How To Be Invisible
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- Kate Bush – How to Be Invisible – Listen free at Last.fm
Listen to Kate Bush – How to Be Invisible for free. How to Be Invisible appears on the album Aerial. Kate Bush (born Catherine Bush on 30 July 1958 in Bexleyheath, Kent, now part of Greater London) is an English singer-songwriter known for her expres
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Or what the magician's apprentice really learned
There was once a famous magician. It doesn't matter what the country was, nor the period: what matters is that the practice of magic was illegal at the time, and that the soldiers of the country in which he lived were charged with wiping it out.
The magician lived in on the outskirts of a small village, in an out-of-the-way corner of the country. In other words, he was free to practice his magic, despite the fact that it was illegal. The soldiers hardly ever came this way, and when they did, they were usually only passing through.
People came to him from miles around, to consult with him, to be cured by him, and to have him cast his spells for them. He was a white magician, meaning that he only ever cast spells for the benefit of mankind, and never for personal gain.
He wore a patched cloak, walked with a staff, and carried a book of spells under his arm.
He was also famous because it was reputed that he knew a very secret spell called ‘How To be Invisible'. It was said that only the most powerful magicians knew this spell.
One day a young man from one of the neighbouring villages came to him. He said he wanted to learn this spell. He said wanted to learn how to be invisible.
The magician smiled.
‘That is indeed a very powerful spell,' he said. ‘It takes many years of training and hard work to master it. First of all you must become my apprentice, and only when I feel that the time is right will I teach you how to be invisible.'
So the young man agreed to become the magician's apprentice.
Years passed. The young man learned many complex and difficult spells. He learned to read the heavens and to understand the deep forces at work in the world. He learned to listen to the trees and to the birds and to all the wild animals of the forest and to hear their secret words of wisdom. He learned how to cast spells to bring rain, to clear the blight of sickness from the land, to help lonely people to find love and sad people to find happiness. He too became a magician in his own right. He too earned the right to wear the magician's cloak, to walk with the staff, and to carry his own book of spells beneath his arm. But still his master never taught him the greatest spell of all: how to be invisible.
Over the years he tired of asking for this spell. Whenever he asked the question his master only answered with an enigmatic smile.
‘When the time is right,' he would say.
In the end the young man gave up. He began to suspect that there really was no such spell, that maybe it was some sort of a trick, just a means to lure unsuspecting youngsters like himself into the art, so that they too could learn the secrets of magic.
Then, one day, many years later, as they were walking down the road, in the distance they spied a troop of soldiers marching down the road towards them.
‘Quick,' said the magician to his apprentice, ‘now is the time for us to be invisible.'
And he took off his patched cloak, folded it up and hid it in the ditch beside the road, along with his staff and his book, urging his friend to do the same.
Ten minutes later the soldiers came trooping by, their heavy equipment rattling and clanking as they trudged passed in unison.
The magician and his apprentice saluted the troops, who hardly threw them a second glance. They were too busy marching.
Once they were gone passed, the magician turned to his friend.
‘There,' he said, ‘that is how to be invisible.'
As to the moral of this story: you can work that one out for yourself.
- CJ STONE
"Stone writes with intelligence, wit and sensitivity" Times Literary Supplement
- Whitstable Views on HubPages
Stories and opinions from the North Kent Coast. An on-line column by Whitstable writer CJ Stone.
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Comments
This was a very clever story with a great moral, CJStone. Now the only question is whether or not being invisible is a good thing... I'll be looking out for more of your 'magic'.
Your fan.
Mon.
Hi, yes, it's a little different, but what I realised after writing it is that it is something I've lived by all by life. There's great power in being "invisible" in thsi way.
Ha! Fabulous! Could only have been written by one who has had to practice this skill until it was second nature. Just so you know though, the rest of us invisible people CAN still see you.
very creative, I really enjoyed reading this hub!
Thank you pgrundy and thank you seohowto, I feel a little bit less invisible now for your comments. Mind you, I can still turn it on whenever I want it. It wouldn't do to be TOO visible.
Sorry, Monitor, I'm fairly new here and I seem to have left you out. The question is whether you can control your invisibility or not. f you can it's good. If you can't - like the vast majority of the world's poor I suspect - then it is not a good thing at all.
I like this story! Thanks for sharing!
Thank you Woody. I like your stories too.
Very nice work. Entertaining yet effectively to the point.
Thankyou shadesbreath.
I was wondering why you didn't respond to my comment, and then I realized that you weren't ignoring me, you just couldn't see it. (Invisible reference)
I like that you didn't give the moral. It is too easy to skim over a moral story and be like, "hmmm, that is pretty good.....for the next guy." This way, our consciences will decide what the moral should be for each of us. (Point in fact being that no one wanted to venture what it should be.)
You're right: no one has had a go at imposing a moral on this story yet. I've been thinking of writing a follow-up, after I wrote it, I realised that it was the philosophy which had guided my life. 'm still thinking about it.
Loved it!
It IS a departure from your other pieces, but as we're learning (with great delight!), you're a man of many talents!
Don't write a follow up. As Jerry Lewis liked to say: 'For those who understand, no explanation is necessary. For those who don't, no explanation will be sufficient'.
No, but there's the story of how this one came about, and my realisation, after I'd written it, of what it meant to me. I might still write that. But thanks for your kind words JamaGenee. It all helps.
Yes, do!
I second JamaGenee's comment...I'd be very curious about the story behind it. Really enjoyed this, on a number of levels. This is the first hub of yours that I've read and it definitely won't be the last. Thanks again for a bit of enlightenment on perception. At least that's what my interpetation, for what it's worth. You do serve a complimentary beverage at your other hubs? My small attempt at humour. I did enjoy this, though, and will be doing a CJStone tour in the very near future.
Glad you liked it bright sorcerer. I think you might find metaphorical beverages available at the other hubs.
But ya have to look really close...they WON'T be "invisible". =) =) =)
Now I'm off to read "The Last Of The Hippies". Nice pic inside the back cover, btw.
I really loved this piece...you have a very gentle way about you that draws people in, wraps them in a cozy blanket and offers them a cup of hot tea to wrap their hands around.
This piece reminded me of a particular scene in a movie...Harold and Maude. They are discussing flowers and Harold says that he would like to be a daisy...because they are all alike. Maude points out that they are not truly...and that much of the world's sorrow comes from people that are unique, but allow themselves to be treated as if they were just a face in a sea of sameness. The scene then cuts to a military cemetary where all you see is row after row of identical grave markers stretching on into infinity...
While there is definitely a survival benefit to being occasionally invisible...I hope I never have to resort to it.
Thanks for a great read!
Hello spryte, I guess the secret is in knowing when to be invisible and when not. Also in having the choice. Fortunately I still do. I'm still thinking of writing a follow-up to this hub. Thanks for visiting.
Hi. A hub that I can identify myself with. I'm always invisible. :)
I totally get this hub. In fact, I knew what the punch line was going to be from the get go. But thank you for writing it. You told it very well. I don't think there is a big moral. I personally am invisible most of the time even when I don't wanna be.
What a wonderful story teller you are to be sure!
Being invisible can be quite comforting - it means you can see without being seen or stared at :)
Hi CJ. I'm working my through your hubs, and just got to this one, which I really liked. As a hypnotist, I've learned that visibility is very often just a trick of the mind, and on that subject, have you ever come across Derren Brown's Invisible Man clip? It's on Youtube, and makes for fascinating, though, scary viewing!
You are a good writer, CJ.
Myself, I'm still working on the spell: How To Become Visible
Is this the same as being invisible in plain sight. When i was much younger, it always bothered me when people acted as if i was not "there". I now know what a gift it can be.
Tony, I know that feeling.
I loved your story. Has a few facets to it's meaning and so I could take what it meant for me. To be invisible is to become normal or part of the crowd. Here the student felt that by learning how to be invisible it would be something extraordinary, paradoxically it was by becoming normal that the invisibility occured. To become extraordinary, first one must become ordinary.
Hi Jewels, yes, it means all that and more. And more again.
I liked the ending. Nice twist in the end. So what you mean is by shedding our superficial outer coverings when we become normal then nobody would notice us. Hence to be normal is to become invisible.
You tell a compelling tale CJ! :)
Ah so many interpretations countrywoman, they can't all be right can they? Or can they?
Thanks Feline. Glad you liked it.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this. ingenious...that's what I call it.
Lovely story and illustration! Are you interested in cards at all, or did you just follow through with the Amazon ads because of the Magician card?
thanks
justmesuzanne. yes I'm interested in the cards.
Thanks to you too alana.
Glad you liked it anjalichugh.
That's a good one, that is Sir. I like. Indeed.
Aye, one of the best Chandira. I still have a follow up to write at some point.
I really enjoyed your story. It was a nice surprise. Have you ever considered writing stories for children? I have twin two year olds and as they get older I believe your style of writing would be an enjoyable read for them. Lets their own imaginations and ideas fill in the blanks.
I have considered writing for children Barb H, but it is harder than it sounds. One day maybe...
Thanks for a great story CJ! I love your Hubs and this is a great one.
Love and peace
Tony
I LUV THIS HUB. GREAT GREAT GREAT!!! (I rated it UP too)...
This is a great story. Like several others commenting before me I think I need to find my cloak, staff and book!!
I'm sure you'll find your cloak, staff and book one day, but the point is to know when not to wear them.
Good work...today I just want to BE visible :-0
Bard of Ely says:
2 years ago
I really enjoyed that one - a bit different to the sort of stuff you usually write!