Welcome to the second post in the Magical Media Analysis series!    For today’s post, the focus will be on the amazing franchise A Discovery of Witches, which is also known as the All Souls Trilogy in book form.   I adored the books, all four as there is a subsequent companion novel, so I was thrilled to watch the series, which is also great.

Within this series of novels and the television show based upon them, there are several real-world examples of magical practices and beliefs surrounding witches.   As this series is a romance, I will begin by discussing the aspect of soul bonds.    The love story between Diana and Matthew involves a soul bond between the two.    This is related to the idea of soulmates and twin flames, which have been part of beliefs surrounding past lives forever.   Soul mates are people that we have known in other lifetimes, no matter whether or not we were romantically linked before.    Twin flames are souls that were created at the same time, sometimes even described as one soul made and split into two!    This kind of bonding is deeply spiritual and can be romantic and sexual, which definitely reminds me of how Matthew and Diana’s relationship is shown.

Next, I want to look at devotional bonds with deities.   The bargain that is struck between Diana and her namesake Goddess is very similar to how devotees will often approach making a bond with their patron or matron deities.   Most often, in real magical spiritual practices, this bond is not formed by a deal being struck to save another person’s life, instead, it is more correctly formed because the devotee wants to follow the path of this Goddess or God!   I did like the idea of Diana being held to certain promises that she made to the Goddess, as when you make a promise to a deity it is of prime importance to keep that promise.   Many Goddesses and Gods will make sure that you hold up your end of the promise made within the relationship you have built between yourself and the deity.   I feel that this is depicted quite well in this series, as Diana is protected by a Goddess whom she comes to truly revere as this Goddess saved the life of her beloved.

I adored that witches are shown within the series as having different specialties.   It is not a one size fits all style of magic.   Some witches are good at spellcasting, some are good at potion making, some are good at spirit communication, some are good seers, and Diana has a very unique gift within this universe.   She is what is called a Weaver, as well as a Time Walker (one who can walk into different time periods at will).    The aspect of her being a Weaver is very important to a depiction of realistic magical practices rooted in reality.    When Diana is shown weaving, she is pulling on energetic threads to unite them in spell creation.   This is very similar to any sort of energetic visualization that a real-life magical practitioner will do while they spell cast or meditate.    I loved reading and watching this depiction, as it felt very much like a slightly dramatized version of real energetic work!

Familiar spirits are depicted well in this series, as they are depicted as actual spiritual entities instead of just as pets of witches.   While it is very common to refer to your pet as a familiar, and they can help in magic, it is not the older folkloric belief.   In older folklore, familiars are spiritual entities that bond with a witch to help her perform her magic and protect her.    They can bond with living animals, which would be a literal familiar becoming the pet situation.   However, they are more likely to be a spirit bonded to you, often from birth waiting to be acknowledged.    I love that Diana is able to summon her Fire Drake familiar at will into the physical world, but that is where fantasy overpowers reality here.   In the beginning, her meeting her familiar through magic ritual and meditation practices is very on point for how many find their familiars!

Finally, I want to end this analysis with a discussion of Glamour magick as used within the series.   As usual, I saved the most exciting (at least to me) thing for last.   This is a very small reference only in the first book, but it shows a Faery magick connection because it is describing Glamour magick without naming it as such!    Diana reminisces about her time at college when she joined a production of Hamlet.   At this point, her magic went a bit haywire and she began embodying her part of Ophelia to the extreme, where her hair even grew out and everyone treated her like she had become Ophelia.   This is an extreme example of Glamour, a type of magic that is strongly related to the Faeries.   Diana’s natural ability with Glamour is also referenced as they go back in time when her hair changed again, seemingly of its own will.   Glamour allows us to change our energy in order to be perceived in slightly different ways by others.   It works through energetic alignment and casting a Glamour to surround us.   I love this form of magick, as it is also very protective!

This series is a truly beautiful example of Magical Media done very well.   They even make a semi-comical reference to all witch houses being haunted.   This feels very true as witches are very connected to spirits, but I believe all houses can be haunted to a small extent!   I hope that you have enjoyed this analysis.   Do you enjoy this series?   Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!

Note on Image: The image at the top of the post is the covers of the first three books.   I found the image at https://www.amazon.com/All-Souls-Trilogy-Deborah-Harkness-ebook/dp/B00PGMRAC8.

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Further Reading/Watching

• A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness
• Shadow of Night by Deborah Harkness
• The Book of Life by Deborah Harkness
• Time’s Convert by Deborah Harkness
• A Discovery of Witches (2018)