Final Class Thoughts

At the beginning of the semester my knowledge of magic was only that of common knowledge due to the representation of what has been shown through modern movies and books. Upon entering the class i had the hopes of learning why and where these beliefs and displays had originated from.  Now i have the answers to my question...I think?  As we learned in the early stages of the class magic was used by those who were in the eyes of the church, devil/demon worshipers.  How can this be since the way people view magic today is a "gift" and those who can see the future or make things disappear are paid for their services as well as almost worshiped by youth who read books such as Harry Potter and the Lord of The Rings.  As we learned this correlation is false as magic that was used in the past was not at all similar to the common form presented today.  Overall I enjoyed reading many of the stories and excerpts provided throughout the class with the exception of a few (mainly from Kors and Peters) they presented many different views on the development of magic.

In the past magic was primarily used as a form of gaining an advantage over others by destroying their crops or causing illness to suddenly fall upon an enemy.  The readings progressed and showed that people who were capable of such magic were not "gifted" as this type of magic required learning and practice, which began to cloud my understanding. This soon passed as we read the many different stories of Merlin and finally I had read about someone who was born with the “gift” of said knowledge.  Unfortunately as stated in the readings Merlin was born with his powers because of the actions of a demon and the devil which brought disappointment.  The only readings which were able to bring light to my question were actually books in which I had previously read but through reading and discussing them in class I was able to finally understand why Harry Potter and the Lord of the Rings showed such need for the use of magic as a “gift”.  The need for such wizards like Gandolf in Lord of the Rings showed how those with such little power in the world like the hobbits on their journey would be lost and alone without him guiding them through their journey. And through Harry Potter it displayed that a boy who had been through so much pain and suffering, some of which he did not even know, was able to have magic enter his life and finally make him feel normal and accepted for who he is. 

A quote that my grandfather has always said to me throughout my years of schooling is that “knowledge is power, and power leads to success, so learn all you can while you can and never stop”.  This is a quote that I can greatly relate to our class and the transitions of magic which I think has helped me tie all of these different concepts.  As magic was displayed in the readings of Kors and Peters there was little knowledge in the world at this time as only those with access had power to influence those into believing the horrors of witchcraft.  As the world progressed those who were previously without knowledge were now able to learn and they began to understand what powers witchcraft actually contained changing the world view to what it has become. 

The worlds of Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings may be fictional which may be why it is easy to accept them and make them popular but now I realize that that magic actually had a place in the real world which differed very much and at one time was a serious issue.  In some ways there are similarities between these real world issues and those presented in fictional stories but now I can sort of piece them together and understand how these applications have relevance and shape our view of magic’s current place in the world…I think.