Have We Noticed The Magic in ACOTAR?
*NONE OF THESE IMAGES ARE MINE NOR DO I KNOW THE ARTISTS AND I APOLOGIZE I PULLED THEM FROM PINTEREST*
No, I do not mean the fantasy "magic".
I mean the reference to real-world witchcraft.
If you don't know, I practice Hearth Magic, matters of the home and comfort. I also work on self-love magic, healing, garden and kitchen magic.
There are other types of magic, as well, such as divination magic (tarot and oracle cards, reading sticks, tea leaf reading, etc.), death magic (honoring and working with the dead), protection magic (wards and such), money magic (wealth and abundance), glamor magic (changing ones appearance) and so much more.
Magic tends to be associated with either ones spiritual self, deities, religions, etc. And it is a very personal experience for everyone who practices.
Within some magic, you find witches who worship, follow or work with specific deities. Those deities tend to lean into ones personal needs and philosophies.
Bare with me here, friends.
The number 3 is often used in witchcraft. And it has always been found in varied spiritual and mythological archetypes across the world:
The Mother, The Maiden & The Crone
Each represents the stages in a woman's life. And with our 3 heroins of ACOTAR, we find these archetypes displayed.
Feyre Archeron; The Mother
From the beginning of the series, Feyre has acted as the provider, despite being the youngest. She took risks and made sacrifices for the sake of those she loved dearly. Despite her hard shell, she was overstimulated and let down by the adults and family in her life. It wasn't just Pappa and Mamma Archeron who failed these girls. The whole village witnessed their downfall. And Feyre endured the brunt of the work needing to be completed. She dug her feet in, and handled it like a BEAST. She then is the first of the sisters to mature, the first to decide to have a baby, the first to have reason for her more maternal instincts rather than keeping her older sisters and father alive.
The Mother represents life-giving power (Feyre has healing abilities and has fought for her lover to live, fought for her baby to live, fought for herself to live), maturity (parentified as the youngest sibling), stability (was the only one who would be able to survive on her own), creation (she's both a painter and a builder, as she helps rebuild Velaris) and caregiving (Feyre in general cares a metric fuck-ton).
The type of witchcraft she uses leans towards elemental magic, healing magic, protection magic and shadow work. These types of magic exist in modern day witchcraft.
Nesta Archeron; The Crone
Nesta seems to always have an internal rage and hurt that spans multiple lifetimes. She does not heal from the lifetime of hurt until she admits that she hurts. Until she speaks on what happened. And understandably so, after spending her childhood being groomed by the adults around her? After being groped and prodded and then sitting in squalor because she feels it is what she deserves. She had aged within such a short start to life.
The Crone represents wisdom, insight, experience and guidance. In Silver Flames, we see Nesta gain a lifetime of experience and wisdom with the things she goes through. She is also the closest to death, with her abilities for Death itself. By the end of the book, she is respecting the dead, reversing the dead, and making peace with the dead.
Nesta is using divination, death magic, house magic, shadow work, and meditation. These types of magic exist in modern data.
Elain Archeron; The Maiden
We know very little of Elain as of right now. So everything I say is based on assumptions I make from the way I read the books. But Elain has always been admired for how she looks. To be seen, but never heard. To be kind, never angry. To sit back and let others do it for you. It is dehumanizing and infantilizing. Her youthful vigor attracts people to her, and her innocent appearance is the first thing people notice. She knows she has potential, but others are treating her as though she never grew past 17. With her responses to her family treating her like a child, she is really tired of being both underestimated and put on a shelf. She wants to participate in the big things in life. She knows she has the potential to. She is ready to explore and try.
The Maiden represents youthful energy, innocence, potential and exploration. Yeah, I was intentionally on the nose with her description because it seems like the bigger part of her story. But what magic is Elain leaning to?
My theory: Garden and Kitchen Magic for spiritual healing, Glamour Magic (this changes ones appearance. I have a theory that when they went into The Court of Mightmares, Elain intentionally dressed herself and made herself less the center of attention. So as to put the attention on Nesta. Nesta was the piece they needed for Eris, Elain wouldn't have been able to accomplish that. I feel Cassians perspective of her was an illusion, not just his love for Nesta). I feel she will also lean into a different type of divination, and may use Shadow Work for personal development and growth.
"But what is Shadow Work? And why do all 3 sisters use it?"
Shadow work itself is healing. It is coming face-to-face with the parts of you that are disgusting. The pieces of your soul that you hate. The ones that you've tucked away in a little box and kept locked away for no one to find.
These are the darkest parts of ourselves we all must confront. The one we all must hug. The one we all must accept as just the shading that is the painting of your life.
Feyre is the first to do this shadow work, all of it coming to a peak when she sought out the mirror. The mirror scene was her shadow work.
Nesta's was accepting how her cruelty both made others she loved feel, and made her resent herself. She had to come to terms with those darkest parts of herself, come to accept them rather than leave them behind. Her anger serves a purpose to protect. Her rage and devotion is what saved her the people she loved. This is her shadow work.
What will Elain's be? Confronting the parts of herself that she keeps quietly tucked away? The parts feel useless and boring? That dark voice in her head conducting acts of torment behind a stellar smile and kind eyes? Will she hate herself for not being strong enough? For being out on a pedestal? For not being allowed to try? Will she confront the side of her that relished in the comfort she received from her beauty? Or will there be a side to Elain that will break all of our hearts so tremendously that we cannot understand how she got here?
Does Elain hurt herself, just because she knows she will heal as a High Fae? Does she sneak out in the middle of the night to abandoned buildings and scream?
The Mother, The Maiden & The Crone.
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