Marco Tempest's Use Of Magic In The Once And Future King

"The tricks of magic follow the archetypes of narrative fiction - there are tales of creation and loss, death and resurrection, and obstacles that must be overcome." Marco Tempest Marco Tempest is a Swiss magician who is well known for his performances, which include magic tricks and story telling. His belief of magic and the story it can tell ties into T.H Whites' The Once and Future King. In The Once and Future King, magic plays a part in a large portion of the plot, and character development, especially in the first section of the book. The story as a whole is based on Arthurian legends: from Arthur's childhood all the way up to the night before his death. The presence of magic shows up early in his life, and almost right away young Arthur begins to learn life lessons from the experiences he lives through via magic. The stories that Arthur experiences through the magical journeys he embarks on have twists, turns, and

White magic was associated with good, and was used for medicinal purposes along with balances the effects of black magic: which was used to kill or injure. In Europe's Middle Ages, black magic "consisted of witchcraft, sorcery, and the invocation of demons" and white magic included astrology, juggling, and deceptive skills, which were tolerated forms. (Funk and Wagnall) However, these two types of magic could be divided further into subcategories. White magic took form in divination and thaumaturgy, while black magic existed in sympathetic and incantation. Divination is "the acquisition of secret knowledge by sortilege," understanding omens, astrology, and tongues, such as an oracle. Thaumaturgy is an act of "wonder-working." Sympathetic black magic included a lot of "symbolism and wish fulfillment," or the singing or speaking of spells or formulas that contain symbols of magical beings or of people who are to be hurt. (Funk and