MAGIC

 

As you know if you’ve read either of the first two books, magic plays a big role in the world of Quadar. The wizards of Melsa and Cerah, the Chosen One herself, use magic often, and they are trained to use it well.

In A Dark Clock, the wizard Kern tells Cerah a good deal about the nature of the magic of Melsa. Basically, he explains, it all radiates from the creator God, Ma’uzzi

In A New Shadow, there is another form of magic that is being used that has a very different source.That fact is a very key part of the story. A magic apart from Ma’uzzi is a concept that most wizards would never… could never… even consider. But the character who becomes involved with it finds himself drawn in for just that reason.

To develop this concept I went to two very different sources. I studied the philosophy behind Wicca, which in terms of magic, specifically, as opposed to the religious aspects, is most connected with nature and will. In fact, the aspects of it that I’ve worked into the magic of A New Shadow are inherently and significantly without any religious aspect, which as I mentioned,  was a key element in the magic of the wizards of Melsa. I’m not always a staunch advocate of using Wikipedia as a research tool, (they let ME edit entries, for crying out loud!), but here is a brief excerpt from the entry on Wicca which deals nicely with what I’m borrowing:

“Many Wiccans believe in magic, a manipulative force exercised through the practice of witchcraft or sorcery. Many Wiccans agree with the definition of magic offered by ceremonial magicians, such as Aleister Crowley, who declared that magic was ‘the science and art of causing change to occur in conformity with will’, while another prominent ceremonial magician, MacGregor Mathers stated that it was ‘the science of the control of the secret forces of nature’. Many Wiccans believe magic to be a law of nature, as yet misunderstood or disregarded by contemporary science, and as such, they do not view it as being supernatural, but a part of what Leo Martello calls the ‘super powers that reside in the natural’. Some Wiccans believe that magic is simply making full use of the five senses in order to achieve surprising results, whilst other Wiccans do not claim to know how magic works, merely believing that it does because they have observed it to be so.”

The second source was one of my favorite books, The Prophet, by Kahlil Gibran. There are several places in that masterpiece that I found ideas which ran parallel to ones I was developing with regard to the new magic, mostly in terms of the power and value of the individual. Fans of the book will no doubt recognize its influence.

Because the new magic is so different from that which the main character is familiar, I’ve made use of several terms from a language which is unknown to him, and that includes the umbrella name for the “school” of magic itself. The ancient sorceress who introduces it calls it The Gzanta Way.

That same language brings us the name by which she calls our main character, Ruzaga-Bin, literally “The New Shadow.”

Unfortunately, this also puts everything to do with the Gzanta Way in direct and dire opposition to the magic of the wizards of Melsa, in such a way that can only lead to dramatic conflict.

Of course, in order to fully appreciate what’s coming in Book 3, you’re going to want to get your hands on the first two, if you haven’t already. As always, it’s my pleasure to make that as easy as possible.  Just click the Purchase Books link at the top of the page.

Note: This post was originally sent in a slightly different form, to my mailing list, several weeks ago. If you would like to receive information a little sooner than the general public you can join the list, risk-free, by clicking here.