Incantations

One segment of my course, “Music, the Arts, and Culture,” consisted of an overview of film scores – their composers, history, techniques, etc. In the process, teams of two or three students were assigned to give class presentations. We chose films “out of a hat,” literally, so no one would feel they were unfairly assigned a film they didn’t like. Occasionally, students would discover a film they hadn’t seen yet. A few times, we needed to trade a film choice with another team or select a new film because there was a “moral objection” to the movie picked at random.

It wasn’t that these films were rated for mature audiences, had a lot of Samuel L. Jackson words, or explicit sex scenes. I tried to pre-select movies that were inspiring and in keeping with what I thought to be “Christian” values. Nevertheless, the movies a few students objected to were “The Lord of the Rings” and “The Chronicles of Narnia” – both with outstanding scores that illustrated the concepts we were studying. Their objection: these movies contained elements of magic, and they had been told that Christians should stay away from magic. In every case, a suitable alternative was found.

My puzzle to this day is that these stories, by prominent Christian authors, J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis, depicted the struggle between good and evil, and when “magic” was part of the narrative, it was to show that the struggle extended to the supernatural as well as the natural world. In a sense, we must fight the forces of darkness daily. Some are obvious. Some are subtle, and therefore more insidious. Paul warned the Ephesians, “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” It has always seemed to me that Tolkien and Lewis were trying to illustrate this universal struggle.

Be that as it may. Whoever told these students to avoid depictions of magic was probably trying to protect them, so I won’t debate the matter further, except to say that as much as we might want to shield the young, we often can’t. Even the children in Narnia were faced with ominous decisions. It’s a good thing Aslan was there to set them on the right path.

Recently a prominent politician in my state attacked a high school for “demonic” activities. Apparently, the percussion ensemble performed instrumental versions of the music from “Carmen,” one of the most famous operas in history. The man objected to the character of Carmen, who was a seductress and the source of trouble in the plot. If anything, the story is a cautionary tale about obsession, betrayal, and murder – all “evil” to be sure – but the opera does not condone these. Sometimes art will portray or depict poor moral choices. This does not mean these are approved or advocated. In the case of Carmen, her choices lead to her death. This is how tragedy works. Even so, the notes on the page are neither good nor evil.

We had a student who objected to performing a concert band piece with “incantation” in its title. He had been told that all incantations lead to the devil and didn’t want to be part of something “satanic.” He opted out, which was his right. Yet, while the word is generally associated with casting spells and calling upon the forces of darkness, it can also refer to any words that are believed to summon supernatural powers. In church we call certain words an “invocation.” As if these words will cause God to join the proceedings. However, if God is everywhere all the time, maybe God does not require an invitation, invocation, or incantation to show up.

It seems to me we should avoid incantations that have something to do with petty insults, personal attacks, false accusations, distortions of the truth, and other utterances that call into existence misunderstanding, ill-will, hatred, and cruelty. Just as our kind words can inspire good, our unkind words can lead to evil. A little ancient Latin or fictional magic does not make us good or evil. But calling a child “stupid” or accusing someone of being “good for nothing” and hundreds of other such incantations can lead to far more evil than the contents of a movie, play, opera, or an instrumental piece.