Magical Household Items

In my contemporary fantasy novel, Magic All Around, Vivian Marshall learns that the world around her is brimming with hidden magic.  People she once thought were ordinary turn out to be selkies, weredogs and faeries.  Magic is ubiquitous, making it as easy to overlook as the oxygen in our air.  Are you missing the signs of magic all around you?  The average household is full of magical objects.  Look in your spice rack; you’ll see.  Most of us have a magic (cursed may be a more accurate term) mirror, though few realize that the dysmorphic self-image and plague of insecurities we harbor after prolonged use of the mirror are a consequence of magic.   Then there’s the ordinary household clothes dryer.  Also cursed.  All those disappearing socks are being teleported to your dresser where they remain invisible until you throw away the apparently single partner.

There are dozens of magical objects influencing your life.  Here’s a list of just five rarely recognized magical items.

1-    Butter

You many know on an intuitive (and gastronomic) level, that butter has magical properties.  After all, who wants melted margarine on their popcorn?

2-    Brimmed hats

About 5% of the brimmed hats in the United States are magical and you cannot identify these hats prior to purchase.  If you’ve had the hat for at least one month and find that it garners compliments (“Gee, cool hat.  Looks good on you.”), keeps the sun out of your eyes, doesn’t blow off your head in the wind and doesn’t make your ears stick out, it’s probably a magic hat.  

You know that fellow that always wears the same hat, indoors and out, every day?  He has a magic hat.

3-    Chairs

Most homes have at least one magic chair.  It may be a porch swing, a rocking chair, a recliner, or even a straight-backed dining room chair.  Guests are automatically drawn to these seats and households with fur-children find it impossible to keep their four-footed denizens off these chairs.

4-    Television Remote Control

Every.  Single.  Television.  Remote.  Is.  Magical.  Even yours.  Television remote controls are actually conscious entities.  They, like a few furry pets, bond with a single household member and prefer not to be touched by anyone else.  They are also prone to fits of teleportation, hiding themselves away during The Academy Awards, the Olympics, election results and other major television events.

5-    Wall and ceiling texture

We’ve all seen those spots in the wall texture of a home that could have been applied by da Vinci.  At first glance, the texture is deceptively simple and abstract, but when you look carefully, you realize it looks exactly like the Mona Lisa.  The next day, you go back to look again and there’s no pretty lady.  Instead, there’s a terrifying image of a three-headed dragon and it looks so much like your mother-in-law, you find you’re compelled to cover that part of the wall with a cheesy inspirational poster.  A disturbing reminder that there is magic all around!