|
|
|
|
|
One PowerIn The Wheel of Time fantasy series by Robert Jordan, the One Power is the force that maintains the continuous motion of the Wheel of Time. It comes from the True Source, and it is separated into two halves: saidin, the male half, and saidar, the female half. It is used in the series like magic by channelers. It can be seen as a source of magical power, and prolongs the lives of its users many times. It is also called the True Source, among other things. Each half of the One Power can be used only by people of the associated sex. Not everyone has the ability to "channel", or access, the Power. Most have only the talent, but a few channelers are also born with 'the spark'--an innate inclination that will lead them, eventually and inevitably, to touch the Source. (Those who do not have the spark can go their entire lives without touching the Power or even realizing they can.) When using the One Power one weaves flows of different elements. The five known elements are Earth, Spirit, Water, Air, and Fire. Men are generally stronger with Fire and Earth, while women are generally stronger with Air and Water. Men and women have equal strength in Spirit. Male channelers are stronger than female ones, but they cannot "link" form a "Circle" of multiple channelers working together; only woman can initiate a Circle. Women can tell when another woman is holding the Source, as a white glow springs up around her, but they cannot tell when a man is channeling. Men feel women holding the Source as a tingling on their skin; they can also sense when another man is holding the Power (though they cannot see it). Male and female channelers also have different "experiences" when using the Power: a woman would describe it as a gentle force requiring patience, guidance, and relaxation, while a man would name it a rough torrent requiring strict control. This essential difference in the "feeling" of the Power means that a woman cannot teach a man to channel, and vice-versa. The current Aes Sedai are the largest organized group of women who wield the One Power. Their headquarters, the White Tower, is on the island city of Tar Valon. Other groups of organized channelers have sprung up, but they have either kept themselves totally secret or been neutralized by the Tower. Aes Sedai refer to any female channeler who is not affiliated with the Tower as a "wilder." In the current age, the Dark One's taint on saidin causes male channelers to inevitably go mad and succumb to a wasting sickness which causes the surfferer to rot alive. The taint came into being at the end of the Age of Legends, when Lews Therin Telamon (the Dragon) re-sealed the Dark One into his prison. The ensuing chaos and destruction caused by the affected men was called The Breaking of the World also known as the Time of Madness. Some Aes Sedai, the Red Ajah, dedicate their lives to hunting down and neutralizing male channelers before they can become troublesome. All men and women who learn to channel on their own come to a point of crisis in which they are in severe danger of dying without training and discipline since the lure of the One Power is consider like ecstasy. Many women who die of mysterious circumstances in their late teenaged years are actually wilders who have failed to cope with their abilities. The women who survive invariably develop mental blocks that help control their channeling at the cost of only being able to channel if the conditions of that block are fulfilled; ie. only being able to channel at the thought of men. Serious and sometimes drastic counselling is often required to overcome this block.
|
 |
|
| Copyright 2005-2009 OnPedia.com. All Rights Reserved |
|
|