The Nature of Magic

[jessista]

I don’t know if this has been addressed on here before, but I think it deserves mentioning/debating.

Is magic (non-fairy-dust magic) inherently bad?

I mean, Emma has magic due to being a child of true love–if she were to learn how to use it and start doing so, would she go evil? You even see Regina and Rumple in Storybrooke using magic to help people (albeit for a reason/price, but still helping). People have compared it to an addiction, which appears to be the way it looks (ever since I saw Regina “snort” magic from the book, I’ve assumed that’s what the writers are going for)–but is it like alcohol, which some people can handle responsibly and others get addicted to? Is it like people who are addicted to food and/or sex, where it’s something natural and necessary, but the person takes it too far? Or is it like cocaine, which is addictive by definition?

Discuss.

[obisgirl]

I don’t think magic is bad. I think it all depends on the person who wields it.

Like there was an episode on Charmed where the pentagram was a symbol of good magic until evil stole it and used it for bad.

[spinninggold]

Ehm… I’m not even sure the fairy dust magic is good. So far, not much good has come from it and even the Fairies are addicted to their magic. The Blue fairy can’t help but interfering, time and again.
No good comes from magic. Regina, Genie, Rumpel. They all said it. And they are all addicted to it.
It works like power, the more you use it, the more it corrupts you, the more you want it.

[jessista]

Obisgirl: That’s been my theory, but still, there seems to be a pattern on this show: Regina “discovered” magic, she went bad; Cora likely discovered magic, she went bad; Rumple acquired magic, and he went bad. We don’t have anyone learning magic who didn’t go bad. And none of the three just mentioned had any sort of disposition towards evil as far as we can tell. I get that absolute power corrupts absolutely, but is that the case here? No one’s power is absolute. I mean, all three took advantage of the power for their own purposes (getting back at Mom, finally not being a coward/outcast) and we could argue all day why Rumple went from trying to save his son to killing people because he felt like it, but without magic coming into their lives, Regina would have run away from home and Rumple would have lived out a quiet life (whether with or without Bae, we’ll know). I guess the question is, is it possible to practice magic and not go too far?

[jessista]

Spinning–fairy dust did save Philip from being the Yaoguai, saved Regina from execution, and generally has a good “image.” The show seems to differentiate between the two types of magic, and we have no evidence (except a “dark fairy” I saw mentioned somewhere) of fairies being evil by nature, or consistently doing evil things. We don’t know enough about the “rules” of fairy magic (are they born with it? how is the fairy dust processed?).

[tiara_rose]

I think magic is not bad and not good. In the enchanted forest is like a part of the natur. Do you would suggest that a Hurrican is bad. No, because it is what it is. A Hurrican destroys things and this is bad, but without the wind we couldn’t breath. We need to drink water, but water can also destroy as a Tsunami.
This is how magic works for me. Magic is a part of life but, not evil and not good. It can be used by humans, who make often wrong choises or are not able to see what will happen. Like Fire, that protect our home for the cold night, but in the wrong hands you can destroy a village with a bomb.

Magic is a powerful thing and because it is so powerful, a human being could get addicted too it and go the wrong path.
Paracelsus says:
German: Alle Dinge sind Gift, und nichts ist ohne Gift; allein die Dosis machts, dass ein Ding kein Gift sei.“
“All things are poison, and nothing is without poison; only the dose permits something not to be poisonous.”

Heros don't get their Happy Ending!

[PriceofMagic]

Rumple stated that “Magic is power”. It is the power that is addicting rather than the magic itself. Before having magic, both Regina and Rumple saw themselves as powerless. Rumple was seen as the village coward and was bullied and pushed around by those around him. Regina was at the mercy of a domineering and controlling mother. Both saw themselves as weak and unable to change their lives. When they both get magic, all that changes. Rumple is feared rather than fearful, Regina stands up to her mother and frees herself from her mothers grasp. They had the power to change their circumstances.

Rumple doesn’t want to give up his magic because he fears that things will go back to how they were before. He will always find an excuse as to why he needs magic. He depends on it and uses it as “a crutch”. He uses his magic as a shield to protect his true self from being seen and judged by everyone else.

Regina tried to give up magic for Henry but has since relapsed. Magic has always solved problems for her such as her mother. She knows that “Magic comes with a price” but not using magic hasn’t worked out for her in regards to Henry.

Having magic gives Regina and Rumple a self-esteem boost. They feel that with magic, they are in control, they can do anything. However they have come to rely on magic to feel that positiveness in themselves. That is what they are addicted to.

All magic comes with a price!

Keeper of Felix

[Grimmsister]

I think the show is gonna ultimately establish magic as a bad thing regardless of how it is used – It always comes with a price! Right !!
It’s used as a crutch for cowardice. Example: It’s Rumples crutch when he doesn’t use his real one- Think of the scene with Hook and Rumple, I don’t remember the exact words but it went something like this-Hook “What kind of magic trick is going to save you now ?” Rumple pick up his cane/crutch and swings it right in Hooks face-

[Grimmsister]

@PriceofMagic wrote:

….He depends on it and uses it as “a crutch”. He uses his magic as a shield to protect his true self from being seen and judged by everyone else….

Hey!! quit stealing my points 😉

[jessista]

Ok, see but the problem I have with the magic = evil thing is this–where does that leave Emma? She has magic that is part of her. She didn’t ask for it, didn’t pursue it, she simply was born that way (reference intentional).

Wouldn’t it be better for her to control it than to let it act on its own? In the fight against Cora/Regina/etc, wouldn’t it be better for her to use this powerful tool against them? After all, Emma’s magic comes from true love, which is the cure for curses–can true love corrupt? Can something resulting from true love be evil by nature?

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