02/10/12 – Mystic Pizza

My favorite character in Coincidence has got to be Wayne Elliot, the terminal cancer patient with a very large trick up his sleeve. He’s one of the few written with his mysticism on display. Andreas McCombie is his equal and opposite in many regards, but Andreas doesn’t know the application of his knowledge, just the theory.

Wayne was the one voice that could’ve convinced me to write in the third person omniscient perspective, if only to hear his thoughts. As he mentions to Margie, he sees there’s a great battle going on between free spirits and those who would keep the energy of the world for themselves. I think Chris has an eye for this too, which might explain how they gravitate toward each other.

What eventually stopped me from the omniscience was fear (or practicality, depending on your perspective). I didn’t think I could go any deeper without producing a heavy-handed neo-mystic story, something akin to Daniel Quinn. That kind of story isn’t really appropriate unless there’s an agenda—a philosophy you want your readers to follow or be inspired by.

While Andreas can rant on about the Bardos states and the rituals of Autumn’s Eve, it’s Wayne that goes “Wanna see something cool? Here, hold my beer.” To put it in an incredibly generic simile, he’s the Criss Angel of neopaganism.  But in my personal backstory for the characters, I know how they view their spiritualities.  Many are very close to Wayne and Andreas, just not publicly so. 

Perhaps it’s due to the medium’s limitations, but I just don’t see spiritualities in written fiction that often unless it’s something targeting the Christian/neo-pagan markets.  I mention the limitations because a) many times, those moments of zen, grace, or enlightenment are difficult to capture into words and b) therefore it’s easier to show the dawning on someone’s face than it is to write “…and then I was filled with an overwhelming connection between all things, as if the threads that tie us weren’t invisible, but overlooked until that very moment.”

Add to this the fact that many people are ignorant to their own spells and rituals, and you get a challenge for those interested in writing with a touch (or more) of the ethereal.  Has anyone done it?  Have you ever read a piece of fiction (Christian, Wiccan, atheist, or Pastafarian) where the spirituality fit instead of being a stereotype or tacked on (like sexuality normally is in pop fic)?

“All of the ink that was bled from your hands has painted a picture that she understands” – Poe’s “Amazed”