Sunday 23 February 2003

Pic of the day: Beautiful young female ninja explains chakra for dummies. It doesn't get better than this, does it, on a Sunday? (Picture from the anime Naruto.) Sadly her explanation is slightly off. I should know.

Don't mess with the snake

Today I got up at the time I usually go to work. But I did not go to work, of course. Instead I played Dark Age of Camelot. Later I took a walk, watched anime, and wrote on my latest little novel attempt. I have to restrain myself and not get too detailed on the magic system. This is a weakness of mine when I write fantasy, to try to teach the readers how to actually work the magic. Not that it would work even if you tried, of course. I think.

The core idea of this fiction, a person who can only do magic when no one watches, is something that has been floating around in my head for many years. I am not sure how many. Probably ten or more. Somehow I have never developed it. But judging from my experience with other topics, it is a good chance that someone else has. Sadly there is no way to search the world's fantasy books for concepts, as far as I know. And life is too short to read through them all. (Not to mention that some of them are really bad, even by my standards.)

The magic system has the layered structure of GURPS magic, but the basic concept is lifted from the magic in Naruto, the anime I've been watching lately. It is a bit off though so I have made it more realistic by bringing it closer to Kundalini, a creepy neurological / spiritual exercise performed by some cults in India.

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I was still fairly young when I first happened to read about the Kundalini factor in a book I had borrowed, and I was totally creeped out because it seemed so natural to me that I had to fight to not actually have these things happen to me while reading. I can still feel it every time I think of it, which is why I don't think of it much. But it sure seems like a power source strong enough for some pretty impressive magic, for those so inclined. (Not that I'm saying it would actually work, but it would certainly feel like something dramatic was happening.)

I recommend most people stay far away from Kundalini exercises or even detailed literature, if they value their sanity. And if you have a weak heart, you could actually risk your life. Be warned. Don't mess with the snake. I mean it. If you for some obscure reason get involved in this, exercise extreme caution. It's on the power level of some strictly forbidden drugs or above, for some people. There seems to be no certain way to predict who is vulnerable to spontaneous Kundalini release, or the strength of it in any given individual.

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Uhm, yes, and I washed clothes too. That should pretty much sum it up. ^_^