Journeyman Wizard... magical tale of very real world

Book: Journeyman Wizard: A Magical Mystery

Author: Mary Frances Zambreno

Publisher: Jane Yolen Books, Harcourt Brace & Company, New York, 1994

Reviewer: Adjekpagbon Blessed Mudiaga

Nobody ever thought the priest of the lord, Eben Allons, was responsible for the murder of his own mother, Lady Jean Allons. But he did it to fulfill his selfish desire for fame and political power and concealed it until an apprentice journey man mystic, Jermyn Graves, unveils the 'holier than thou' clergy's hypocritical innocence.

Such are the tales of the fictional reality book, Journeyman Wizard: A Magical Mystery, by Mary Zambreno. The author of the novel paints a vivid picture of what has been happening in some churches. She brings to the fore the underhand dealings of some priests who parade themselves as men of God though they are actually impostors in the corridors of holiness.

But though fiction, the book makes it evident that magical mayhem is the most current thing going on in the name of performing miracles to the glory of God. The hunger for fame, power and wealth leads many people astray to the point of going to any length to achieve their debased dreams under the umbrella of chastity. The irony of public posture and real life strikes as the rarely imaginable situation of a priest in the book who was projecting a seeming nonchalant attitude towards mundane acquisitions turning out later to be discovered to be so materialistic as to go to the extent of killing his mother through magical spells. He was not only out to kill his mother, he was also prepared to kill others whom he suspected could be stumbling blocks to his obsessed intention to acquire his mother's wealth.

In 263 pages Journeyman Wizard: A Magical Mystery is divided into 14 chapters. It begins with the traveling of the engaging hero, Jermyn Graves, who had featured in Zambreno's first book titled A Plague of Sorcerers. Graves travels from the city to a distant village called Land's End, where Lady Allons lives. He went there to receive training under Lady Allons, who was a magical spell-maker. On arrival, little did he expect that he will become involved, first in local intrigue, then in magical warfare, and later accused as well as suspected as a murderer.

The novel gives some insight into magical circles. How to and how not to engage in spell-making, are clearly elucidated with simple diction.

However, when Lady Allons, a widow suddenly died during a crystal ball communication with her student Graves, in a mystical dialogue with his aunt who lives in the city, Graves was suspected of being responsible for his teacher's death. But with Delia, a squirrel which Graves keeps as a spiritual pet, and Brianne Campbell, Lady Allons's grand daughter, the innocence of Graves was proven while the identity of the murderer came to light in a superb awe-inspiring magical narrative of suspense-marked skirmishes. Any lover of dramatics suspense and mesmerising tales will appreciate the pulse of the prose.

The author comes across as someone who is very conversant with the magical sciences. Her adept ply of the tales with explicit details give this out. She captures the dynamics involved in practical and theoretical magical rudiments. These include penetrating expose of the vital bits of the arts of spell-making and healing techniques.

Journeyman Wizard: A Magical Mystery, is an eye-opener to the inherent mystical powers in some animals like cats, dogs and squirrels, which could remind conversant readers of esoteric fictions of the clairvoyant gifts of cats as depicted in such a Lobsang Rampa title as The Saffron Robe, or the mystical capabilities of owls as portrayed in Kara Dalkey's book entitled Euryale. The aforementioned books are also very engaging and enlightening about the activities of mystical sciences such as witchcraft, spells, hexes, astral migration and the mysteries of things happening daily and nightly in both low and high places in the name of love. In a world where people struggle for power, love, fame and wealth, all form of vices and devices are employed by the desperate ones to achieve their goals; Journeyman Wizard: A Magical Mystery also capture these.

It hints that those who keep animals as pets should better be well enlightened about the possibilities of such pets constituting spiritual danger to them, unless they are psychically interconnected or in tune with the spiritual vibrations of the pets.

Zambreno, describes Graves pet, Delia thus: "Delia was his wizard's familiar, the animal that allowed him use his own inborn abilities to pull magical power from the natural world. She was also a skunk. He loved her, but there was no denying she tended to cause problems. Most familiars are cats or birds of prey; any other animal was considered unusual. A skunk was worse than unusual- it was downright peculiar."

The book also paints a picture of how a spell maker appears. Lady Allons the spell-maker is described in the following manner: "Lady Allons was a tall woman; with silver hair curling around a stern face. Her eyes were deep blue and very bright; she wore a sapphire silk dress, and earrings that exactly match its shade. Although her feature were lined with age, her gaze was level and penetrating and her chin was very firm... she used a cane as she came down the stair, but her step was steady- measured, not slow." This description is perhaps the American author's impression of a spell-maker.

Apart from the intricacies of magical mysteries discussed in the book, a subtle romantic touch is also used to spice the story with the admiration of Miss Campbell's personality by Graves, the journeyman trainee as both of them are teenagers. The author says Graves liked the way the little tendrils of hair escaping around Miss Campbell's face caught the light. He also admires her courteous but cool smiles.

One hint in the fiction is that witches and wizards are not necessarily always poor, gaunt and wretched people who live in dirty environments. Some rich and powerful people too practice witchcraft. Maudie, a character in the story is depicted as a hedgewitch. Hedgewitches are described in the book as those who scrabble for a living in remote areas, while healers are also described as wizards too, like spell-makers, if of a different order. In the novel's views, much of magical persuasions and spell-making is an art. "The practice of this art, as of all arts, requires skill, knowledge, and understanding, as well as observation and experiment - the tool of science. These things assist the spell-maker in the practice of his or her profession as a comprehension of the laws of perspective and studies in anatomy benefit the painter...."

References were made to some magical books in the novel such as Venturi Encyclopedia which, according to the author, listed several variants of crystal spells.

Beneath the thrust of Journeyman Wizard: A Magical Mystery is a creatively veiled non-didactic but instructive web of stories to remind the reader that, no matter how one pretends to be good or holy, whereas he is evil minded, a day of reckoning waits at the corner, even though the world may have been looking at the person as a saint. The result of Graves' mystical investigation to find out the cause of Lady Allons's abrupt death established this. Graves was surprised when the truth dawned on him that his teacher was murdered by her own priestly son, Eben. Hence, Graves was dreadfully amazed in his inner mind saying, "So Eben is the black artist...

He must have fought with his mother so he would have an excuse to stay away from her. He was going to be a wizard before he entered the church. As a priest, he works with the 'Powers' all the time. That would cover up most magical mysteries..."

Nonetheless, when the hour of revelation came, Eben screamed a terrible gibbering sound. He lurched backward against a table. Taking shape in front of him was the spirit-form of his late mother, tall elegant, and uncanny. She looked down at her son with contempt in her eyes..."No" Eben said, holding up his arms in front of his face in a futile gesture. "Mother, no! Don't!" late Lady Alloons's spiritual voice registered on Graves mind that moment like the sound of rushing water as she accuses her son thus: "False, Eben Allons... false son, false brother false wizard, false priest. Bear the burden of that falseness- take back your broken oaths." With this occurrence, power poured through the room where the incident took place. Eben screamed again, a keening, an eerie sound that went on and on and on until all the world seemed swallowed up in it, and he was put in a state of "Catatonia mysticae."

A character in the story, Master Eschar, describes "Catatonis mysticae" as "a magically induced condition resembling certain forms of insanity." Moreover, Eben also earned a prison sentence where he has to spend the rest of his life with insanity.

Though the book is a fictional work, it contains a lot of societal realities that can easily be related to things happening among some so-called men of God. It also brings to the fore the dangers inherent in magical practices and its consequences, like what happened to a character named Doctor Faustus, in Christopher Malowe's play, Doctor Faustus.

Journeyman Wizard: A Magical Mystery, is a readable material for all who may be interested in identifying strange vibrations in any environment they find themselves, and how they could repel such negative forces by taking full control of their will power and astral energies as they wish, with telepathic artistry and mastery of their environment and the developments around them.