above all, remember this: that magic belongs...

ABOVE ALL REMEMBER this: that magic belongs as much to the heart as to the head and everything which is done, should be done from love or joy or righteous anger.

Oh, for heaven's sake, go read Susanna Clarke. She writes about the history of English magic as if there were a history of English magic, and provides scholarly quotations, forking histories, and evidence of folklore to back it up, all of which she made up out of whole cloth, to support an excellent novel (my mother complains it's too long, but she's wrong) and a nifty collection of short stories (you can start with these, if you like; they are informed by, but are not dependent on, the novel).

Go read them! Then go nag Ms. Clarke to write more stuff, so you have something else to read next February.

(..."from love or joy or righteous anger." Isn't that just YUMMY!?)