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| With Silent Wings He Was Gone by Ruby Blossom Licensed under Creative Commons |
1. Fairies cannot turn into physical matter. They have a relationship to it, but they cannot become it. Fairies are pure spiritual entities (I don't know if I like the term "spiritual entities," but it seems to be a good enough way to explain it for now).
2. They cannot directly interfere with physical matter either. They may be able to influence thoughts and feelings, but they cannot move physical matter, direct it, or force it to do anything.
3. Fairies would not exist without physical matter. If it disappears somehow, so would they.
4. Fairies are limited by us. The amount they can influence our thoughts and feeling is related to how much we allow them to. They may have miniscule amount of influence regardless, but allowing and encouraging their influence would greatly increase how much they can give.
Thats all I can think of for now. Can you think of any? If I think of any more I may (or may not) write another blog post about it.
My experience is that laws and limits are great things to put into fantasy novels, because it helps the reader understand what will and won't happen - for instance, we know that Harry Potter's parents will never come back, because magic cannot bring back the dead in that series. If you're writing a book about fairies, it helps to establish limits on their power just so your reader won't think "But why don't they just use their magic to whisk away any problems they face?" and thus destroy the dramatic tension in the story.
ReplyDeleteHowever it's kind of tricky when it comes to assigning limits to what you really believe about the world. These ideas have to be hard-won through years of observation, study, and reflection, not just made up to account for a blank spot in one's personal belief system. (This isn't an accusation, just an example of something many UUs, and others, do.) And they can't be based just on what makes sense, either, because something that makes sense won't always match what's observed.
For instance, some people throughout history have thought that it made sense that God would reward good people and punish bad people, not just after death but in life. They'd then conclude that if someone has good luck and success in life, it must be because they earned it by pleasing God. This makes sense to someone who believes in a just universe, but when you observe many good and faithful people who are poor and unsuccessful, compared to many evil, greedy, faithless people who are blessed with riches and comfort, then it becomes obvious that the world doesn't work that way.
So I'll refrain from making any statements limiting the structure and function of the world until there's evidence of it. Instead I prefer to make statements about what I believe is possible, and what I believe might be true, rather than what can't be.
PS: I just commented to your earlier entry on the afterlife. It took me a while because I needed to gather my thoughts. Just making sure you know it's there.
ReplyDelete