Allegories of Material Spell Components

[Henry]

These are the jokes I don't get:

First of all, Google is your Friend. I looked up most of these online.

Antipathy - A lump of alum soaked in vinegar
Alum, especially combined with vinegar is not only an astringent, it smells and tastes horrible, and would drive away more sane people, even without the spell.

Darkvision - Either a pinch of dried carrot [Vitamin A?] or an agate
Agate is considered a stone that aids in improving vision; in fact, some varieties of Agate were given in Native American tribes in the past to newborns in the hope that that child would be the next "seer."

Disintegrate - A lodestone and a pinch of dust
Lodestones attract power or favor; the only relation I can see is to empower turning the enemy to dust?

Enlarge / Reduce Person - A pinch of powdered iron
The old folk wisdom that more iron in your blood makes young children grow stronger and taller

False Life - A small amount of alcohol or distilled spirits, which you use to trace certain sigils on your body during casting

couldn't find this one; the only thing I can see is that alcohol naturally makes you more resistant to pain?

Foresight - A hummingbird’s feather
Hummingbirds are known for their quick, agile movements in flight.

Ghost Sound - A bit of wool or a small lump of wax
Same as the "Pull the wool over your eyes" analogy; the ear wax is the same idea.

Haste - A shaving of licorice root
Licorice Root is purported to stimulate adrenal glad activity; it's apparently a homeopathic version of "uppers."

Illusory Script - A lead-based ink
"Cinnabar, or minium, the pigment obtained from red lead, was once used for the striking red lettering and decoration often to be found in the opening words of the text of a manuscript and in the page decoration." (quote)

Invisibility - An eyelash encased in a bit of gum arabic
gum arabic was used for applying stage makeup and prosthetics long ago; covering an eyelash represents clouding vision.

Legend Lore - Four strips of ivory (worth 50 gp each) formed into a rectangle
Ivory strip cards were used in divination in Chinese culture; I think the "formed in a rectangle is artistic license.

Levitate - Either a small leather loop or a piece of golden wire bent into a cup shape with a long shank on one end
Ever seen an egg holder used for dipping easter eggs?

Magic Weapon, Greater - Powdered lime and carbon
my supposition is that it is sympathetic to "reforging" the weapon into something stronger.

Persistent Image (and other Image spells) - A bit of fleece and several grains of sand
The "fleece" bit has probably been sufficiently explained.

Repulsion - A pair of small iron bars attached to two small canine statuettes, one black and one white
magnetic repulsion is the concept here - though why the dogs wouldn't be the same color, though, is beyond me. After all, opposites attract, as the saying goes.

Summon Monster - A tiny bag and a small (not necessarily lit) candle
From what I've been reading online, Charm bags and candles are used in all sorts of traditional "Magic rituals."


Incidentally, while I was looking, I found this fascinating tidbit:

The Egyptians were among the first to find it striking enough to use in places of importance or emphasis, such as text headings, and it has been used by scribes throughout history. The Latin name for this pigment, minium, gives rise to the term miniature. The person skilled in working with minium was called a miniator and the things he applied his craft to were called miniatures, whether they were tiny or not.

 

[Savage Wombat]

Repulsion:

An old novelty item consisted of two small black dogs, one white and one black, with magnets in the bases. You would push one towards the other, and the like poles of the magnets would cause the other dog to run away "as if by magic".

 

[paranoid]

Great, guys!
I love ENWorld!

 

[Anabstercorian]

The starch in Rope Trick is used to stiffen the rope so you can climb it, silly.

 

[Crunchy Frog]

Levitate's component might be based on a prop used in stage magic. Often when a stage magician levitates someone, he passes a hoop around the levitating person to show that there are no wires.

 

[Steverooo]

I always wondered why certain spells had these strange material spell components. I know, it's magic, but if you want, you can see some "logic" behind most spell components. The designers apparently wanted to create some sort of allegory. For example, fireball needs sulphur and bat guano, which in itself can be explosive. alarm needs a bell and wire, which is self-explanatory. Lightning Bolt needs fur and a glass rod, which creates static electricity. Fear requires a hen's heart, which symbolizes cowardice. Passwall needs sesame seeds - Ali Baba's spoke the words "Open Sesame" to get into the cave. Tongues requires the shattering of a ziggurat, which probably symbolizes the Babylonian Tower and the scattering of languages.
But some spell components simply stump me and and I have no idea about the designers' intention. For example, the summon monster spells: why do you need a candle and a bag? I would have understood a cylinder and a rabbit...
Or take haste. "A shaving of licorice root". Is something known about physiological acceleration effects of licorice that I don't know of?

Licorice root gives you the "runs"...

These are the jokes I don't get:
Acid / Solid Fog - A pinch of dried, powdered peas combined with powdered animal hoof

Peas, as in pea soup. Animal hooves as in gelatin. A fog thicker than pea soup, and more like gelatin.

Antimagic Field - A pinch of powdered iron or iron filings

Swords vs. Sorcery.

Antipathy - A lump of alum soaked in vinegar

Alum is bitter, and vinegar is sour. Together, they are... repulsive.

Arcane Eye - A bit of bat fur

Seeing with a sixth sense, like a bat?

Comprehend Languages - A pinch of soot and a few grains of salt

Not sure, but I assume soot represents something being covered, and salt cleans it. Both were used in removing snow from ancient city streets, and "snow" is a modern pseudonym for "static", or the "noise" in a signal. So I think that's probably it.

Darkvision - Either a pinch of dried carrot [Vitamin A?] or an agate

Agate - "Cat's Eye". See in the dark like a cat (who, oddly enough, has Low Light Vision, not Darkvision!)

Daze - A pinch of wool or similar substance

Pulling the wool over their eyes.

Detect Thoughts - A copper piece ["a penny for your thoughts?"]

Yep!

Disintegrate - A lodestone and a pinch of dust

A lodestone is a magnet, but...?

Displacement - A small strip of leather twisted into a loop

A loop of leather to move things with.

Enlarge / Reduce Person - A pinch of powdered iron

Foods with iron (broccoli, etc.), as supposed to make you grow!

False Life - A small amount of alcohol or distilled spirits, which you use to trace certain sigils on your body during casting

Alcohol gives you "false courage", and drinking fills you with "spirits".

Floating Disk - A drop of mercury

Mercury is so dense that a great many things which would sink, in water, will float upon it.

Foresight - A hummingbird’s feather

Hummingbirds react VERY FAST! With Foresight, you can, too!

Freedom of Movement - A leather thong, bound around the arm or a similar appendage

Not tied down, the strings have been cut!

Ghost Sound - A bit of wool or a small lump of wax

In the modern day version, we use Peanut Butter as the material component... Wool or wax in your ears makes things sound different.

Haste - A shaving of licorice root

Gives you the "runs", a colloquiallism for diarhea.

Hold Person [H. Monster is similar] - A small, straight piece of iron

I always thought that this referred to a nail, as in "nail their feet to the floor". YMMV.

Illusory Script - A lead-based ink

Most magical detection spells (Divination is a misnomer) do not penetrate either lead or gold foil. Lead is cheaper...

Invisibility - An eyelash encased in a bit of gum arabic

When you wake up in the morning, your eyelashes are often stuck together with "sleep", and YOU CAN'T SEE!

Legend Lore - Four strips of ivory (worth 50 gp each) formed into a rectangle

A frame.

Levitate - Either a small leather loop or a piece of golden wire bent into a cup shape with a long shank on one end

A loop, as per displacement, or a wire "hook" for moving something.

Magic Mouth - A small bit of honeycomb and jade dust worth 10 gp

Honey is sweet on the tongue (which the magic mouth needs), but the jade escapes me...

Magic Weapon, Greater - Powdered lime and carbon

Typical sharpening materials.

Mnemonic Enhancer - An ivory plaque of at least 50 gp value

Something to put you "in the proper frame of mind" for more memorization. A "frame of reference", perhaps?

Persistent Image (and other Image spells) - A bit of fleece and several grains of sand

Fleece is wool, again, and sand can either get in your eyes, or represent sleep, as in the spell of the same name.

Polymorph Any Object - Mercury, gum arabic, and smoke

Ever heard the expression "It's all done with smoke and mirrors"? Mercury and gum arabic on the reverse side of a pane of glass forms a mirror.

Repulsion - A pair of small iron bars attached to two small canine statuettes, one black and one white

Ever seen the two little doggie magnets, commonly sold in gift shops? This is them...

Rope Trick - Powdered corn extract and a twisted loop of parchment

The corn extract forms a basic glue, and the strip of paper is a Moebius Strip.

Secret Page - Powdered herring scales and will-o’-wisp essence

Red Herring - stinky fish used to throw tracking dogs off the scent. Will'o'wisp - another creature pursued fruitlessly.

See Invisibility - A pinch of talc and a small sprinkling of powdered silver

Powders to coat the invisos with.

Summon Monster - A tiny bag and a small (not necessarily lit) candle

This one stumps me, too...

 

[Steve Jung]

Floating Disk - A drop of mercury

A drop of mercury on a surface rolls around almost frictionlessly, not quite disk-shaped though.

Hold Person [H. Monster is similar] - A small, straight piece of iron

A pin perhaps?

 

[ColonelHardisson]

A lot of them are colloquialisms of Britain and America, which may not translate well - "pulling the wool over" someone's eyes means to fool them, and in this case to fool them into not seeing you. Red herring is something that is meant to mislead (I don't know the origin). Anyway, it's interesting to see how many of the things I've taken for granted may make no sense to our international RPG players.

 

[Norfleet]

With large quantities of the proper material components, you might not even need magic to produce the effect you want.

 

[Feathercircle]

Mnemonic Enhancer- Ivory comes from elephants, who supposedly never forget.

Antipathy makes sense if you compare it with it's cousin, Sympathy. You catch more flies with honey than with vinegar, after all. ^_^