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Victoria Nguyen
Professor Jarrett Brown
ENGL 075-01
September 26, 2015
The Familiarity of Home and Perception of Reality in America Magica
Home is an ambiguous and complex concept, containing both the good and the badthe
yin and the yang. It is an intricate word that is impossible to thoroughly define in a single
sentence. However, in the simplest of terms, home, literally, represents the place where one
originates or lives over a duration of time. Figuratively, home is the manifestation of dreams and
beliefs molded by ones experiences; it is a paradise where imagination runs loose and thoughts
roam free. In America Magica, Jorge Magasich-Airola and Jean-Marc de Beer define home for
the Europeans as an Earthly Paradise located in the New World and shaped by the fantastical
stories of the Greeks and the Bible. The Europeans were influenced by the exaggerated journals
of previous explorers and their interpretations of the Bible, which inspired them to search for the
familiar myths. Because of these myths, they expected to find novel lands and peculiar natives.
In the first four chapters of America Magica, Magasich-Airola and de Beer clearly demonstrate
John Bergers notion that home is at the center of the real for the Europeans because the myths
and beliefs construing home to be an Earthly Paradise provided a channel of familiarityand
thus realityin the New World.
Combining the medieval beliefs of the Holy Scriptures with the rationality of the
Renaissance, Europeans sought to topographically locate and thoroughly describe the Earthly
Paradise that they undoubtedly perceived as real. As stated in a letter to Pope Alexander VI,
Christopher Columbus believed and...believe what so many saintly and holy theologians

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believed and believe, that there, in that region, is the Earthly Paradise (Magasich-Airola, de
Beer 14). Columbus, by repeating the word believe in both past and present tense, asserts that
the Europeans strongly supported the idea of an Earthly Paradise, to the point that it became their
reality, even if there was a lack of substantial and concrete evidence. To Columbus, the Earthly
Paradise represented his metaphysical home as he was influenced by Greek and Judeo-Christian
beliefs. These two religions transformed the idea of a Golden Age into an Earthly Paradise: a
well-protected garden with abundant water, where everything grew spontaneously (15), and a
place where trees grew as tall as cypresses with leaves falling continuously (18). The serene
and alluring imagery that Magasich-Airola and de Beer provide further buttresses Bergers claim
that home is at the center of the real because the Europeans perceived a place with endless
pure water and lush vegetation as an ideal version of reality. These beliefs, after influencing the
Europeans for numerous decades, became a part of the explorers mindset and reality as they
began to not only search for an Earthly Paradise but also the Fountain of Youth.
Along with the beliefs that influenced the Europeans to find an Earthly Paradise,
according to Magasich-Airola and de Beer, Europeans, motivated by the ideas of immortality and
juvenescence, embarked on a quixotic quest to find the legendary Fountain of Youth in the New
World. Alexander the Great, in Roman d Alexandre, stumbled upon a blessed land where there
was a stunning fountain...waters of which twinkled like lightning, and many other springs (45).
In this land, the air was also perfumed and completely pure (45) and the men were young,
none over thirty...with very handsome bodies (47). The Fountain of Youth, known for its
potential to increase the longevity of a life and return humans back to a youthful state, created a
zeal among the Europeans who sought to find this majestic water. Circling through Europe, the
tales of the Fountain of Youth, such as the story of a cook who obtained access to the magnificent

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waters seducing one of the daughters of Alexander, provided a background of familiarity for the
Europeans as they searched the New World for these heavenly waters. Just like the Earthly
Paradise, the belief in the Fountain of Youth also became a part of Europeans perceptions of
home and reality.
In addition to the ideas of an Earthly Paradise and the Fountain of Youth, America,
immersed by tales of opulent lands in the most remote parts, is also presented as a place filled
with wealth and opportunity for the voracious Europeans who were eager to obtain riches.
Ciampagu, for instance, was believed to have so much gold...that they do not know what to do
with it (58). The temptations of finding this marvellous metal, according to Magasich-Airola
and de Beer, were fueled by the belief that gold was the key to power, glory, and fortune (59).
The familiarity in the desire to obtain wealth and riches influenced Europeans imagination of the
New World to the point that the lands, although not always as perceived accurately, became the
explorers home.
Even though the New World was encountered through the stories and legends that the
Europeans believed were true, America, in some eyes, is not considered the center of the real
since the explorers only discovered lands consumed in unwelcoming natives rather than a home
that fulfilled their imaginations. For instance, the adventurers had difficulty finding food and
survival materials as they faced the hostility of the forest dwellers who were so adroit in
fighting river battles with their easily manoeuvrable canoes (71). The lands were thought to
have contained an Earthly Paradise without violence but, instead, the Europeans, intruding in the
natives homes, understandably faced unruly people. In addition, as noted by Jesuit Pedro
Lorenzo, the lands of Chile were lacking in gold. Only silver is so abundant (95). The
Europeans never found one of their main motives for exploration, but still discovered sources

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that provided potential wealth. Although some argue that the Europeans never found the concept
of home since the New World did not actually fulfill their expectations, the concept of the
Earthly Paradise in America, influenced by European myths and beliefs, still became their home
albeit not physicalin their heads because they believed that the Greek myths and Biblical
stories were real.
Although the New World did not have natives with extremely long lives, lands lacking in
disease, an abundance of gold, America, as pointed out by Magasich-Airola and de Beer, was
still perceived by Europeans as a place that contained their familiar and real idea of an Earthly
Paradise. Supporting Bergers statement that home is at the center of the real, the first four
chapters of America Magica highlight the belief that a home does not need to be a physical
manifestation. To the Europeans, home, a rather complex concept, was an Earthly Paradise in
their minds that was influenced by the familiarity of the myths that they believed were real. A
home does not always have to contain only the positive aspects of reality. Just like the yin and
the yang, it also contains the illnesses of the land, the fights that may abruptly occur, and the
shockingly contradictory information. Home and its counterpart, homelessness, transcend
beyond words and physical manifestationsthe two notions together provide others with one
final question: what is a home?

Work Cited

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Magasich-Airola, Jorge, Jean-Marc De Beer, and Monica Sandor. America Magica:
When Renaissance Europe Thought It Had Conquered Paradise. London:
Anthem, 2006. Print.