We’ve talked a bit about narrative enchantment in terms of manifestation (getting what you want) and in terms of banishing (knowing what you don’t want). But there’s a third way to approach narrative, which is looking at different options to choose between them.
Let’s talk about fanfic for a second. For those of you who are new to the Internet (lol) fanfic is short for fan fiction, which is when authors write stories about characters they do not own the rights to and release those stories online. This doesn’t imply poor quality, mind you. There are excellent writers of fan fiction and there are poor ones. There are highly creative plots and realistic character depictions and “letter to Hustler” level porn. Fanfic is often quite smutty, with the purpose of having your favorite characters have sex in creative ways. But it doesn’t have to be that, or just that. No, fanfic can serve other purposes, including:
- Having characters from different fictions interact with one another (Twilight vampires meet Interview with a Vampire vampires; mayhem — and/or fucking — ensues)
- Having characters from a fiction interact with ‘real world’ characters (the Mary Sue scenario basically)
- Exploring what happens within cannon (off camera, between seasons, or after a show is cancelled — probably fucking)
- Exploring what would happen in an alternate version of the characters’ universe (going off book, changing plot, etc.)
- Changing the nature of the character and exploring what that means (what if Dumbledore was trans, what if Hermione was? — because fuck you JK Rowling)
I was looking at some fanfic for a show that was cancelled. I enjoyed the show and was curious about what would have happened if the show had additional seasons. I read several quality fics set after the show ended (I’m picky about writing quality) and it was an interesting process to look at the different interpretations of the plot and characters. There were ideas and plots that I liked and ones that I didn’t. There was character development that made sense and changes that didn’t ring true. There was smut I scrolled past and smut I enjoyed.
What I discovered was that I had heretofore unknown preferences about what I wanted for those characters. I went from ‘I wonder what happens’ to ‘this is what I want to happen.’
Amusing for fiction, but you can do this process in your own life. Let’s imagine that you are considering changing career fields. You can write yourself a fanfic (either literally, verbally, or in your head) plotting your life in a new field and playing things out through multiple scenarios — not to manifest those things, but to explore what you want and don’t want. Or lets say you are looking to get a partner or a lover, imagining how that experience would be will help you evaluate potential people based on what you enjoy (versus what you need to scroll right past). The key is that you aren’t necessarily trying to manifest all the plots you are considering, but just using how you feel about those plots in order to evaluate what you want and don’t want.
There’s a lot of advice for making your thoughts and actions more magical and more able to manifest into the world. In this case however, you are doing the opposite: setting guardrails by acknowledging that this is fictional speculation and not active manifestation. One way to do that is by protecting the space where you are doing this work (rather than opening your protections to visiting entities or ‘going forth’). So:
Hekas Hekas estes bebeloi / Away away be ye all profane and negative spirits that would harm the sanctity of this space
I hereby consecrate and delineate this space as dedicated to my own imaginings, protected from all influence and intention
A playground for my own mind in order to know myself better
Let my higher self guide this process, for the highest good of all and and give me sanctuary and security in the halls of my mind
Use this space to explore your own preferences and ideas and then take the best forward to manifest using other magics.
