Spells written in the stars: a WHA theory on the origin of magic
My latest theory is that the cover illustration for chapter 47, beyond representing the start of a poem and of a legend, also hides information about the origin of magic in plain sight. It’s not the first time that constellation maps are represented in official wha artwork (it also features on the cover of chapter 36), and they are rather reminiscent of magical glyphs, aren’t they?
Constellation patterns being linked to different types of spells would help to explain the mechanics of magic, especially magical sculptures. I have been wondering for a while how spells can “interpret” the intention of the witch: in this drawing by Beldarut at the end of volume 6, how does the spell know to produce a smoke dragon and not, say, a bird? Clearly the goal is not to produce a photorealistic rendering of the animal; perhaps the condition to a successful spell is to reproduce exactly the pattern of the needed constellation.
This mysterious Lord Restis fella from the end of chapter 45 seems to agree that, to gain access to new magic, you need to look up to the night sky. Interestingly, in the French translation of this volume, the line reads something like “Witches of old used to pray to the stars”.
The theory also provides a metaphorical explanation for the myth of the Star who fell in love with the Silverleaf tree and gave magic to the world: magic comes from the “union” of the star (knowledge of the glyph patterns, given by constellations) and the tree (magical ink).
However, at this point in my evidence-gathering, I bumped into a contradiction: if studying the constellations is integral to finding new spells, how come we never see witch apprentices learn about astrology? Why aren’t the sages spending their days poring over celestial maps? Why isn’t there an observatory in each atelier? Why are most witches living at the bottom of the ocean, to the point where some children there have never seen the sky at all?
It’s not a contradiction at all, is it? Hiding the stars is exactly the point of the Great Hall.
Because, if spells are written in the stars, then ALL spells are written in the stars. Including the forbidden ones, mind magic, transformation magic, healing magic, war magic, you name them. If witches start researching astrology again, it’s only a matter of time until lost spells from before the Conspiracy are rediscovered. The Day of the Conspiracy didn’t just erase the knowledge of forbidden spells, it wiped the origin of magic from everyone’s memory, save, maybe, a select few (the Librarians like the members of Agott’s family, for instance).
The Brimhats we have met so far all express contempt towards the Pointed Hats, and this theory gives further context for their disdain. They think of the Pointed Hats as phony witches, who can tinker with existing spells by recombining and altering keystones, but who have cut themselves from the possibility of true innovation and are doomed to stagnate.
Let’s see wait and see what the upcoming volumes have to say about magic, lost knowledge and stars!
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