In those days Pt. 5.

[Kai]

Names are powerful things. Those who know the names wield the power.

In the beginning the Shaman knew the names, and he kept them close, he said the names of the clouds and the stars and the plants and he had great powers of healing and foretelling the weather. The people bowed to the Shaman's expertise as he passed that knowledge of names down, that secret magic through thousands of years. And the Astrologers and Astronomers and Mathemeticians further built that power till it exceeded all previous expectation.

Today we have great mages, with knowledge passed down from Gallileo, Newton, and Linnaeus the greatest name-mage, he who was godlike Adam. This lineage is still passed on through holy scripture of the Journals of Nature, and Science, among others. The power is so strong now that it is kept in large cathedrals of stone, where the scribes and monks walk around sharing names and archiving them, those Libraries and Museums of Natural History. And there seems to be no end to this, the magic well from which we draw and reap and sow has no bottom.

[Jenne]

Lovely.  And it's true...the information age has yet to end.  I think the lessons learned from this time in history will be predictable yet long in realization, unfortunately.  There's so much to process at one time, whereas when the Shamans held all the info, they could dole it out piecemeal so it could be properly digested.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

I really like this series, Kai.

[Kai]

Lovely.  And it's true...the information age has yet to end.  I think the lessons learned from this time in history will be predictable yet long in realization, unfortunately.  There's so much to process at one time, whereas when the Shamans held all the info, they could dole it out piecemeal so it could be properly digested.

Yes. And figuring out which names are the most powerful for your needs, that is difficult.