One of my favourite scenes in all of the Narnia stories is Lucy’s encounter with the Book of Incantations in The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. She is sent upstairs in the magician’s house to reverse the effect of an invisibility spell. While looking through the book, Lucy sees all kinds of spells, some trivial and some truly awesome.
The spell that caught her eye was “An infallible spell to make beautiful her that uttereth it beyond the lot of mortals” which comes with pictures show the devastating power of the beauty she would receive, akin to the Trojan wars sparked by the beauty of Helen. It was only the sense of a growling lion that delivered her from this temptation.
We find the idea of spells beguiling. Despite kidding ourselves that we are rational creatures in an age of science, we really want spells to work. This partly explains the appeal of Harry Potter which makes liberal use of wands and faux-Latin like “Expelliarmus”. This is a beautiful corruption of the iussive subjunctive endings, typical of JK Rowling’s amazing world building.
And how did she build that world? With words. On a page.
This created realities in our heads.
It's so real, we want to go there. And now we can, in movies and theme parks. But it started with words.
So here’s the thing: spells do work.
Why? Because spells are merely a form of words. Put the right words in the right order and things happen. Words have power. Not only do God’s words have the power to speak things into existence, our own words create a reality that cannot be undone or taken back.
We are probably most aware of how our words can wreak havoc or destroy. This came up in a previous post and we heeded the warning of the epistle of James. Words put on social media months or years ago can be dredged up and get you fired. Merely using certain words about race, even in quotes, are very dangerous and must be handled with extreme care.
How To Get Burned
This is not new. In previous generations, there were other taboo words, or sentiments that would lead to serious consequences. They were more serious than today. For centuries after the Reformation, if one publicly swore an oath to the Pope, you would have been viewed with intense suspicion and excluded from all kinds of jobs and positions in British life. In the second half of the sixteenth century, you might have been burned for saying those words. And how would you escape that fate? By recanting. With words. That was all it took.
How To Get Married
One may think that those days are over in a religious context. Words just mean other words. Especially in religion.
Not so.
After the vows and exchange of rings, the vicar tells the bride and groom they are husband and wife. They are now husband and wife. Then man who married me to my wife said to us beforehand ‘If I drop down dead after that, don’t worry. You’re married.’ This was both reassuring and troubling. Thankfully, he did not drop down dead and is still with us today.
The point was that the words he said created a new reality of a married couple. And a marriage cannot be undone without a fair degree of rigmarole, even in today’s society of so-called “no-fault divorce”.
How To Get Divorced
Even there a spell of enchantment has been cast over the institution of marriage using words “No-fault” with divorce. How can no-one be at fault? It’s more likely that such divorces are “both-fault divorces” but that’s one for another time. The “no-fault” label has caught on and covers the fact that the state can dissolve a holy marriage pledge made in the sight of God, even though one of the parties does not agree to this. But the phrase “no-fault divorce” protects everyone’s feelings.
The spell has been woven because magic is alive and well, driven by the power of words. Use them wisely.
A Word From the Lord?
For more words, listen to the Cooper and Cary Have Words podcast. Have you ever had ‘a word from the Lord’. What does that mean? Was it really from the Lord? Doesn’t that make it scripture? Why not? Barry and I talk about the gifts of the Spirit, and how God speaks and what to make of those who prophetically told Barry he would eventually be in full-time Christian ministry.
