Adeyemi first third

 Elizabeth Thompson

Dr. Ellis

EN 376

16 October 2023

The Nature of Magic

            Adeyemi characterizes magic as both a relationship and living thing in Children of Blood and Bone, particularly through Mama Agba. When giving an oral history of the magi and the Raid that caused its disappearance she says, “One day magic breathed. The next, it died” (15). Similar to the concept of Pawta in Na Viro, magic seems to act like a living technology or system of power that the wielder must work with instead of conquering in order to use. Mama Agba mentions also mentions “Magic is a gift from the gods… a spiritual connection between them and mankind” (82). The magic is not only living but spiritual as well. As such, there are instances where it has been abused by maji that has accounted for its eradication and the genocide of maji by the king. However, the loss of magic as something spiritual is especially important because it is synonymous with diviners’ perception of the gods as Zélie does not hold much faith in them having never experienced the spiritual connection of magic. The loss of magic has cultural impact as it uses the language of the gods and is physically felt in the body of the wielder. When Mama Agba feels it again, she describes it as “I feel like I can breathe again” (91). Apart from the independent liveliness of magic, magic also gives the wielder a sort of vitality in their identity as maji. It is similar to the medicine man’s ability to speak to the jay in Sanderson’s short story; the ability serves a social role with spiritual importance. It is also ancestral as Zélie reminisces of her mother’s magic and imagines herself inheriting her power when she touches the scroll.

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