place and magic and belonging
Sep. 24th, 2011 06:55 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
aviaI was thinking recently, because I'm reading The Wood Wife, about place, and stories, and magic/wonder.
The Wood Wife is a very... place-focused book. A lot of books are, Daughter of the Forest was too, the one I read just before it. Daughter of the Forest is a story that would not work without Ireland, and without Britain (before the first place was part of the second), and the cultural roots and atmosphere of those places. The Wood Wife is also a story that would not work without place, because it is all about the magic of the Arizona desert, how the desert hides wild and strange things and how it can transform a person.
Because of this, I find the book interesting, but, in a detached way... it makes me curious to learn about the magic of the desert, and difficult to feel close to the book, also. Those things come from the same place... I don't understand desert magic. It is not my natural place, it is not my way, it is not my home.
I realise that place makes a big difference for me, if I want to feel and experience the magic in a story. It's influence for me, even before I read a book, what kind of place I think that book is about. In fact, I was excited to read The Wood Wife because the title makes me think, it will be about woods, which exist usually in cold places, with a lot of rain. That's where I find spiritual comfort. I love stories that are about forests, or green hills, or mountains and cold, icy lands. I have never been to Ireland or Scotland, but I do enjoy stories that have an Irish or Scottish theme because, simply, I like trees and water and storms and rain. I need them, to be spiritual in my full detail.
I am a water bird and, in Hermetic tradition water is associated with darkness and shadow, and, I am also a shadow creature. I can't have the light on me all the time. I need shade and I need rain, and, I feel most magical with those things around me. I also wonder a little, if there is a truth to the idea of "roots" in a blood sense... I don't normally think about it, but, I wonder, this blood was made for a Japanese climate and spirituality and, I wonder if it really does make a difference. If there is a truth to the idea that your spirituality, or spiritual pull/strength, can be passed down in blood, in a way.
I live in the desert, so, I hope that The Wood Wife will teach me about how to appreciate the magic here. But I feel like the forests will always be spiritual home for me.
The Wood Wife is a very... place-focused book. A lot of books are, Daughter of the Forest was too, the one I read just before it. Daughter of the Forest is a story that would not work without Ireland, and without Britain (before the first place was part of the second), and the cultural roots and atmosphere of those places. The Wood Wife is also a story that would not work without place, because it is all about the magic of the Arizona desert, how the desert hides wild and strange things and how it can transform a person.
Because of this, I find the book interesting, but, in a detached way... it makes me curious to learn about the magic of the desert, and difficult to feel close to the book, also. Those things come from the same place... I don't understand desert magic. It is not my natural place, it is not my way, it is not my home.
I realise that place makes a big difference for me, if I want to feel and experience the magic in a story. It's influence for me, even before I read a book, what kind of place I think that book is about. In fact, I was excited to read The Wood Wife because the title makes me think, it will be about woods, which exist usually in cold places, with a lot of rain. That's where I find spiritual comfort. I love stories that are about forests, or green hills, or mountains and cold, icy lands. I have never been to Ireland or Scotland, but I do enjoy stories that have an Irish or Scottish theme because, simply, I like trees and water and storms and rain. I need them, to be spiritual in my full detail.
I am a water bird and, in Hermetic tradition water is associated with darkness and shadow, and, I am also a shadow creature. I can't have the light on me all the time. I need shade and I need rain, and, I feel most magical with those things around me. I also wonder a little, if there is a truth to the idea of "roots" in a blood sense... I don't normally think about it, but, I wonder, this blood was made for a Japanese climate and spirituality and, I wonder if it really does make a difference. If there is a truth to the idea that your spirituality, or spiritual pull/strength, can be passed down in blood, in a way.
I live in the desert, so, I hope that The Wood Wife will teach me about how to appreciate the magic here. But I feel like the forests will always be spiritual home for me.
no subject
Date: 2011-09-25 03:10 am (UTC)I'm actually a very desert-oriented person (and magician), despite currently living in a place that's almost tropical. There is a lot of life buried beneath what looks like a bleak landscape; the flowers all have secret languages, the animals who make their homes there are both harsh and beautiful, a mirror of their environment. The moon and the stars are closer, waiting to be touched. Reality thins out in the most isolated areas--you feel you could slip between the membranes separating this world from the one next door.
The desert embraces the so-called outsiders, the ones who don't feel like they belong. It's very different, but still magic in its own right.
no subject
Date: 2011-09-25 05:04 am (UTC)But, I'm curious about your desert magic. I can understand it in a brain way, even if it's not a heart way... I appreciate harsh beauty, I appreciate the wonder of a clear night sky with so many stars. But something about a land so open and bright, without shelter, scares me. I need shadows and hidden places. The desert doesn't let anyone hide.
But, I do know about the slipping between the world feeling. I felt that before, one time. I was scared about it then, too, even though I normally like death, thin worlds feeling. It made me feel dizzy. But, maybe, next time, I can accept that.
I'm definitely outsider, outcast. I will try and feel that connection, too.
Thank you.
no subject
Date: 2011-09-28 04:10 am (UTC)This, thank you.
And also, the desert smells like rain... The life and *Community* are there. But they're subtle, under-the-surface. So the ocean is there, but it's in my veins in blood, it's in sap, in juice. But that community is so important, it's just this great murmur that's not always obvious.
no subject
Date: 2011-09-28 04:18 am (UTC)As a water bird, I think, it makes me frightened, a place where water is only in these hidden places that you have to struggle to find. I can definitely see how that can be precious and magical... for me, it makes me too much nervous, flappy bird to enjoy it. I need to feel the dull rumble of the water all around me, like a heavy, comforting blanket.
But, I also finished The Wood Wife today, so, slowly, and with people's words, I am starting to understand a little more...
no subject
Date: 2011-09-28 04:32 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-09-28 04:33 am (UTC)Sharing magic is a beautiful thing.