I have heard some people condemn C. S. Lewis’ ‘Chronicles of Narnia’ and accuse the books of dealing in the occult.  Before I begin this I would like to state my utter abhorrence of witchcraft and anything concerning the occult.  The Bible clearly forbids witchcraft in Deuteronomy 18: 9-14, Revelation 22:14 b and other places.  Chronicles of Narnia does have witchcraft in the stories; but only the evil ones use it. Jadis, (or the White Witch) used her magic wand that turned people to stone and her magic bottle of liquid that produced the Turkish delight. Yes, the evil side of Narnia does use witchcraft.  That is why it is evil. Notice that Jadis is called a Witch.  These books clearly showed that witchcraft was bad and not to be tampered with.  For instance, when Lucy found a book with spells in it, she tried to make herself beautiful. Aslan appeared and roared growled with warning, and she quickly stopped.

One thing that confuses people is the use of the word ‘magic’ in the Narnia series. C. S. Lewis used that word when he spoke of the ‘deeper magic,’ in the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe,

“ ‘It means,' said Aslan that though the Witch knew the Deep Magic, there is a magic deeper still which she did not know…' "

 The words magic there have NOTHING to do with the occult. Mar. Lewis used this word to describe the Law of the Emperor Across the Sea.  Because that is what it means- law.  That ‘deeper magic’ was a law that was put in the Universe before the dawn of time.  Notice that that magic is not used. It is there.

Another thing that many people have problems with is Lewis’ use of mythological creatures such as Fauns, Centaurs, Naiads, Dryads, Hamadryads, Silvans, Bacchus, Maenads, Silenus and others.  Example:

“Bacchus and his Maenads leaping, rushing and turning somersaults, the beasts brushing round them, and Silenus and his donkey bringing up the rear. And every-one sat down in a wide circle around it. Then Bacchus and Silenus and the Maenads began a dance, far wilder than the dance of the trees, not merely a dance for fun and beauty (though it was that too), but a magic dance of plenty, and where their hands touched, and where their feet fell, the feast came into existence. 

“He seemed to have a great many names - Bromios, Bassareus, and the Ram were three of them. There were a lot of girls with him, as wild as he. There was even, unexpectedly, someone on a donkey. And everybody was laughing: and everyone was shouting out, ‘EUAN, EUAN, EU-oi-oi-oi.’”

In mythology fauns were rural deities of nature and fertility, but they also did wicked things.  Centaurs were also wicked in general and Bacchus was a pagan god.  The Maenads were hysterical girls driven to lunacy in his (Bacchus’) cult.  So… how does this work?

Lewis knew all of this, but he appreciated mythology because, as I know, it has many beautiful and heroic elements in it, as well.  So he took the parts that he liked and put them into his fantasy world of Narnia, but put them under Aslan’s (Christ’s) rule.  Since there can be no sin under Aslan’s rule the evil things about them disappeared and their beautiful qualities remained. 

" I asked myself, 'Supposing that there really was a world like Narnia and supposing it had (like our world) gone wrong and supposing Christ wanted to go into that world and save it (as He did ours) what might have happened?'

 The stories are my answers. Since Narnia is a world of Talking Beasts, I thought He would become a Talking Beast there, as He became a man here. I pictured Him becoming a lion there because (a) the lion is supposed to be the king of beasts; (b) Christ is called "The Lion of Judah" in the Bible; (c) I'd been having strange dreams about lions when I began writing the work. The whole series works out like this.

 

The Magician's Nephew tells the Creation and how evil entered Narnia.

The Lion, etc. the Crucifixion and Resurrection.

Prince Caspian restoration of the true religion after corruption.

The Horse and His Boy the calling and conversion of a heathen.

The Voyage of the "Dawn Treader" the spiritual life (especially in Reepicheep).

The Silver Chair the continuing war with the powers of darkness.

The Last Battle the coming of the Antichrist (the Ape), the end of the world and the Last Judgement."

What the Chronicles of Narnia really are is a wonderful, entertaining series of books that portray the Gospel message clearly in a lovely, simple way that is enjoyable at any age.  If you have never read these books I highly recommend them. 

- Legolas