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Magic Systems and Why We Love Them | Mythic Mirror Ep 25
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What makes a magic system truly unforgettable? Is it the rigid, rule-bound logic of a hard magic system — or the mysterious, awe-inspiring chaos of a soft one? From divine power and elemental forces to the intricate mechanics that make you feel like you’re learning alongside the hero, magic systems are the heartbeat of fantasy worldbuilding.
In this episode, we dive deep into what separates a good magic system from a great one — and why we can’t stop talking about them. Whether you’re a lifelong fantasy fanatic or just starting your journey into fictional worlds, this one’s for you.
🎧 Listen, share, and let us know in the comments — what’s your favorite magic system of all time?
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Transcript
Introduction to Mythic Mirror Podcast
00:00:00
Speaker
What are unique aspects of magic systems? Why does the system matter? And why do
00:00:19
Speaker
Welcome to Mythic Mirror, the podcast for lovers of myth and fantasy who want to live magical, fulfilling lives. I'm your host, Mary C. Kehoe. And I'm your co-host, Carolina
Significance and Structure of Magic Systems
00:00:29
Speaker
Carter. And today we are taking a deep dive into magic systems.
00:00:33
Speaker
Why they matter. What are they? Do you want to start us off? Yeah, absolutely. um Something but I love about getting into any fantasy book is figuring out the magic system. How different authors lay it out for you. and Because it's kind of a lot to learn. So it's generally strung along throughout the first time.
00:00:58
Speaker
I don't know, half of the first book for you really to get a grasp of it. It's kind of, to me, like playing any board game where it's easier to learn the rules if you just play instead of somebody trying to explain all the rules before you start playing. You should just couple practice rounds and then just go for it.
00:01:16
Speaker
um I feel like One Dark Window does that really well with the little magic cards at the beginning of each chapter. i feel like with every single chapter you've gotten to understand the magic system more until it becomes a little...
00:01:29
Speaker
um innate where you don't have to think about it too hard. Because I think that's the thing is you don't want to have to think about it too hard. You want it to just sort of naturally come to you so that you feel like you're a part of the world. um So just going over some basic magic systems.
Soft vs. Hard Magic Systems in Literature
00:01:47
Speaker
There's like the soft magic, which is kind of like the unknowing unknowable unknown where it's it's there, but you don't really understand where it comes from, what its limits are.
00:02:01
Speaker
um like i feel I feel like somebody's gonna argue with me on this, but maybe like Gandalf's powers, where it's like, it's a little bit mysterious where they come from, there the extent, um yeah, if if there are limitations or not.
00:02:19
Speaker
I know if you probably read all of the history books, similar similar the similar, the similarian, it probably explains it. But to me, that's my example of soft magic.
00:02:32
Speaker
And then on the other side is hard magic, which is like there are very stringent rules that must be followed. You as a reader, it is your duty to know them. And then underneath these two categories are all these other subgenres where there's, you know, elemental magic, earth, water, fire,
00:02:51
Speaker
air, I know the elements, Mary, shut up. There's a scholarly magic, which is like, you know you're studying wizards, Harry Potter, alchemy, that sort of thing.
00:03:04
Speaker
um Naming magic, where if to know something's true name is to have power over it. That's woven in in like City of Brass is the most recent one. and then there's blood magic which usually you know to me that's any sort of like sacrificial magic where something must be taken for some for power to be used um what else divine magic where it's from you know either gods mystical magical beings
00:03:35
Speaker
that's my broad overview of magical systems okay first I want to ah take a moment to talk a little bit more about the hard magic systems and the soft magic systems. And I think many books kind of blend the two where there's, there's a little aspect of, of the soft within the overall,
00:03:56
Speaker
hard and fast rules. Um, but I wanted to bring up some books and see which you think, um, they are hard or soft.
Narrative Function of Soft Magic Systems
00:04:08
Speaker
And one thing I'd say about the soft magic is yes, the reader doesn't know the rules, but for it to still be successful, it works within the logic of the world. Um,
00:04:19
Speaker
um like in the, and the author might know the rules, but we as a reader don't, and maybe the characters don't either. So I would actually agree with you with Gandalf. All right. So the Brandon Sanderson books.
00:04:33
Speaker
Now you might not have read enough of these. I'm going to say hard magic because I think I know a little bit about this where they have to eat metal. So that is actually, I was going to bring that one up. That's the Mistborn series.
00:04:45
Speaker
That was one i was thought of as the most unique magic system I could think of. But he definitely revels in creating complex hard magic systems.
00:04:57
Speaker
um So it's kind of what he is known for. Okay. How about ACOTAR? to say soft because it's not really, there aren't like hard limits to the power.
00:05:11
Speaker
I feel like there's like this person's more powerful than this person, but you don't really know. And it's like, oh, they got really tired or they're like, oh, they're getting to the bottom of their power.
Comparing Different Magic Systems
00:05:22
Speaker
But it's not like, Yeah, there's a cost, but... Yeah, but it's not firm.
00:05:26
Speaker
and need it And it seems like they can always dig deeper. Like, when I think of a hard system, like the Zodiac Academy, which know you haven't read, but that's all right. um But it's easy to explain because it's like, oh, these guys recharge their magic by being by fire. These guys recharge... And they have to recharge by going and sitting under a full moon. Like, that's, like, very...
00:05:48
Speaker
They can't, it's like known when they get to the end and known that they have to recharge this certain way. Like that seems like a harder, whereas ACOTAR, it's like they just, you know, drink water, drink plenty of fluids and rest and and they'll be right as rain. Yeah. They just kind of lean on that innate power within them and then just use it, which is great. There's not, I don't think one system is better for the other. It's just what kind of story you want to be telling. Yeah.
00:06:18
Speaker
Okay, next one. I'll just do two more. Harry Potter. That's a hard, soft one for me. Yeah, I feel like they're there is a system. you You have to do the words and the spell and the motion with the wands. It's scholarly.
00:06:32
Speaker
Except if you're really good, you don't need a wand. And then there are aspects of the soft magic where it comes in where, you know, different things change.
00:06:43
Speaker
You know, as the series go, the magic grows and changes and Right. And you never really hear of anyone like there's obviously more powerful wizards and less powerful wizards, but you don't really hear of anyone like running out of magic. Huh. That's a good question because, all you know, like Voldemort is obviously creating the horcruxes to try and make himself more powerful and long lived.
00:07:08
Speaker
That's a system with a cost. I think there is a system, but there's a lot of soft magic within the system where it was built purposefully to be open enough so that throughout the series you can be getting new surprises. And that fits in with, you know, it's not like, oh, this breaks the whole system.
00:07:31
Speaker
No, but the system is flexible. All right. Last
Chaos in Discworld's Magic System
00:07:35
Speaker
one. Discworld. Discworld.
00:07:38
Speaker
I'm like torn. Every time I'm like, yep, this is what I believe. I'm like, no, maybe not. Hang on, let me
00:07:47
Speaker
Because where does the magic come from? Seemingly study. Mm-hmm. Well, and I think it doesn't matter so much where it comes from as much as it's a hard magic when Nanny Weatherwax is using it and it's a soft magic when Nanny Og is using it.
00:08:06
Speaker
Well, I think that's a very good point. I think it is a hard system for Granny Weatherwax, but for the reader, it's more of a soft system because we don't understand all of it. But we understand that there is a system, but then built into the system is the chaos of the Discworld and that it, you know, magic has a mind of its own.
00:08:29
Speaker
Yeah, we know like the witches, for instance, we know that their power, they draw power from the stones of the earth. we We learned that when the Tiffany Aching books, because she's on the chalk, but then there's, so they don't think there could be a witch on the chalk, but then there's iron.
00:08:46
Speaker
little bits of iron throughout right so there are some things that you learn throughout the series we're like oh there is there is a logic to this and a system but it's kept and inside the uh
00:09:04
Speaker
brilliant chaos that is the disc world all right i have a question for you mm-hmm what would you describe One Dark Window's magic system
Wild Magic in One Dark Window
00:09:17
Speaker
as?
00:09:17
Speaker
Hard? you You mean like other than that? Because I feel like that was obvious. Yeah, that was obvious. i was just curious. Just trying to get you catch you off guard. So that one gets interesting because it starts with the magic comes from like wild magic, this the spirit in the wood. So it' so that sense is...
00:09:38
Speaker
wild and it's like a soft magic that has clear rules to it when you're dealing with it but you don't we don't know the limits of the wild magic and what it can do right and even to the extent of where we just found out that the mist doesn't affect them if you're if you if you've been infected so it's like maybe these hard rules aren't so hard after all With the cards, which, you know, so it's like with the magical object side of the magic system, it's very hard. And then when it comes to the wild magic, it's hard in the sense of everything has a cost, but the limits of the power we don't know. Yeah, and I do, i i love the idea of creating a magic system, of looking at all these and weaving something together of your own.
00:10:26
Speaker
That's so cool. um Are we allowed to talk about your book at all? ah Yeah. Yeah. Okay, great. Well, I'm not ready to talk about it yet. I had one more thing to say about magic systems. Well, go ahead. um Well, just like to break it down, basically, it's who can use it?
00:10:43
Speaker
What can it do? What can't it do? What does it cost? Right? That's basically, if you can fill that out, that's your magic system. Yeah. Now,
00:10:56
Speaker
Now I'm ready to talk about your book. Would you describe, with no spoilers, your magic system is hard or soft? I think it's a soft magic to begin with because the characters themselves don't know the system, the rules of the road. yeah yeah um So there definitely are rules and you know the price of magic and power.
00:11:23
Speaker
Um, but that with mine, I, it's kind of the two different, there are two different avenues in which you can use magic or gain power from.
00:11:39
Speaker
Um, so one is a little bit more of a hard magic system than the other, I would say. Yeah, and I was going to ask you that next because there is something to be said. Whenever the magic is innate or inborn, it feels like there is something naturally soft about that because it's so individual to the individual e he and their strengths and their headology.
00:12:03
Speaker
Yes. who Yeah, so I would say mine is a mix of, Element magic and then God divine magic with a little touch of innate talent.
00:12:18
Speaker
But is the innate talent given to you by the gods? That's the question. And I have a little bit of symbols thrown in there. Well, you got to have symbols, right? If you don't have symbols, I don't know what you're doing.
00:12:30
Speaker
My greatest task with the symbols for the gods in this book is make it good enough that someone could have it as a tattoo. It's like, that's all I have is my goal.
00:12:43
Speaker
Well, I got great news for you. People tattoo anything. So like you could have done great whatever. Well, I'm very picky. So maybe that's it. It's make it good enough that I would have it as a tattoo. that's extremely different. That's much harder.
00:12:57
Speaker
Can you share any symbols right now? or Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. we wait Wait, wait, wait. it the The Kickstarter launch will share some because two of the symbols will be incorporated into um certain wonderful things you get along with the book.
00:13:18
Speaker
And if you buy the book, Mary will tattoo them on you herself. With my teeth. With her teeth. That's not how any of this works.
Authors Known for Soft Magic Systems
00:13:29
Speaker
We're still doing, we're in the early development stage. We're in the research process. The teeth tattooing. We're just brainstorming, you know? noah No idea is a bad idea. It's a spinoff of the stick and poke We'll get back to you on that.
00:13:48
Speaker
So coming back to the wider world of fantasy. um And out of that disturbing imagery, um what are some unique ones that you can think of that really, i mean, i I know I talked about the, we talked about Mistborn already, but some, not even, it has it doesn't even have to be a specific book, but some ways in which characters connect with magic that is unique. Yeah.
00:14:18
Speaker
I feel like I'm just starting to graduate into the harder magic systems in the fantasy realm. So far, it's been very soft magic for me. um i feel like actually the Devabad trilogy that we just covered was kind of my first foyer into ah a harder magic system, a more like, and I guess I i choose that one as like hard because it was so medical.
00:14:40
Speaker
There was such a visceral, tangible um physical element to it where for example when she's healing the city she sees it as a body and like heals it you know it's not just like and then they she blasted light that just fixed everything you know it's like there's a little more something systematic about it um but so you know definitely raised on soft magic ah Patricia C. Reed was one of my favorites growing up
00:15:16
Speaker
Which is interesting because that was the heroine did not have magic. Correct, Mary? Mm hmm. Simmerine. Yes. She liked to cook. Yeah.
00:15:28
Speaker
Cherry Jubilee. ah That one is great because the setting itself is so fantastical, fantastical because she's a princess to a dragon, but she herself is is not magical, which you don't see very often. So that's very cool.
00:15:44
Speaker
And yeah the other unique thing about that that series is the king of the enchanted forest, whose name is escaping me. the way he sees the strands of energy and magic and can like manipulate and that's how he moves through the forest and stays aware of what's going on i thought that was really cool too yeah but yeah i think overall it's um is a soft i would agree soft magic because it's we don't know the rules that you know the witches and the wizards learned
00:16:17
Speaker
My other favorite, Patricia, Patricia McKillop. Also soft magic system, I would say. Her magic system is like her writing, where you kind of spiral into an understanding of it. where you're like You're like, I'm so confused. I'm so confused. Oh, no, it all makes sense. It's like reading poetry, except in prose form.
00:16:37
Speaker
Yeah. ah Alphabet of Thorne. that one I was just like I have no idea what's going on and then I finished it and i was like I just love that book that's how I felt too confused the whole time and then suddenly somehow it clicks right exactly um what about you do you have any favorite magic systems as of yet I will say I do gravitate toward um magic that is connected to
00:17:13
Speaker
ancient things or nature or...
Folklore and Nature in Magic Systems
00:17:18
Speaker
you know especially when it ties in a little bit to something in our own world, um like the City of Brass, tying into that mythology of djinn.
00:17:29
Speaker
And um another one that I really love is um oh the Bear and the Nightingale and those with the Russian folklore. I know I've mentioned that that series before. um Yeah, so ones that tie in to something a little deeper.
00:17:47
Speaker
I really like it. Like the Green Witch, the Susan Cooper books that we covered, where it touches on that magic that feels so old that your bones recognize it. Yeah. Yeah.
00:17:58
Speaker
I love that. um Switching slightly, there are two types of magic that are most often used as dark magic or forbidden magic.
Moral Ambiguity in Blood Magic and Necromancy
00:18:11
Speaker
So I would say that is the blood magic and necromancy.
00:18:15
Speaker
Ugh. Yeah. Have we, either one of us, read any book where those are used by a good person? Yeah. And I feel like that's been a lot more common recently. I feel like in modern like fantasy that's come out in the last couple of years, there's been this push and this need that for magic to have it like a very tangible cost.
00:18:39
Speaker
So I feel like blood magic very especially has been in more and more books lately. here um I feel like I just recommended one and by just I mean within the last two years to you that was blood magic driven and I also maybe it goes along with there's been a lot more sort of morally gray heroes too where they are using that and it's not necessarily good that they're using it here yeah I feel I feel like that one ah
00:19:17
Speaker
is Is a good one to explore like the cost and the and and the cost of power and who pays that cost? I feel like it very clearly the bad guys the ones who use other people.
00:19:33
Speaker
hmm. And then, you know, when it's you using yourself, then it becomes that, or is it that very thin line between harm and, and you know, how much harm for good is good.
00:19:50
Speaker
Right. i One series that I've been begging you to read um that I feel like explores this really where well is Daughter of No Worlds. um Definitely some...
00:20:04
Speaker
ah all everything you just said. That's all going to say.
00:20:11
Speaker
Well, I will just remind you that I have a neurodivergent brain, so I fully intend to read things when you give me the name, but then we need to, we need to, okay, we're going to create a list, a shared note, so I can actually remember the titles that you give me.
00:20:30
Speaker
And you can remember the titles that I give you.
00:20:35
Speaker
Time for Discworld Delight. Yes. All guesses online were for Jingo. That is a popular one. I think the last time we did Jingo, everyone got it too.
00:20:48
Speaker
Clockwork Liar says, holds the record for most upsetting example of of a scheduling app slash day planner thus far by Jingo. a he All right, for this week.
00:21:02
Speaker
There's a new world coming, and there won't be any room for it for those ghastly little gnomes or witches or centaurs, and especially not those firebirds. Away with them. Let us progress. They are unfitted for survival.
00:21:14
Speaker
You only wounded that phoenix, though. My point exactly. It allowed itself to be hurt, and therefore extinction looms. No, my dear, if we want to if we won't fade with the old world, we must make shift in the new. Witches? I'm afraid witches are all in the past now.
00:21:36
Speaker
Who is that obnoxious being? What?
00:21:42
Speaker
I would like to commend your morning reading there, Mary. Thank you. Got robust voice. There you go. And ah yes, we're in the morning now. we We're in different clothes. Talked about magic systems all night.
00:21:56
Speaker
I'm sorry we couldn't bring you along for that journey. We've been talking for 12 hours. And the internet just didn't capture our magic, so here we are.
Magic's Role in Societal Balance and World-Building
00:22:08
Speaker
Getting back to magic systems. One of the things I think is so interesting is the way in which balance is kept. So I know we've talked about the cost or the price of magic and the limitations of either you know physically exhaustion or you know in some other some other form of of price or cost.
00:22:29
Speaker
um on kind of the more larger worldview level of the balance of like what magic does in the world and how it changes, you know, different aspects. So what I'm, I'm kind of a thinking about this for my second book right now, because the first one magic is suppressed in the society that they're in and then in the second book we meet the societies where that is not the case so figuring out how um you know the society is different in that sense has been pretty interesting yeah and that's um I guess what like different
00:23:23
Speaker
um different systems have different ways of suppression. um um not I like want to talk about this, but this definitely is a spoiler for a totally different book. But here's what I'll say. Everybody's probably seen the most...
00:23:39
Speaker
second to last James Bond movie where I feel like it's just interesting to see in pop culture and in books things have gone to a more molecular level where like I think as we learn more people want to use it more so you know that James Bond was all about bio warfare and I feel like magic's taking that on too like ah it's a more biological thing you what I mean? Mm-hmm. It makes sense because what you know is interesting to the author in the moment is going to get fed into or what inspires them.
00:24:17
Speaker
I can't remember what author it was. It was probably a science fiction author, but they were saying they'd read science magazines all the time because that was where they got their inspiration. Yeah, and then it makes sense that you have kind of like these like um waves you know of fantasy that all have kind of like a similar thing.
00:24:39
Speaker
and I think what I really enjoy about that too is that like vampires just keep coming. Every couple of years they are not going away. It's going to be like, oh, vampires, that's so passe. And then a couple years later, it's like, man, we want to read about vampires again.
00:24:55
Speaker
Back when I was looking at um traditionally publishing and I was looking at a bunch of agents and oh before I remembered that I usually stand against the man in the system. So ah I was trying to get into the system, but ah nothing against agents or publishers in general or in specific.
00:25:15
Speaker
um But when I was looking at there, ah so many of them, had you know like absolutely no vampires because they didn't think they could sell it because no publisher is buying a vampire book. And then the other thing was no book based off of your D&D campaign or D&D character. Like, yes, we can tell.
00:25:36
Speaker
And now the two huge genres right now, sub-genres would be, I would say, vampires and lit RPG, which is yeah a game in book form.
00:25:51
Speaker
Yeah, and you you can't tell the people what they, I mean, sometimes you can, but sometimes you can't tell the people what they want. It's funny too on that note, one thing I forgot to say yesterday that I was, I think meandering towards this point was ah like a lot of the, i think.
00:26:10
Speaker
A lot of the fiction fantasy I was raised on, and I will include Star Wars in that, was I feel like it it came more from like Arthurian legend where there's like there's definite good and there's definite evil. And one of the main things is like don't give in to your emotions. You control your emotions. Don't let your emotions control you. And now I feel like in in fantasy books I've been reading more recently, um like Fourth Wing.
00:26:36
Speaker
Have you read that one yet? Mm-hmm. where they are it's very dependent and heavy on using emotions to gain access to your power and that always makes me so uncomfortable because i'm like oh oh no this is what the bad guys want you're you're safe right now you're right now right now which is funny because I don't think this is a spoiler for fourth wing, but there is a little Sith element to the emotion. worth being but um But yeah, even in books where it it ends up not being a problem, like ah I feel like the Throne of Glass series, like anger, anger,
00:27:14
Speaker
grief any any Sarah J Moss I feel like she uses a lot of like grief and anger to access like to dig down deep and access power and that doesn't make the character evil and I'm always so uncomfortable and just like this is this is gonna go bad you can't do that Well, that's funny. And I do think it is because of like waves in psychology and the way we handle our own figuring out ourself.
00:27:46
Speaker
It does get outplayed in in fantasy as well. But apologies if you can hear my dog in the background. This is as quiet as he's going to get this morning.
00:27:58
Speaker
ah So what you were just saying reminded me of when I was acting in a play where something tragic happens and I have to just break down and sob on stage and my grandparents had died recently.
00:28:14
Speaker
And so someone asked me like, oh, do you think of your grandparents like when you're up there and you have to cry? No, I don't. And just the idea of that. sounds traumatizing. like If I had to dig into my own sorrow every time I needed to access something and, you know, in fantasy, it would be accessing magic in this world. It's accessing, you know, this moment of emotion.
00:28:43
Speaker
ah I feel like that can lead to burnout and a toxic, um, a weird toxic pattern of using your own grief and anger Yeah, where you're not really like expressing it in a healthy way that's helping you move through the emotion, but rather just like turning the faucet on and off when right to be performative.
00:29:09
Speaker
Yeah, yeah. And holding onto it, I feel like that's where the idea of the, you know, tormented artist comes from. It's like, well, if I didn't have this pain in me anymore, I wouldn't be able to be a brilliant artist.
00:29:23
Speaker
I just had the opposite experience on stage where I did think of something that was very personal to me that made me sad to cry on stage. And my note back from the directors where they were like,
00:29:35
Speaker
Maybe don't cry so much on stage. Maybe we don't see her cry in this scene. ah hips Yeah, I mean, i yeah it is a huge, I remember i was in an acting class and somewhat the the guy leading the workshop asked like, all right, who here was the most, or who here was the most emotional in the household? And everybody's like, oh yeah, me. And they're like, and who got in trouble for being the most emotional? And everyone raised their hand. And I'm sitting there just like not raising my hand for either. i'm like, are you people all just acting because yeah it's cheaper than therapy?
00:30:17
Speaker
but This is a a great plug for Bo Burnham's song, Art is Dead. Just listen, it's it's perfect. It's beautiful.
00:30:27
Speaker
Nails this moment. Mumford and Sons has a song about something like this too. I bet they're very different songs. I bet they are, but they both touch things. But they both nailed us, yes.
00:30:42
Speaker
The Bo Burnham one is explaining how people become artists. He's like, I can explain it. Have you ever been to a birthday party and one of the children won't stop screaming? it's about when he grows up to be a something or actor, he'll be rewarded for never maturing, for never growing and never learning.
00:31:04
Speaker
her That's funny. And I feel like you can always tell the difference between those. um Anyway, there there are different types of craftsmen, I shall say.
00:31:18
Speaker
And I judge them all. Actors are the worst, obviously. Right next to writers. Right. ah The worst. All creatives. But I'd say. Obviously bottom of the barrel musicians.
00:31:34
Speaker
Can't stand them. and No. Who needs artists in this world really? Who needs them? Exactly.
00:31:44
Speaker
So yeah, to sum it up, magic systems. Yeah, digging ourselves out of that. ah i want to turn to a little bit more of a philosophic question for
Why Do People Love Magic?
00:31:56
Speaker
you. Great.
00:31:58
Speaker
Why do people love magic in stories? Why is fantasy genre a thing? And not all people. Some people don't get it at all.
00:32:10
Speaker
But those of us who love it, why love I know, but doesn't that blow your mind? Yes. we but We have a mutual friend who does not like fantasy and yet he likes to read the little like history pamphlet books that you get at museums. love And documentaries. He loves non-fiction. right Which is great and we love him. But why do I think people love fantasy, magic, and magic systems?
00:32:38
Speaker
I think because our heart and soul were truly whimsical beings and
00:32:49
Speaker
I think that magic and magic systems can help us make sense of a reality that doesn't make sense to us. I feel like it externalizes the internal world in a way that you can um really viscerally feel and understand that I think oftentimes makes more sense than the world we live in.
00:33:18
Speaker
My answer is similar. yeah I actually looked it up to see what other people thought. And um one of the things, one of the theories was that it levels the playing field. So, you know, the the little guy can win and we like to root for the little guy.
00:33:35
Speaker
ah My answer to that is, well, so do guns. So... Do you know what's so funny is I was going to say that and then I was like, don't say that. You're going to get her podcast canceled.
00:33:48
Speaker
Oh, no, no, no. um yeah Yeah. I mean, that's what science does in science fiction. So and I would say science fiction science does. The other thing that they the main thing that people were saying was, um you know, it makes limitless possibilities. So it just opens up the story to so much more. And I would say, again, science and science fiction does the same thing. So why then are fantasy readers and science fiction readers not just one group? Like there is a little bit of crossover, but there's definitely a difference.
00:34:23
Speaker
It's it's two separate groups of people. And ah so i think you're right about the whimsy. And I was, my answer is like yours, but a little ah more um whimsical, maybe, than ah psychological. I...
00:34:45
Speaker
i think that there's a part of us that remembers magic in some form. I think magic, there is magic in this world.
00:34:56
Speaker
what i There is magic in this world, Frodo. Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. He lives in the hearts of minds of those who believe in him.
00:35:07
Speaker
Exactly. um But i I do think that there's a part of us that remembers and feels more comfortable in world, in these stories where there's magic and the really good ones, the ones that really stick with us and we remember and the ones that live in us is because there's something in us that is, that it's answering to, it's echoing.
00:35:34
Speaker
um Yeah. And that's what I think. And I think that's why, you know, I'll read science fiction once in a while, but it doesn't grab me the same way. And you mentioned last night when you said, um you know, magic that your bones remember.
00:35:52
Speaker
And that's what that's what I feel is that it's like there's a part of us that, you know, might have been easier to access as kids, but that we can still access when we let the critical mind go because we're just reading a fantasy story you know and um and yeah so it just I guess that's the thing is that it doesn't feel like some crazy outlandish idea of having magic if you're like yeah that makes sense that feels right yeah
00:36:25
Speaker
And on that beautiful magical note, what was your spark of the week, Mary? My spark of the week was, ah for those who have listened or watched our herbalism, you will have heard about the Russian olive trees.
00:36:40
Speaker
And we have some here, and they are blooming. They just started blooming, which to me is just the sign of summer that we grew up with. And it's one of my absolute favorite scents, smells, smells.
00:36:53
Speaker
And so every time I walk outside and I just get a whiff of the Russian olive blooming, and it makes me very, very happy. Yeah, they smell so good. And your spark of the week.
00:37:06
Speaker
You know, i've really enjoyed this morning podcast, Mary, with the coffee and the sun streaming in and the cats are extra snoogly. This is my spark of the week. I love talking about magic systems with you.
00:37:19
Speaker
Yay. do too. Mine are a little less snuggly in the morning. They're a little more active. Hello. Hi. Was I making lots of noise earlier?
00:37:31
Speaker
Yes. Oh, goodness. Oh, goodness. And with that, we are so grateful to be spiraling through the universe with all of you. It's not always easy, but no good story ever is.