Eyes Wide Open (L2.13)

Magic, a concept used to describe a mode of rationality or way of thinking that looks to invisible forces to influence events, effect change in material conditions, or present the illusion of change. Within the Western tradition, this way of thinking is distinct from religious or scientific modes; however, such distinctions and even the definition of magic are subject to wide debate.

Lavinia had been reading online. She had started her research at the link she had just opened again:

https://www.britannica.com/topic/magic-supernatural-phenomenon. The task was beginning to feel overwhelming. She needed to understand it, though, in order to complete the project she had been given. Since she had made the decision to leave her position at the university back home, she had worked on several things. When they provided some financial compensation, she felt obliged to accept what was offered to her, even if the employment was not permanent.

Beggars can’t be choosers, she told herself.

That still didn’t explain why the passage kept returning to her thoughts. It was very tangential to the focus of her research, yet she sensed it wasn’t irrelevant. She just didn’t understand its persistence, especially when she had so much to do for the exhibit she needed to organize.

Pilar the Librarian, director of the immense general library of the university, had by now become her friend just like the other Pilar who had been her first friend in Santiago de Compostela. She had commissioned Lavinia to design an exposition on the history of bookstores. It was to be located in a building owned by Afundación, on Rúa do Vilar. It was one of two such events that Pilar had planned. (The second one was on libraries. It would be enormous and was scheduled for later in the year.)

While trying to organize material on bookstores, Lavinia had gotten sidetracked reading about medieval books. They of course had never been made available to a average buyers and certainly would not have been distributed to a largely illiterate public, one without financial resources or inclination to read. No, the readers of such learned volumes were members of the ecclesiastical community, with a few exceptions, such as scientific or medical knowledge.

That was why the image of a medieval bookstore made her smile. The physical nature of the volumes would create challenges for display. Would potential customers enter dressed in their medieval finery, perhaps a falcon on one arm, to browse? Would they be able to navigate narrow store aisles? 

What genres would the customers from the Middle Ages prefer? Mostly religious? (Probably, since virtually no other options existed.) Maybe they would be searching for a book that was designed to hold poisons. Lavinia had been fascinated by a ‘book’ that held drawers for types of herbs that were good for eliminating unwanted individuals. Or what about a catalogue of magic - magick - spells? That could be tricky, given the attitude toward necromancy, despite its existence since antiquity. Wizards, warlocks, and witches were suspicious characters. Their knowledge gave them power, but that could be dangerous.

Now came the challenge, because naturally no such thing as a bookstore that carried books from the medieval period had ever existed. At the most, it could be imagined, but it could never be real. There would never be author signings or open readings for interested persons and potential buyers.

The idea of necromancy and the sacred texts of spells were probably the reason Lavinia could not get her mind off what she had accidentally been reading about magic. What did that word actually mean? Was it only for children? Perhaps the definition change according to the age of the person? She was suddenly intrigued by the idea of a magical bookstore and hoped Pilar wouldn’t mind her including a section on it in the exposition. It might not be easy to convince her librarian friend, but she would try.

What makes a bookstore ‘magical’? 

The question appeared from somewhere. At first Lavinia thought she had dreamed it, but she knew at the same time that the conversation could have been real. So many strange things had already happened to her in Santiago. This was no exception…

She had been walking the streets near the narrow, hilly Algalia streets (Algalia de Arriba, Algalia de Abaixo) in the old part of the city when she encountered a woman of indeterminate age. The woman stopped her and asked if she had a moment. It was impossible for Lavinia to refuse the request. One should never refuse to listen to the stories that were the very fabric of the ancient city. One should especially pay attention if a story appears in the mouth of someone walking along an Agalia street. Those streets are magic.

Narrator’s Note: That was just a joke. However, very old places do tend to give the impression that there is more to them than meets the eye. Layers upon layers of dust, time, things, knowledge. So narrow, perhaps, but so deep, too. 

The woman was talking now and the topic made Lavinia shiver, because it was as if her thoughts had been heard. She certainly hadn’t been walking along talking to herself.

Remember the three life stages for the concept of ‘magic’. The child believes it is one thing. The adult believes it is another thing and may feel nostalgic about not truly believing in it, like when Santa Claus becomes just a fairy tale. The elder is the author of her own ‘magic’ and it is very different than the child’s.

Never having thought about age-appropriate magic, Lavinia listened, smiled, and waited for the woman of no certain age to continue.

  Pair these three stages of magic belief with stages in the lives of readers. We then have the child reader, the mature reader, and - rather than the elder or old reader - the wise reader. The reason we call this last group wise is because after a lifetime of reading, one really ought to be wise, oughtn’t they?

Lavinia gave the question the serious thought it deserved and nodded her agreement. She wasn’t sure what the point was, though. The woman continued.

The Wise Reader has spent time learning about the bits and pieces that make up the world. She sees time and space differently, trust me.

This wasn’t immediately obvious to Lavinia, whose expression must have indicated that an example or two would be helpful. Not only that: she sensed there was a story or two behind the statement she had just heard. Her companion continued:

Wisdom is derived, both from remaining rooted somewhere and from following paths. Being grounded, as they said in the sixties, and growing. The paths are many, there are the white ones and the old ones, the ones mentioned by Rosalía de Castro in her poem from the nineteenth century. A person who has read enough to reach Rosalía and her country, traveling all the paths necessary to reach her and understand her, must be on the path to wisdom. If not Rosalía, there are countless other writers and their books who can do the same thing: Madame de Staël, George Sand, Chekhov, Beckett, they can all do the same thing.

Lavinia nodded, of course. She knew if she waited, the threads would come together. Magic, bookstores, reading, wisdom. Books = Magic. Bookstore or Library = Magic Place. She nodded again and her expression now was hopeful. Her companion was explaining:

Magic in the third phase, the one of wisdom, isn’t about things that are imagined, made up, a fantasy, or not real at all. Not any more. Now it’s the five senses that carry out that function. Let’s see now… I’ll tell you what I would do if I had the money and years to build it: a magic bookstore. Not that all bookstores aren’t in some way magical spaces, I realize. I just wish I could have one of my own.

Actually, Lavinia, would you like to help me build it?

It had happened again. Santiago had become Storiago and the estranxeira, the woman from away, was going to learn and see something she never could have learned or seen in her old university. She began to listen to the tale of the magic bookstore, as created by the teller without a name. As noted previously, the magic was simply using the five senses to define the space. She did her best to jot down what she was hearing, and later her journal read as follows. 

Note that the I is the woman, not Lavinia, who is transcribing the story.

Lavinia’s Notebook:

Sight is the first sense I want to mention. Colors come to mind, but they don’t have to sparkle, glow, glimmer or glitter to be magic. I am not at ease in pink and blue spaces with unicorns nor with huge heavy metal posters. I do love color, though, and would install walls and shelving in all of the bookstore with the ability to change colors at the push of a button. Most days I prefer shades of blue or indigo, but other days my mood is more mandarine glow or terra cotta. Selecting colors to fit my mood when in the bookstore would be… how should I call it? Surreal?

Sound. Music I love would be available in various areas of the bookstore. Maybe it would be accessed by touching the walls or opening a book. Some books will also be like music boxes, only with words that come off the page. Of course nowadays everybody has digital this and computer that and smartphones that really aren’t. I know that. However, my bookstore has a technology that looks minimalist but is more effective. Think about how you would feel if you could hold a real book and listen to the audio as if the characters were beside you. 

Taste. While I have seen artist’s books engineered to look like food, here I’m talking about real food. The edible kind. Obviously, it’s a stretch to have food served in a bookstore, except for book presentations, but I am describing what ‘magic’ means to me as a wise reader. The food will come from somewhere in the back. It won’t be in large quantities, but it will add to the decor and will not be confused with the books themselves. No books will be harmed in the preparation of the food and nobody will be allowed to eat the books. Unless the books are the kind that are made from food-grade ingredients.

Touch. Book covers have many textures, but oftentimes they go unnoticed. In this bookstore the covers will be different. They will feel like a cool stream rushing over rocks, like the crackling leaves on the ground in early November, like the ears of a spaniel or the back of a bengal kitten. Soft. Maybe a few spiky ones. Cool covers and very warm ones. Please feel free to suggest.

Smell. So many possibilities - lilacs in Highland Park in Rochester, New York. Lavender everywhere in France. The ones I would like to have in the bookstore every day include spikenard, bearded blue iris, fresh basil, a night-blooming tree in Cyprus whose name I’ve forgotten, lavender, ylang ylang, and a few others. Different sections of the store could have different scents. No artificial elements will be allowed, no petroleum candles for a dollar.

Narrator’s Note: Lavinia’s notes seem to end here, but it does seem that a few pages have been removed.

The conversation between the two women lasted a very long time, considering the circumstances of their encounter, among them the fact that they were perfect strangers. Their conversation could have lasted for an hour or a year. Some from Santiago affirmed it was less than an hour, but most people say it lasted a century.  

It appeared that time had become irrelevant to both the teller and her listener. They could have been there forever, if it had been left up to them. After all, they were in the process of designing a magical bookstore. Certainly such a place would be worthy of inclusion in the upcoming exhibit on the history of bookstores.

Oh, I know Pilar. She’ll love the idea. I might whisper in her ear about it.

Lavinia thought Pilar would agree as well, but wasn’t sure how it was going to fit into the theme. Then she realized that all bookstores had their own magic because any place where that many voices and ideas came together had to be out of the ordinary. She’d figure it out. She could convince Pilar.

Or maybe Pilar already knew about magic and roots and paths and the meeting on one of the Algalias had not been an accident.

Lavinia wondered, just a little, if too much reading had gotten her into all of this.