Home Economics for Mages

[pshaw_raven]

I had an interesting dream and I actually remembered it. I usually don't have terribly good dream recall, and when I was actually keeping a dream journal, there wasn't much my subconscious was tossing up that I could use in art or anything, so I stopped. I'll occasionally get a single image or something I like, but it's mostly just brain garbage.

That being said, in this one I found an old home economics-type textbook from the early 1950s ... from an American school of magic. So think Harry Potter on The Donna Reed Show. It seemed like they were encouraging magical folks to blend in with the non-magical population, so there were a lot of little charms and such for things like blown fuses and broken appliances. There was also a section on appearance, so a lot of the spells were geared towards specific hairdos, hair coloring, removing stains from clothes. You know, normal stuff.

My creativity doesn't quite run in that direction, but if someone wants to actually write up some of this, feel free to use the idea. I'd even be happy to provide some mid-century modern illustrations.

Comments

[cdayzee]

Very interesting dream! I could see this concept also working as a tv show.

Ironically a couple nights ago I had a dream that you & your husband were taking care of me ala some type of dystopian scenario. I had gotten injured or had some type of medical malady. I had just started watching new The Handmaids Tale episodes, so I'm guessing that worked its way in as a setting. Y'all were doing a good job of taking care of me & I felt so cared for. It was a nice feeling to have.

[pshaw_raven]

That's pretty cool, I'm glad it was a good dream! Although in reality I think we could take pretty good care of someone who wasn't well.
I actually haven't been able to bring myself to watch Handmaid's Tale, I'm afraid it would spark way too much anxiety.

[dorchadas]

Honestly, real magic would be mostly put towards mundane uses like that if it was at all safe and repeatable. I know I certainly need to wash my hair more often than I'd need to summon a nature spirit or something similar.

[pshaw_raven]

When I was thinking about it, I wondered how much magic might be used for the same things we do with "smart home" devices. We use Google to turn lights off and on and adjust the temperature, which you could also do with magic. Open the door for the cat, light a fire ... unless magic was really draining on the spell-caster, you'd probably use it a lot to make everdyay tasks go faster and smoother.