Wizard Business with Malachas Ivernus

Yarning About Art & Magic on Mark Fitzpatrick's Hollow Path Podcast

Terry Pratchett, A Hat Full of Sky: “First Thoughts are the everyday thoughts. Everyone has those. Second Thoughts are the thoughts you think about the way you think. People who enjoy thinking have those. Third Thoughts are thoughts that watch the world and think all by themselves. They’re rare, and often troublesome. Listening to them is part of witchcraft.”

Daily drawing 10-1-2019: Dawn shadow. Fountain pan and fountain pen ink

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I first met the Wizard Malachas Ivernus in that time-strange shapeshifting year of 2020, in Elise Oursa’s Zoom Tarot group, Coffee and Cards. Malachas /

Mark Fitzpatrick

¹ was teaching literature in Paris; I vividly remember the time he video’d in from his commute to work, reading the unfolding omens of the city as if from a giant stone book. I remember, too, how he talked about knowing masked students by their eyes and foreheads alone, never seeing the bottom half of their faces. Here in Fortress New Zealand we were still Covid-free, and I was the anomaly in the group for my innocent life of relative everydayness. I felt guilty about it, but when I brought it up, people said it made them happy to think that somewhere in the world life went on more or less as normal.

Since then Mark has asked me numerous times to go on his podcast. I always said no, because I’m reclusive by nature— film-averse, reluctant to let cats out of bags. This time Mark said he wanted to talk about a room of one’s own, in reference to my recent essay, Precariat Blues. I said yes.

Here’s his summary of our talk: “We start off with a really fascinating discussion of what it means to be a Wizard, and how one might be called to such a path; of how such a vocation interacts with and depends on one's Place, one's Community, and a whole way of being in the world. The interwoven nature of a rigorous artistic practice with magic, and the necessity of giving a special quality of attention, of always being in that receptive state, to create, capture, and work on the world around us are fruitfully discussed.

Following this, we talk in depth about the practice of writing and how it works - and works on us. Rosie's insights into the economy of artistic practice are truly vital: we examine the importance of the conditions and resources we have to find the work, the practice, the activity, the creativity that best suits us. The discussion of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, the Gift Economy, and the importance of a ‘Room of One's Own’, of security, peace, and stability, to being able to do the Work, is one that touches on many issues that I hold very dear myself.”

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There are a few glitches in the sound / video, but SURPRISINGLY FEW, all things considered. (As Malachas points out in the oral footnote, Wizard Business can mess with the electronics something chronic.)

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You can listen on Buzzsprout:
The Hollow Path - Art & Magic ~ Episode 14 - Rosie Whinray: A Room of One's Own

Or alternatively, on Spotify:
The Hollow Path - Art & Magic ~ Episode 14 - Rosie Whinray: A Room of One's Own

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Or, if you prefer, you can watch here:

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(A minor correction: in the podcast I talk about Zealandia, Wellington’s bird sanctuary. I say that it’s the biggest in the world, which of course it’s not— it IS the world’s first fully-fenced urban eco-sanctuary. It’s unique in type, not in size.)

You can see my original snake-adorned Wizard coat in this post: The Many-Pocketed Animal

And as discussed, here is the drawing I did of the legendary hat of Malachas.

Daily drawing 12-8-2020: Hermes’ hat. Fountain pen and fountain pen ink. All the feathers of France

If you have a few groats to spare, buy him a candle here!
https://ko-fi.com/malachasivernus

1. For a long time I knew Malachas only by his Wizardly name— it took ages to get used to calling him ‘Mark’!