Introduction
The modern myth of the Wizard may be traced back to the renaissance in Europe, but the concept of magic and the men and women that could wield it goes way further back then that.
In this series will we discuss some of the classes available in the Tabletop role-playing game Dungeons and Dragons, and put them in a larger fictional and historical context.
The Mage
The concept of the wise old man with a long beard and a flowing robe is far from a new one, both in fantasy and in general lore as well. The modern idea of the mage can be traced back medieval Europe and the Renaissance as well and the middle ages. This mage or wizard gained his power trough diligent studies and the manipulation of the natural world to his advantage. The mage is seen as a seeker of knowlage and truth, in comparison to the Sorcerer and the superstitious magic user of the countryside. This can very much be understood by the climate of the times and the need to distance themselves from the heretics that the Inquisition were hunting at the time (Levi 2017).
The Wizard in D&D
The fifth edition handbook describes the wizard as a scholar of the arcane. Tough his craft does at first seem simple and their powers come form a single utterance of a short word, or waving of the hand, does this hide vast hours of preparation, study and meditation. The idea of the Wizard as a scholar is further cemented in the form of Arcane Traditions, these traditions are described as philosophical schools of thought, or general areas of study. A wizard tends to specialize in one of them. (Wizards of the Coast 2014)
Knowledge as Power
A mage becomes more and more powerful the more he or she studies the magical and natural world, this concept that exists within both sources we have discussed so far. Lévi argues that true magic can only come from study, and the wizard of Dungeons and Dragons must spend several decades of apprenticeship and studies to acquire any form of real power. In other word does their dedication to their studies and search for magical lore leads to the gain of real life wealth and power.
Booth texts puts large emphasis on the fact that the visual aspects of the magic, the hand waving, the chants and the components, are but a small part of the spell. The real power comes from within the mage itself, and from his long and careful preparations.
Dark vs Light Magic
In Lèvi´s texts (2017), as well as the text of his contemporaries is the Mage presented as the user of light and good magic, in comparison to the evil superstitions of the Sorcerers and Necromancers. This dichotomy between science and superstition, high and low, city and country has been written about in several places. This will not be our focus point today, but non the less will it be consider (Levi 2017). The magic in Dungeons and dragons, are as in many fantasy worlds organized in to good and evil magic to some extent. Dungeons and Dragons most clear example on “evil” magic, would be the study of necromancy (Wizards of the Coast 2014). Lèvi also condones any use of Necromancy in any shape or form.
The clothes of office
When most think of the image of a Wizard, they think of an old man in long robes and with a large white beard. Much of this image I would personally like to attribute to Tolkien’s works, but Dungeons and Dragons as well.
Here we have two examples of Wizards as they are presented by Wizards of the coast1. Here we can see a clear symbols of the mage, the staff, the robes and the book/scrolls of his practice, not shown here is the wand, a symbol that is often related to the wizard as well2.
Lèvi discusses a series of artefacts in his text. Chief amongst these are the robes, the staff and the magical wand. Levi explains that these artefacts are al needed to properly control the Astral light. He continues to g in to deep detail about how these instruments should be prepared, used and preserved. The robes in particular corresponds to the certain days of the week, which in turn reoffered to the different celestial bodies. (Levi 2017)
Many of these elements can be seen in the Tarot card The Magician. The Tarot is one of Lévis largest inspirations, and are a large element of occult studies even today. In this card can we find several of the artefacts we have already pointed out. Here we see the robes, the staff and of course the inportant wand. Note that there are several artefacts the Magician carries that do not have a clear translation to the D&D wizard. Chief amongst these are the sword, the talisman and the chalice or cup. Note that Lévi makes account for al of these in his text on occult science.
The Weave
This is the layer of magical energy that the Wizards of Dungeons and dragons uses to manipulate the world around them. This underlying force that combines everything in the multiverse (Wizards of the Coast 2014). A similar concept can be found in Lévis texts in the form of the Astral light. This once again the unifying force that ties the world together. Levi compares this Astral light to a series of contemporary ideas about magic and divinity, such as animal magnetism (Levi 2017).
Knowledge of the ancients
Both of our base texts built around the idea of a long historical tradition of study, as well as the idea of lost knowlage. That the forbearers grasped magic to a much higher degree, and that it is up to today’s Mages to find this lost knowlage (Wizards of the Coast 2014). Lévi (2017) in his studies ties a lot of his research back to the Egyptian and Greek knowlage on the arcane and religion. In Dungeons and Dragons is the call of knowlage very much used as a reason for the Wizard to leave their laboratories and workshops and go out in world and explore and discover old secrets of the world. Lévi also attributed much of his research to the Cabala of old, a topic way to big to take up in this text, but one we might return to.
Spells, Alchemy and Divination
The bread and butter of many magical vocations, including that of Dungeons and Dragons. Lèvi, amongst with his contemporaries all dabble in these arts, as well as the art of Divination. In the Era of the Renaissance and late the enlightenment did many nobles and lords still decide on wars and inportant meetings based on the alignments of the stars. It was the job of the mage to interpret and rely these messages from the stars (Wilson, 2018).
Alchemy was also a well trusted source of knowlage, power and wealth at the time of Lévi and earlier. Many Renaissance scholars and scribes were dabblers in magic as well as natural and social science. Much of was written in these subjects, at least in Europe, was done so with a clear Christian angle and viewpoint. It was hard, if not impossible to separate magic, science and religion.
An interesting side note, the famous Dungeons and Dragons spell Prestidigitation, is a French term, that toughly translates to “slight of hand trick” or “visual magic trick”. An amusing coincidence considering the fact that Lévi and many of his occult contemporaries were indeed from France.
Conclusions
we have in this text endeavoured to tie the Wizard of the Dungeons and Dragons, to his real world counterparts. We have managed to tie the practises, history and visuals of the fictional mage and the Wizard in Dungeons and Dragons.
I argue that we can find several connections between the two images of the Wizard archetype. I would not go so far as to draw direct lines between the two, but it does point towards a somewhat unambiguous and universal view of the Wizard in the west. This text also has quite effectively managed to draw links between modern pop culture and the traditions that came before it, our era do not exist in a vacuum. This is one of the major goals with this blog, to show our popular media, in a broader social and historical context.
If you find this topic interesting then I have a few suggestions for further reading in the references, and I will be adding more to this list as I find them. Feel free to share your suggestions and advice for further research in the comments.
References
Agrippa von Nettesheim, H.C. (1986). Three books of occult philosophy … London: Chthonios.
Wizards of the Coast (2014). Dungeons & dragons Player’s handbook. Renton, WA: Wizards of the Coast LLC.
Lévi, Eliphas (2017) The Doctrine and Ritual of High Magic : A New Translation
Wilson, D.K. (2018). A magical world: superstition and science from the Renaissance to the Enlightenment. (First Pegasus books hard-cover edition.) New York, NY: Pegasus Books, Ltd.
1The company responsible for the release of Dungeons and Dragons. Note that they to share the name of today’s chapters namesakes.
2An image popularized in to contemporary pop culture much thanks to J.K Rowling Harry Potter series, a series we will in the future discuss in relation to renaissance magic as well.
An Unused Frequency 