writing as sorcery

The Sorcerer's Apprentice from Fantasia, 1940s Disney film. This scene from the Disney film is based on the story told in a poem written by Goethe in 1797. In Goethe's poem, a magician in training decides to take it upon himself to make magic when the sorcerer leaves, yet without knowing how to stop the magic once it starts. Axing into splinters the broom the apprentice summoned to help him do his work doesn't stop the mayhem. They just keep multiplying.

Words are like that, too, according to Anais Nin:

"The writer writes her letter to the world. When the world answers, it is like the sorcerer's apprentice. You cannot control what you have summoned." Anais Nin