Who Doesn't Like Bitter Mages?

Fantasy novels are supposed to be magical...right? Sorry folks: there will be no floppy-haired magic-wielders named Gandalf or Raistlin or Zedd. "Magic," in my story, is not distinguished from everyday life---neither is 'the sacred.' It is a Western notion to sift the world into observable categories from which one may ascertain Truth. At least, that is what western philosophy is rooted in: 'love of wisdom,' the Platonic search for ultimate truth via questions intended to break down the walls of ignorance. In the west, we believe it is possible to find the truth if you cut up an atom into small enough pieces, or measure the the movements of the stars to the 10th degree of accuracy. We make claims, and then attempt to verify them on good, solid facts. Claims must be validated until another claim comes along that seems to be more valid, more accurate. We change paradigms in the West as easily as slipping off a pair of slippers. Why? Because science will improve the quality of our lives as long as we observe and verify and find some practical (i.e., technological) use of the current scientific paradigm. Here in America, 'the march of progress,' is adhered to with a religious zeal...

...But imagine what would happen if there was some disaster that robbed us of the technology that drives our society. There are lots of possible culprits of our fall: disease, famine, war, global warming, revolution. Take your pick. Whatever brings us to the brink, it will---in all likelihood---happen someday because every civilization falls. It is as inevitable as gravity. Such musings make me wonder: Would we remain? If our technology went kaputsky, would "America" survive? We would have to adapt, obviously, or perish. It is possible to live on this continent without Western technology; native people were doing that before our ancestors carved a 'New Jerusalem' from a soil that was not theirs to christen. I often find myself wondering what will last after our civilization has long passed. I think it will the things that have already stood the test of time...

What does this have to do with magic? We, citizens of the states, already know magic. The placebo effect is a documented (scientific) phenomena where one's belief can alter a person's physiology. We can change physical realities with our minds alone---we just have to be really, really convinced. That is what I think of when I think of magic: the power of convincing words and personalities to change mere possibilities into realities. Words are powerful, whether you're dealing with realm of the sacred or the mundane or the profane. Words can bring us from one of these states into another, or even blur the distinctions between these realities.

While fantasy concerns itself with magic and sci-fi concerns itself with technology, I have them both in the book. There is technology that the shaman uses to heal a sick person, just as there is a ritual (with a story behind it). The healing occurs on a physical and 'spiritual' level, and these parts cannot be separated. Obviously, there is mystery---those things that transcend any language, and religion, any experience. My story is supposed to feel like a myth as much as it is meant to relate to human experience. I leave as much as I can up to the reader to interpret.

If you want to call it magic, then go ahead...geek.