Myths and stories of fairy magic teach us how to see the world and what to look for in it.
I came to history through fantasy.
I grew up on E.T., Jim Henson and Tolkien, Star Trek, Star Wars, and all the fantasy dreams of the 80's in America. Especially E.T., Jim Henson and Tolkien.
I have discovered the most wonderful things in real life.
A sequoia grove is as magical as Lorien in Lord of the Rings.
Ming China and Gupta India would make Gondor in Middle Earth look like an amateur attempt by comparison.
Many people who study Asian history know that Ming China and Gupta India exist. But they do not realize how wonderful they are.
I do.
Because of Tolkien.
Because from Tolkien, Jim Henson and E.T. I learned how to look for the magic.
And when I learned of Ming China and Gupta India, I knew magic when I saw it.
Many of us have forgotten how wonderful a sunny day is.
The birds are singing, the trees are beautiful, the flowers bloom.
Or a beautiful cloudy fall day.
Or walking in the rain.
We have to be looking for these things to be beautiful before we realize that they are beautiful and magical.
Many historians who study Asian history were aware of Ming China's existence without being aware of how wonderful it was.
I learned to look for that in the world- and how to recognize it when I saw it- from E.T., Jim Henson and Tolkien.
Myths are a fundamental part of reality, as Tolkien himself told a still skeptical C.S. Lewis.
For they teach us how to look for and find the real magic in the world- real magic that we would be unable to recognize without practice.
Practice we get by following myths and fairy stories.
Fairy stories are real.
For they taught me how to recognize the magic in our own real world around us.
For they taught me how to recognize the magic in our own history, in Ming China and Gupta India, Axum and Golden Age Baghdad, and in every sunny day and every beautiful romantic rainy day around me.
God loves you! Look for the magic!
Sincerely,
David S. Annderson