Magic in North America: Visions of the New World

In 2016, J.K. Rowling released a series of essays on the wizarding website by muggles and wizards alike, Pottermore, that, to me, are excerpts of a large book called 'Magic in North America'. Much like how the essays were released, each section is its own post. Today, I am going to dive into the early days of discovery or the 14th-17th century.

Photo: Warner Bros Pictures

In the first paragraph alone, it is said how witches and wizards knew of the new world long before the muggles ever did. That is one of the takeaways about this small paragraph. Assuming that this moment is the 14th century, given its only 5 paragraphs long, I'd ask 'why now?' (Unlike J.K. Rowling, who uses a technique that makes her world real as opposed to the reality, her muggle world isn't our world. The events and locals would be built into the design, but not people or time of a newspaper for instance. As for fans, fans use our muggle world as the world of the non-magical, people included.) First of all, the 14th century of the world is post-christ of the timeline, and it is the 1300s when Dante was writing poetry. The Age of Discovery did not start until later in the 16th century(1501-1600). A notable No-Maj explorer of the time was an Italian explorer named Christopher Columbus, who discovered America in 1492. He was looking for India but settled on a larger inhabited land with tribes. (it is unclear what term Italy has for non-magicals). The New World was not quite so new as muggles think, the dedication goes to another explorer and Animagi in the 14th century.

Premonitions and visions is another key factor that the paragraph brings up. The indication is saying that witches and wizards in America have abilities of a seer (one who can see the future). This detail would be brought up later in another essay with the name of a known city and a general type of magic. Is it possible that the explorers at the time saw a vision, a dream even, of the landscape? This dream that perhaps the explorer had, had him searching the world on the seas and followed the path that his dream shown to the new lands. This unnamed explorer was an Animagi, and who could transform into an eagle, and ultimately became the symbol of what would be America. The name 'America', itself, was not given till later after an explorer by the name of the Italian explorer, Amerigo Vespucci (1454-1512). Amerigo was a cartographer who designed the world map. yet, it wouldn't be till 1693, that the witches and wizards would allude to the name within its own government, and as they could see the future they saw that one say the nation will be united as one.

Photo: Warner Bros Pictures

[A note that I do not know a lot about Native American tribes and beliefs, but I do know that not all tribes believe in the same thing, just like different languages, and others.]

The land was inhabited already by magical and no-magical tribes and knew of their brethren in Africa and Europe. How similar they are to each other, they accepted witches into their tribes and praised them. They became known for being great hunters and healers (two of the four identities that play into Ilvermorny's system). The parts of the essays involving Native Americans was responded with negative feedbacks by the natives themselves. Some are fans of Harry Potter due to its known historical connections with European lore. Unfortunately, the native tribes and people are nowhere in sight of these pieces. indications that the magic they know about is taught to settlers in favor of knowing how to make wands. Wands are something shamans knew beforehand. Perhaps it's more of an addition, this would explain the flawed detail that in the American newspaper, The New York Ghost, mentions that wands were unearthed despite that he essay indicated wands are of European invention. It brings a sense of reality to it, even thou it stands as a broken chain of information. In the essay about the founders of the American school, the natives are generalized as random encounters with tribe members largely in the state of Massachusetts (itself is named after a tribe); Wampanoag and Narragansett. Martha, daughter of Isolt Sayre and James Steward, married an unknown non-magical tribe member of the Pocomtuc tribe. My response is how I would like to know who these natives are and, an indication, Native Americans are the bases of magic in America in a lot of stories like the fan-fiction series of James Potter by G. Norman Lippert, mentioned in The Magicians by Lev Grossman as shamans, H.P. Lovecraft mentions it also.

'others were stigmatized for their beliefs, often on the basis that they were possessed by malevolent spirits.' That is the ending of the second paragraph and flows into the third about Skin-Walkers. As stated, there are many beliefs, and I know that, as all cultures, to believe in something; a high power, a great spirit, is to have guidance in life and to be thankful for what we have is a gift. That line says natives are punished for it and is placed that their bodies are possessed by evil. This reflects the time of the 1600s in America, however, witch hunts were around since the 1400s and may even be before that. It wasn't till the late 1500s, witch hunts were at a higher rate (Man as Witch: Male Witches in Central Europe). Witch Hunts depictions can differ between media and history, women are placed as magic users in media more than men (Sabrina the Teenage Witch, The Craft, American Horror Story: Coven.. etc). It wasn't till AHS: Apocalypse that a school for warlocks was introduced. In the 1600s, women practiced the art of magic as well as men but women and men served different purposes and at some point, men used magic less and women stood out. The term witch comes from Hexin or Hexenmann for men, and "witch", which is usually seen as a woman, is for both genders. The separatists came to America to divide themselves from Europes world to start fresh, and Puritans came as well who could not divide from "the old world". As witch hunts were an occurrence in Europe, they hoped it would not be the case in the new world. Only, in the 1620s, women, and children acted strange and the puritans thought they were possessed by the devil. A few popular names, Abigail Williams (died1697 at age 17) and Tituba, a slave (first to be accused and possibly a mixed-race of African and "Indian" heritage). The movie, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them mentions Mercy Lewis as an equivalent to Merlin's Beard. However, many that were sentenced were wives and children of white settlers and believed to be targeted by shamans who wishes the visitors left the land and back to where they came from. And most importantly, the accused said they were participating in acts with the devil with various forms of looks. Thou I wonder if they were just saying that they did to merely have the interrogator get what they wanted, to make fun of even. But it is overall wrong to say that they were targeted for beliefs, despite many converting others to Christianity as the one true religion. Mind in the Harry Potter series, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, opens up with Harry doing a paper for history on the witch trials, and that the witches would be immune to fire, Wendelin the Weird would play various roles to mock the act.

But indicating that the beliefs are the bases for evil spirits, that would mean evil deeds. The Skin-walkers. Right off the back, the essay indicates that Skin-walkers are evil witches and wizards who use the power of transformation to hunt animals for their respective families. But they have to sacrifice a family member to gain it. In this statement, the Animagi is a skin-walker, but it also says the skin-walker killing members is a legend as opposed to the fact being that they became animals to hide. Finally, the paragraph ends with rumors that No-Maj doctors made up that they have powers and spoke about Animagis as evil. In conclusion, there is sympathy for the Animagi, as the legend comes from the rumor but the fact is that the Animagi are innocent and the reason the Native American Animagi is a skin-walker is because of the lies which became fact over time. Therefore, there is sympathy for the skin-walkers as innocent members of society. The skin-walkers are portrayed separately from the Animagi but later conjoined. I see why the natives say JK shows sympathy for skin-walkers. Skin-walkers are evil, they harm others, or murderers and is not a term for healers. The paragraph mergers healers and evil into one. I did gather that the animagi and skin-walkers are the same in my first reading, but much like a history book, I need to read it from another angle.

Some find a realistic angle in this and that, as woman and men acts strangely, there is a reasonable explanation. Much like how plants can be the source of sickness, like rather or not they are poisons, the men themselves are targeted as werewolves, they act like animals. There was a high rise in them in the late 1500s (1580s-90s). The Skin-walkers would primarily use wolves to hunt and many saw wolves killing people. Skin-walkers could very well be using the wolf disguise to attack the men and using power on them to act in sync with the current actions. The way the men acts to be wolves could very well be skin-walkers that are being seen and heard. I am not indicating a realistic atmosphere in the connection but there is a connection. It also shows that skin-walkers are indeed bad.

As mentioned before, plant magic is highly used here, and as mentioned above, animal magic is also practiced. But, each are reported to be sophisticated than Europe. I think J.K. Rowling is addressing to Hollywood at times, and here is no different. Films around magic do bring up how not all that were burnt at the stake are witches(AHS; Coven), but some use plants heavily in practices like with The Last Witch Hunter with Vin Diesel, or this canceled show called 47th Precent where cops use plants to find auras of the deceased. Apart from media, plants are in fact used in the practices of healing remedies. Animals not only come in with Animagi and skin-walkers but also spirit animals. A belief, that a member of the family dies and is reincarnated as an animal and is later hunted with a prayer of thanks and hopes for a good afterlife with the great spirit. With that, our ancestors are ones guide. According to a youtube account, Harry Potter Folkore, the Patronus itself might have originated from Native Americans (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YYunMTG6gXY). However, the creator of the spell is unknown and one dark wizard, Raczidian, did cast it but was devoured my magic. what is known, based on information in a game called Wonderbook: Book of Spells, that it is created in ancient times based on the scrolls. Yet, it is more likely natives came up with it.

The last paragraph hints at the wand (which I mentioned how wrong it is). Later in the essay about Ilvermorny, it stated that Isolt Sayre and James Seward made the first wands in the early to mid-1600s. This paragraph is the first to indicate that wands are for precision and great wizards would not need one (Albus Dumbledore). The Native Americans, much like Africa, specializes in wandless magic which is hard to perform "but Charms and Transfiguration are very difficult without one." Native Americans were the inspiration for sign language, and through that can be used for spellcasting. Jk Rowling once said wands are used everywhere in America today and one might find it hard to believe especially when no one knows what are the wands today from the 1920s. I am certain also transfiguration is a part of animal magic as well, so perhaps a wand is not needed for everything.

Photo: Warner Bros Pictures