Discussion: Ask a Witch: Morgaine

"How often do the witches answer people's questions?"

"HI, BloodyMistress-

I would compare MaryAnne's influence on Eggs and the others to Glamour or possession in context of the show. She does repeat an incantation when she is drawing energy, but that's not the same as raising energy for a specific purpose and sending it out into the ether. The black eyes you see in her followers are her spirit inhabiting them - she's possessing them from within, controlling them. She's using Eggs' body to do the killings, but it's MaryAnn doing them - he's just an instrument or a tool. Her control is obviously not complete if he remembers anything at all, so he's having a kind of Deja Vu.

As to magickal theory, yes, it is possible to control another person with a spell, but not without consequences. Everything a practitioner sends out returns to her times 3, and there's no way around that. It is not only extremely unethical to cast manipulative spells, it's dangerous. A person who understands magick won't mess with such things. We're very careful not to send out negative or manipulative energies so we're actually safer to be around than a normal person with untrained energy.

Very few people would have the ability to make a person do something out of character for them, but it is possible. It would take a great deal of power to prevent them from remembering it - it's theoretically possible, but unlikely to be within anyone's capabilities.

The key to all of this, though, is free will. A person with a strong will is nearly impossible to influence. The problem is that so many people have an expectation that they can be controlled. People in our culture are predisposed to admire or fear gurus, prophets, masters of some kind. When you give your power away like that, you become vulnerable. People can only interfere with your connection to the Universe if you let them.
"

"Do you think Eric likes big women?

I mean, after all, Norse women weren't the skinny things one sees hanging around Fangtasia, so do you think he's retained his appreciation of them?

Also, i've had a LOT of brick walls come up in my life recently- just when ones get blown to pieces, another comes up, so much so that it seems not like "normal" hurdles in one's life, but something else.

Thoughts? "

"Yes, actually, a big one - the fact that vampires are not supposed to be visible in mirrors. That isn't true of modern mirrors, because they are no longer backed with silver. In the show, Bill says they created that myth as a way to cover themselves, and that's in direct conflict to standard lore. A silver-backed mirror is rare these days, and they are the ones that won't reflect a vampire. The idea that they can't be photographed also has to do with silver nitrate film. Digital photography would work just fine.

Bill talks about magick a little too much for my taste. I think maybe his character doesn't know the answer to a lot of Sookie's questions, so he uses the word magick as if there is no basis in nature for what they are. There is no such thing as unnatural or supernatural. Everything is a part of nature. Even magick - real magick - follows the physical laws of quantum mechanics. Just because it doesn't fit linear logic or Newtonian physics that doesn't mean there isn't logic to it. It just takes a broader understanding of how Nature works.

I'm a bit worried about the direction they might take where Witches are concerned. I didn't like the Gaia talk coming from Amy when she was so unable to empathize with the vampires. If you are aware that the planet is alive and conscious, you should be able to empathize with a sentient humanoid creature who feels pain and has his own will. Gaia consciousness is one of the most important concepts in our culture right now - our survival might depend on people understanding that our Mother Earth is a living, conscious, interactive being. I don't like seeing that reduced to a cliche about hippies. "