesson. However I find it very ironic that you choose to mention Harry Potter & The Chamber of Secrets specifically because it’s very rarely talked about when talking about the series, not because it’s a bad movie but because people seem to have another one that they find better or more entertaining.
Every time I hear about magic systems I can’t help but to talk about the one in “Pact” and “Pale” the web serials. While there are general overarching rules its basically all magic systems you’ve ever seen at once. The magic is dictated by semi mindless tiny spirits which love patterns and conventions they are somewhat influenced by society, culture and humanity as a whole. So basically, in a meta way, its basically audience expectation as a magic system And the best part for me is that it makes the system pretty intuitive. If you as a fan want to theorize how bindding yourself to an item may affect your powers, you can look at the IRL symbolism and practical implications of the materials that make such an item and such. And you’d get a fairly accurate guess to how it’d work in universe. Its both something like maths, with hard rules and like an art, where you can bend them and paint your own picture. Its a shame that pretty much no essayist that makes these magic system articles doesn’t know about it.
A minor quibble. What causes the problems in No Way Home is that Peter specifically suggests the alterations to Strange’s spell mid-spell. Strange was trying to make the alterations anyway proving it is possible in theory so the situation could have been cleared up with one conversation prior to performing the spell. So what’s really been criticised here is Peter’s impulsiveness and lack of forethought, acting on his immediate emotions without thinking. The shift happens when he chooses not to kill the Green Goblin as his older counterparts counsel him prior about having learned similar lessons the hard way with Tobey even intervening to prevent the attempt to kill to his own cost, but beyond that the rest works: he does accept the consequences of his actions and erase himself from everyone’s memory. Then when he tries to confront Ned and MJ to remind them of him, he pauses and thinks and chooses not to, despite how desperately he must want to showing that he has fully learned and internalized his lesson.
I must admit the best way to execute the idea of magic I have seen in over 30 years in my life is in “Pointed Hat Atelier” – a manga by Kamome Shirahama. In it, the main protagonist looks up to magicians in her world, tries to mimic their rituals and fails miserably, which creates a stake so high that he readers are immediately sucked in. Namely, her mother gets hurt in the process and to save her, she must discover what exact spell she failed at to reverse it. At least two interesting aspects are resent in the world – the history-long dispute between two groups of mages one saying medicine should be sepaate from magic and any healing medicine sooner or later will be used to hurt and kill people (hence, good magic is only performed on inanimate objects) or that magic should be completely free. Second of all, the rituals always include drawing specific circles and mandalas. But soon enough our protagonist discovers that just redrawing them is not all, it requires not only prcision but also creativity. If one understands what each symbol, its size and amount does, one can experiment almost scientifically to get a desired effect. Following one master is preferred, but creativity allows for using ones strengths in magic Caught up in those two dilemmas performing magic on humans or not and following ones heart versus following the rules makes for the most captivating stories about magic I have ever came across. Strong recommendation.
I was initially enamoured by how extensive Brandon Sanderson’s magic system are. I still am. But I initially wanted to try and model magic systems of my own after them. With clear rules. Such a magic system is magical to the audience, but it’s actually science in the eyes of the characters who inhabit the world. I came to the conclusion that magic being this very mysterious thing that doesn’t have an explanation, nor a clear origin, suits the stories I want to tell far better. If there is a small amount of people who do possess magic, and a larger populace that doesn’t, the larger populace will inevitably get scared and feel threatened. Magic is a well of resources with a lot of different possible abilities. What mages are capable of, depends on what they decided to focus on. Theoretically, any mage could be capable of anything. The unpredictability is a scary prospect.
I think magic in terms of storytelling is like any complex plot device or concept. It needs to take over the entire story for the public to understand. You want a similar example? Time travel. The only stories that work well with that are the ones focused on that and commit to it in a way that it still works in the future. When movies get multiple sequels and the sequels don’t bother to respect the previous entries, that’s when you have a real problem, because the more rules are broken, the less meaning they have. Without their meaning, there’s no point in having them in the first place. You can break rules. Hell, you can break the main rule you established, but if you don’t have a good reason for it and make that mean something, guess what? Others can and will break it again, and you can bet that they will do whatever they want with it because of that. At the end, what matters is how good your story is. Having all these restraints about the plot are only as good as the need for them. If you’re just doing a story that doesn’t take itself that seriously, then focus on that instead. The true secret to making a tricky concept work in a story is for people to never realize it’s there, so when someone finally does, the rest will learn to appreciate it.
Wonderful article! I really enjoyed the supreme analysis of the works you discussed, and the symbolism involved there. Though there’s one thing that is not discussed: fantasy stories convey the morals of the author themselves. Furthermore, the concept of an ‘universal truth’ is indeed one I believe, yet – as a philosophy student – that’s at the least one thing you should make a problem of. I mean, if there’s an universal truth, how does it work? Why is a truth in the first place? And all that other jazz.. Anyhow, thanks for the incredible lesson! I am becoming such a fan of your work ☺️
Fawkes isn’t entirely a deus ex machina, because it really doesn’t come entirely out of nowhere. When Fawkes is introduced, Dumbledore very specifically lays out what the phoenix can do, so there is some set-up there. It is a contrivance, though, but technically everything in writing is a contrivance, because you are completely inventing the story. It’s just a matter of how earned and believable said contrivance feels to the audience.
This is my magic system, it’s called “stone craft” (Tolad language: L’ndith /ləndiθ/): -Stone craft can have many potential uses, both necessary (transportation, medicine) and trivial (cosmetics, entertainment), but it is seldom used (usually only by elites and scholars) because it can be dangerous. Stone craft manifests itself through precious crystals, called “wizard stones” (or ‘khridhvel’nt’ /χriðvɛlənt/ in the Tolad /tɔlad/ language). Users summon Stone craft by properly reciting Tolad incantations while making physical contact with wizard stones. If used properly, Stone craft can help its users solve problems and give the user powers such as teleportation, healing, disguise, etc. -Stone craft is mostly used by elites and scholars, as they have the resources to obtain wizard stones and learn incantations in Tolad. Although extremely rare, a handful of individuals (regardless of class) are predisposed by birth to contain quantities of wizard stones in their blood streams, which enables such individuals, called the “stone-blooded” (or ‘l’ndrogh’ /ləndrɔʁ), to use (or be used for) Tolad incantations without crystals. -Natural wizard stones is a limited resource which is strictly guarded by henchmen who work for the elites. However, some scholars can secretly synthesize artificial wizard stones by using fragments of natural crystals to convert other matter into it. Elites consider this conversion theft, and make attempts to persecute scholars and the stone-blooded for their usage.
Hard disagree on the spiderman case. I don’t see a connection at all between the cathartic effect of the moral decision and the use of magic. I still see magic as a plot device (and poorly used). You make a lot of points but I don’t see you driving this one home. If you trade strange with stark and a spell with a machine, the outcome is unchanged. In my case, the lack of cohesion in the workings of the spell actually distracted me and hurt suspension of disbelief, thus diminishing the emotional attachment for that grand finale. I do love your articles and I believe you make great points about the relation between and mythology and truth. I would really like to hear more of your insights on the matter even if I don’t agree with this particular example. Cheers.
See, this might just be a me thing (I know I certainly seem to be in a minority), but the older I get, the more “thematic” storytelling makes me roll my eyes, especially when softer magic systems are employed specifically to focus on theming, and particularly when otherwise-hard systems warp and break their own rules to better deliver a message. For me, a magic system and a setting that employs it feels more cohesive and is thus more absorbing when the events on-screen feel like they’re playing out in their own space- that this is a world operating all on its own, and the characters involved are just living their lives and reacting to events unfolding, and we as the audience are just observers being allowed to peer into that world for a while. Magic is just a part of the laws of physics in the universe du jour, and the world and its inhabitants act accordingly. A story can absolutely still deliver themes within that framework, and they can be effective too; but when a story exists only to explore a theme, it feels like the author(s) pulling back a curtain and brazenly winking at the audience, and now suddenly I’m a lot more annoyed than receptive. Media is about more than escapism, but escapism is still a factor, and focusing too much on messaging starts to mess with that and feel preachy rather than enjoyable. (Also- less important, but Fawkes and his capabilities in CoS were established much earlier in the book, including the healing tears, so I see his inclusion as much more of a Chekov’s Gun than a deus ex machina, which in turn is why it doesn’t bother people- a rule was established, then adhered to, not pulled out of nowhere at the eleventh hour.
Great article as always. I have a suggestion for a future article if this interests you. There is a bit of a divide in the GTA community whether or not GTA V has a good story. Many, including myself, believe that IV’s story was better in comparison. Your analysis in regards to this will be very eye-opening. Regardless, you’re awesome, keep up the good work.
Myths with the Greeks is always telling us how to live, because it is always filled with philosophy. Herakles isn’t just the strong chad who did 12 tasks, he suffered and chose for it in the beginning of the story, because he chose for the hard path leading to virtue, instead of the easy and leisurable path leading to laziness and oblivion.
4:47 the problem here is that the true meaning of the story is “think about what you wish for before you wish it” He was simply dumb enough to want that ability instead of wishing for anything that he WANTS to become gold to be able to turn into gold and that he can also reverse the effects if he wants to So that way he could turn anything into gold just by wishing for it An entire army trying to kill him would instantly turn into gold His daughter would become gold he’d wait for a decade and revive her meaning she’d technically have a longer life and live longer than he does He will be able to turn the entire planet into gold with no problem if he really wanted to and then reverse the effects if he chose to
I’d say Wheel of Time, the book series, pulled off magic the best. Not only is the system well documented and worked out, but it’s limited in it’s scope. It can’t do *everything*, though it can do quite a bit. It’s also not a shield…channelers are killed all the time. It has a rule set, but those rules are bent quite a bit, with massive consequences for doing so. and “spells” have names that can be replicated and aren’t just a bunch of one off as the situation requires.
No Way Home ends like how Infinity War and Endgame ended, with the possibilities wide open for them to go down. They could have Ned and MJ regain their memories or have them establish a brand-new connection to Peter. And even then, there’s tons of possibilities too. Ned could become a villain (adding to the joke from No Way Home) or become his best friend again. MJ could fall in love with Peter again or maybe she ends up with someone, adding to the tragedy. Or they could go darker and have Peter allow his friends to leave for colleges. I highly doubt this one will happen as Zendaya is very popular and Disney will want to use that star-power she has to draw audiences, plus she would want a paycheck from a big franchise movie. But for the sake of argument, just present it as a possibility. Say that he lets his friends go, whether to never be seen again or they turn up in a future film, and we get introduced to new/familiar characters like Gwen Stacy, Black Cat, Eddie Brock, Miles Morales, or a version of Harry Osborne. A new love interest could be introduced, allowing for Peter to move on or setting up for a love-triangle. Like I said, there are a ton of possibilities that can be done, and No Way Home provided that by simply following the old system of story-telling that we haven’t seen a lot of in big budget movies in a long while.
“Books of Magic” by Neil Gaiman is magic done well (the original series of four comics or collected Trade Paperback), not the extended series that came out later. From the mundane (egg (inside joke)) to the magnificent, from occult and mysterious to practical stage magic, cosmic, fantasy, time warping, it’s all there.
The Closer Look, you got a point wrong about the Basilisk. The King of Serpents has a murderous stare, so anyone who looks at the snake will die. The reason why the victims in Harry’s year were Petrified was because they looked at the Basilisk indirectly. Justin saw it through a ghost, Hermione and Penelope saw it with the mirror, Colin saw it through his camera and Mrs Norris saw the snake through the waters flooding the corridor.
I love your works. The vast majority of the time I feel like you put to words what I cannot. However, with your chamber of secrets arguement, I believe you give rolling too much credit. She may have thought of one of those allegory’s and metaphors, but no way did she put in the time and effort you did for this article
Just started with Elantris, and I can easily see why everybody loves Brandon Sanderson. That it’s widely considered the weakest story (we all have to start somewhere) it’s still leagues above any other debut I’ve read. Even Harry Potter, even Skulduggery Pleasant (and that’s my favourite series too!) didn’t stick the first landing. Even Percy Jackson and Artemis Fowl’s widely-acclaimed openings didn’t work as well as Elantris, and those are pretty fine openers by their own right! In any case, I’m told that from this point, Sanderson’s works only get better and better, so I definitely can’t wait to not only start The Final Empire, but also reach those hallowed halls that are the Kickstarter Children (when those books are released, that is) too! It definitely hopes that Sanderson, from what I’ve seen from his Kickstarter ad and his “starting point for Mistborn” lecture article alone, is a really nice guy. Who starts by focusing on people just getting through their daily struggles regardless of Unseen Evils threatening the universe (yes, I’ve got the edition with the Dan Wells foreword; you should definitely read it, it has charm), and therefore already has strong characters to start with. And, from what I’ve heard, wrote one of, if not THE, greatest fight scenes in modern literature (The Wheel of Time, Book 11, a series by equally great writer Michael Jordan, who’s also on my to-do list). And honestly, I can tell it will be good; I’ve read up to the fencing match, and it’s really well written.
The reason myths all contain fantasy elements is because that’s part of the definition of a myth. There are plenty of stories from the past that show a moral or universal concept without fantasy elements. However, these are defined as folklore or legends. Being supernatural is part of the classification. It’s like saying that all mammals are warm-blooded because because all the cold-blooded mammals died off, rather than that just being part of the definition of a mammal.
This is a great article on how a magic system should be or the examples it provides but i do need some help with my own help for a magic system I’ve been working where mana is an Fundamental part of the universe and that the effects it can have on reality. All living beings have mana within them but can only truly access it when an emotional event happens to them, the level of emotion doesnt matter but it causes an burst of mana within them that can do anything from transforming them into slime and goo to making them into massive fire breathing dragons so the way that they control it is to use magic which is a Specialized practice of writing speech and hand movements that allows mana to flow in a more controlled manner but those who have trained for years they have such control that they have no need for any hand movements but rather just controlling the mana within them, what does anyone think?
The idea that “universal truths” exist in our subconscious is a primary argument of Jungian Psychologists in the book “King, Warrior, Magician, Lover”. The book explains how certain archetypes in myths and storytelling that are found around the world exist as “imprints” in our subconscious. Like Stories Of Old on YouTube has made frequent citation of it in his articles.
This is the most important article you’ve ever released. Myths are the fundamental building blocks that show us how to live our lives. Stories contain principles and it’s the communication of these principles that allow us to lead impactful and meaningful lives. This analysis goes beyond magic and shows what truly makes a good and impactful story.
I once read a kindle sample of an essay in which a young woman, I think a Asian young woman 🤔, a grad student. She made more or less exactly this argument. Or something very similar. She said that science fiction is more real than realism. And it’s precisely because everything is heightened and therefore the underlying reality is exposed. –Interestingly she found elements that she considered to qualify as SciFi and Fantasy in the enigmatic poems of Emily Dickinson…
Overall amazing article and love the thesis, but going to have to soft-disagree with the Harry Potter argument, at least the part where ‘no-one’ complained about the end of Chamber of Secrets, I certainly did at least! Totally agree with the metaphoric meaning of the sequence, but I think the essence of good story-telling is to incorporate such meaning into a seamless sequence that doesn’t have Duex Ex Phoenix appearing out of nowhere.