Posted by madwand on October 15, 2003, at 8:58:41
In reply to What Does Your Screen Name Mean?, posted by femlite on October 14, 2003, at 16:58:06
Great thread! The name Madwand comes from Roger Zelazny's Changling saga. In that universe, potential wizards were normally detected earlier and apprenticed so they could be guided into their powers. This process involved what they called "the setting of the lights" in which their magical awareness becomes aligned with agreed-upon magical paradigms.
Occasionally there were those whom were overlooked, and came into their powers without the traditional guidance. They were referred to as "madwands". Often their "lights" would become set in bizarre and unusual patterns. Generally these
wizards did not survive, either going completely mad or managing to blow themselves up. If they did survive they often approached magic from a radically different direction and had the potential to become quite powerful.
The jury is still out, but I haven't blown myself up quite yet.
poster:madwand
thread:269388
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/social/20031011/msgs/269615.html