Keynote remarks are made for the workshop on micromagnetics and hysteresis, mentioning magnetization patterns in both particulate and continuous media. Details on complexity in magnetic recording media are presented in a separate paper. Here the emphasis is on topology as the source of hysteresis in iron whiskers, the most well defined of all magnetic materials. It is argued that approximate methods of treating micromagnetic problems can be educational and useful for the iron whisker. The configurations discussed include the intersection of a domain wall with a surface, the intersection of two counter rotating domain wall segments and the intersection of the latter with a surface. The role of singularities in the continuum model is emphasized. Simple mathematical functions are given as starting points for complex computational modeling of the competition between local interactions including exchange and anisotropy energies, and long-range interactions including magnetostatic and magnetoelastic energies. Long-range interactions can be approximated by fictitious local energy terms in intermediate steps designed to reduce the costs in calculating six-fold magnetostatic integrals.