A K-drama Really Made An Impression On Me

I watched this TV series, The Sound of Magic (thank you, Netflix).

Yes, the title is a play on The Sound of Music (actually, that's the English title for the global Netflix audience;  the original Korean title, taken directly from the webtoon the show is based on, is Annara Sumanara, which is a made-up incantation perhaps intended to recall the well-known Sanskrit mantra sri sri mahasri susri svaha), but still, the show IS a musical and it really is about magic, and this line from one of its episodes rang true for me:  "Magic isn't about making miracles, but finding them".

As I've said before, magic really is where you find it (hey, maybe the producers of this show read my blog).

Related posts:  magic

That Terrifying But Familiar Glow

The moment I glimpsed that sinister red glow at the bottom of the stairs, I realized I must have stumbled upon yet another magician's laboratory.  It may be that the same kind of occult practices were being carried out in this place;  it very much resembled the last one I found in another derelict building -- even the trail of burn leading into the chamber was the same.

This is just too many times I have come across these places in recent years, to consider them to be coincidences.  Now I have to wonder if I haven't somehow become "contaminated" with the aurae of these occult labs and developed some sort of affinity for them.

 

Related post:  Yet Another Wizard's Laboratory

Yet Another Wizard's Laboratory

It's true! Seoul really must be some kind of wizards' hub -- I'm sure this is yet another of their workshops. I was just randomly ambling along on a postprandial stroll when I happened across a rundown old building in an alley. I thought maybe I could get a photo out of it and took a peek inside -- and look! That sinister red glow pouring out of the doorway -- whatever's going on in there, it must be a particularly powerful and dangerous kind of magic. It even looks like something preternaturally hot was dragged down the stairs (or is it up the stairs? I can't tell), leaving a trail of burned flooring behind. I got out immediately after taking this shot. Smartest thing I ever did.

Related post:  Another Wizard's Workshop

Another Wizard's Workshop

At least I'm almost certain that's what it was.  It was a room at the top of a dim stairway inside a creaky old building, located in a flea market of all places.  It was completely devoid of activity, and curiously quiet despite all the traffic and goings-on just outside.  I accidentally stumbled upon the place while checking out the old East Gate ("DongDaeMun") neighborhood of Seoul, "urban explorer" style.

As I climbed the stairs I smelled incense, and having carefully and quietly wended my way up -- I don't know why, but somehow I was certain that I should try to be as discreet as possible -- I found the door open a crack, but of course I did not dare enter, and all I glimpsed through the opening was the sight of a table with a book and a monitor screen displaying what may have been some sort of geometric diagram (I guess even wizards need to look up references now and then).

I did not see or hear anyone during all this, so how do I know the place was a wizard's laboratory?  Because once past the ground-floor portion of the staircase (top photo), every subsequent shot I took came out looking like this, until I exited the building:

All I can think of by way of an explanation is that the place must be under a protective geas of some kind, to discourage casual curiosity-seekers.  Like me.

Golden Armour

Dr. John Dee was a scholar and astrologer in the court of Queen Elizabeth I (for whom he may also have functioned as a spy -- allegedly with the code name of 007!).  He was also an occultist with a keen interest in invoking spiritual entities in his quest for mystical knowledge, and because of this he lived under a permanent cloud of suspicion.

Dr. Dee is considered to be the progenitor of a system of magic known as 'Enochian magic', which was communicated to him by angels through the mediumship of his assistant Edward Kelley (who may actually have been a con man -- but if a con man he was, he must have been a very talented one to have come up with the whole complex house of cards and to have it pass muster with Dr. Dee, who certainly was no fool;  also, it should be kept in mind that the history of spiritualism and mediumship is replete with personalities who apparently embodied various mixtures of fraudulence and seemingly genuine ability).  I've always pictured these channeling sessions as taking place in a series of foggy mystical visions, with a mysterious hooded entity clad in a resplendent, golden-glowing robe silently pointing to various words and symbols.

Of all that I was reminded by the sight of this shiny golden dragonfly.

My Untitled Tragic Short Story About The Sad Downfall Of A Sorcerer's Apprentice

A long time ago, I wrote a short story about a modern day disciple of a real-life sorcerer.  I never submitted it for publication and the original draft has been lost, but here is the gist:  the guy manages to hack his master's computer (but of course -- think Micky Mouse in Fantasia putting on his master's hat) to obtain secret knowledge of methods for summoning spirits from other dimensions, which, of course, he dares to do, even though "he wasn't ready".  Well, as you might well imagine, something goes terribly wrong, and he ends up being "infected", or should I say "infested", by uncounted sub-human spirits from a lower realm that visibly take him over, in effect turning him into a monster whose entire body is made of stupid, animalistic and demanding faces of the spirits.  In despair he goes to a hammermill shredder and throws himself into it, thereby ensuring that no one will ever know what happened to him.

Compared to all those other sad stories about interactions with spirits or elves or whatever, where the human almost invariably ends up being shortchanged by superior beings who promise wealth or longevity, etc., I think my story stands out for featuring spirits that are actually less intelligent and less capable than humans.  Pretty positive, no?^^

One Unusual Night

Before it closed its doors a month or so ago, I used to pass by this kindergarten almost every day.  I never paid it much attention;  it was just another built-in facility for the convenience of the residents of my apartment complex, like the pharmacy, the Taekwondo dojang, the piano studio and the ice cream shop.

On one particular night, though, while making my way back from the convenience store with my beer purchase, my eyes took in this sight -- and I was transfixed.

The gate, the lights, the full Moon, and the ginkgo leaves arching above, all had conspired to create a magical sight -- reminiscent of some enchanted castle from a fairy tale that I've never read but can almost remember.

Magic Tree

Another one of those images that vaguely remind me of Miyazaki animation.  An ordinary object or scene, that seems somehow laden with a certain supra-normal significance.  This one was taken at Sky Park, Seoul, but I think it would fit right into the "set" of "My Neighbor Totoro".  Almost makes you expect to walk through that doorway and see something extraordinary!

A Strange And Dramatic Dream

This morning, immediately before waking up, I dreamt that I was watching a magic performance.

 
The magician held up a life-size cardboard cutout of a dog, turned away from the audience for a moment, then turned back to face us with a real live dog.

Even as the audience was still applauding, the magician turned away and back again -- now he was holding up a human skeleton.  It was smoking.

The audience applauded even more enthusiastically, and I said to my companion (a composite figure of two of my coworkers) that the smoke was a fantastic touch.

The magician had one more trick up his sleeve though -- he turned away and back once again, and now the skeleton was in flames.

This reminds me of a dream I had a long time ago.  I was gingerly picking my way through a mine field.  The field was strewn with human skulls.  The skulls were bombs, and they were burning fiercely.

Which Witch Model?

If you checked out the photos in the last post, you may have noticed that in one of the photos there is something that's pointed out as a jar of 'flying ointment'. I figured that could use an explanation.

Years ago I met this woman. I don't remember where or how anymore, but it was probably at a party at a friend's house, since that's the usual way I meet unusual people. I also don't remember how I ended up hiring her as a model, but anyway I was in need of one for a painting I was working on (another project I never finished), and one subsequent evening she was over at my studio posing (painters tend to say 'sitting' for a session, but somehow I've never been comfortable with that expression -- especially when it's for a non-sitting pose).

In the course of the small-talk that went on while we worked, she revealed that she had never been fond of working at a regular job. She disliked having to get up at the crack of dawn and obeying petty little rules made by others. So, currently she was moonlighting as a topless dancer at a club. That wasn't exactly shocking, given that at that very moment she was standing in front of me posing topless and bottomless, but the next revelation was more interesting.

She also had a small mail-order business going, she said. What kind of merchandise did she sell? I asked; magic supplies, she answered -- nonchalantly as if she were saying makeup by Coty -- including products that she made herself. That answer of course led to more questions, and it came out that she was a practicing witch. I'd always been deeply interested in magic, both the stage kind and the 'real' kind, so I was intrigued and had many questions. A fascinating conversation ensued.

Before the evening's end she had promised me a sample of her flying ointment. Actually, one of the two types of flying ointment she made. The difference between them was that one contained a toxic ingredient and the other didn't. They were both perfectly safe and equally effective, she assured me, but just to be sure she would give me the non-toxic one.

[In case this is a term you are not used to hearing, a flying ointment is one of the supposed means by which a witch was enabled to fly -- she would strip, daub some of the unguent over her body, mount a broomstick, mumble an incantation, and tally-ho! shooting out the chimney she went]

Well, when we next got together she really did present me with a small jar of something labelled 'Flying Ointment, Non-Toxic', rather to my surprise -- and relief; she had seemed a bit of a flake (ya think?), and I had run into my share of delusional/megalomaniacal types while living and part-time-jobbing around the edge of Hollywood, so I had not been entirely certain, to say the least, that she would even remember her promise, much less actually deliver on it. Well, good for her, she was as good as her word. I guess if you believe in magic, I mean seriously believe, you always keep your promises.

So that's how I came into possession of this odd little item. I've only used it once, that first night, and I've never used it again. It's been many years since then, so it's probably no good any more anyhow.

Magic Trick

Somebody made it look like this light post was missing a portion!