It is fascinating that some people get weirded out about magic for religious reasons. Yes, the references are in the Bible to avoid magicians, but is it possible that a misunderstanding happens? These people won’t let their children read or watch Harry Potter. The Lord of the Rings is shot through with magic. By not letting them read these stories, though, the children miss illustrations of the chronic struggle between good and evil or the virtue of smallness and innocence, and I defy any parent to realistically think a child can pick up a stick (or, God help us, buy one in a wand shop that’s been in business since 823 B.C.), chant the incantation Avada Kedavra, and expect the person in front of them to die in a flash of green light.
But what of the Narnia Chronicles? C.S. Lewis, the author, was one of the Twentieth Century’s greatest Christian apologists. Yet he wrote a series of books that is underscored by Deep Magic.
There are two ways to raise children as far as this goes: to shield them from anything undesirable, or to teach them about undesirable things and to make good decisions in the face of them. It is critical that the child’s age be taken into account, of course; there is no call to teach a four-year-old about sexuality, and it is arguably irresponsible to not teach a fourteen-year-old about the changes his or her body and mind are going through. Shielding them is an immediate solution that puts parents at ease, but in the long run it turns out that children grow up, leave home, and then are confronted with realities that the parents never let them learn about, and now the parents aren’t there to shield them anymore. They aren’t prepared to deal with some things in life, increasing the chance of making poor decisions.
And by the way, seeing sexuality as undesirable is a matter of perception. In the right amount, context, and for the right purpose, sexuality can be one of the most meaningful and beautiful things in life.
Getting back to magic, what are we talking about anyway? When we are young sleight of hand amazes us; we don’t understand how something happens and so we call it magic. How many things do adults not understand? Is it that magic is inherently evil, or is much explained by the fact that we are just ignorant of cleverness? In The Lord of the Rings, the wizard Saruman’s greatest and most dangerous ability is his smooth tongue. How many non-wizards live amongst us who have the same ability? Do we call it magic? If we were able to rid ourselves of every bit of human cleverness, would there remain anything that could be called ‘magic’?
The best antidote to being taken by cleverness is knowledge. The Bible speaks rather highly of knowledge.
Is magic inherently evil? Does the biblical translation of the word carry the same essence as our modern American understanding of ‘sorcery’? We may have a mistaken idea of what was written about. It wouldn’t be the first time. Are there forms of ‘magic’ that can be considered good? (We have always had ideas of black magic and white magic; perhaps a Wiccan reader can enlighten me on what this means to them). If a slick tongue can be considered magic, is it possible that such can be used for the good? Undoubtedly.
It probably is just a matter of perception and unreasonable fears. After all, how many of the weirded out Christians would take a vacation to Disney’s Magic Kingdom?
