The Power, and the power OF the Power

[trakand_01]

Being English, proud of my language and interested in it's usage, I was thinking about the use of words in many contexts, but particularly in WoT.

 

I got to think about the use of the word 'Channelling'. To me, to 'channel' something, means that you offer a conduit to a source which already exists. Even if you do not 'channel' it, it will still exist, un-tapped. Very similar, in my mind, to the use of pipelines to syphon off oil - the oil already exists, we use pipelines (and rigs) to 'channel' it out of the core. It is known that oil exists under Antarctica but because of the high costs invovled, it is not (financially) worth the effort of tapping into it. However, the oil still exists.

 

So, the source / power is the oil. Channelers are the pipelines.

 

What happens if no channelers exist? There seems to be an infinite amount of the Power. Certainly when Rand and Nynaeve cleansed Saidin, they didnt show any sense of 'running out', and this was at the same time as an unknown number of channelers (both male and female) were also channelling, at different levels - not least of all Narishma / his AS through Callandor, and the Forsaken who hunted them.

 

So, this suggests that the Power re-generates, or at the very least constantly replaces that portion of itself which is spent, to remain at a constant level.

 

So...

 

What would happen if no-one channelled any more? Would the power 'well' grow too large, and destroy the world, or would it simply have no need to regenerate, and remain at it's present size, just WAITING for someone to tap into it?

[42Bonzo88]

    Just a thought, I think the power comes from the world and everything around it. Look at the 5 powers (Air, Earth, Water, Spirit, and Fire. If I don't have this right correct me please) and the world is made up of all. 4 are obvious and Spirit (in my opinion) is in anything alive (birds, animals, trees, etc.).

 

    So, if there were no channelers, I don't think it would make any difference because the living things would still use it only for natural things instead of magical.

 

[trakand_01]

I think that Spirit comes from within, and is why some channelers are better with it than others - for example, doesnt Healing involve a lot of Spirit? Nynaeve is certainly to be described as 'spirited'. If you pay close attention to her, she's also incredibly emotional and avery strong woman, once she overcomes her issues.

[Shendare]

Like many, I have spent some time puzzling the symbology of the Wheel of Time out. I haven't finished perfecting my understanding by any means, but this is the gist of where I am so far.

 

We know that the two halves of the One Power flow from the True Source, which turns the Wheel of Time, which spins out the Pattern, of which the characters are all threads.

 

This is where my thoughts and imaginations begin. Think about the words used to describe the things. The Power "flows" from the Source, which "turns" the "Wheel" of Time, which "spins" the Pattern made up of the "threads" of the characters. The use of these specific words is the key to my understanding.

 

I see the True Source as a constantly flowing river, the beginning and end of which are entirely unknown and open to conjecture and figuring out.

 

I see the Wheel of Time as a seven-spoked waterwheel [ Image ], spun by the constant flow of the True Source.

 

In our world, waterwheels generally power mills, which grind corn, wheat, and so forth into usable meal and powder. However, they have also been used in the past for powering wool mills, in which the waterwheel powers looms that are used to weave rugs, carpets, and so forth. [ Link ]

 

You can see where I'm going with this, I think. Based on the terminology used in the books, the Wheel of Time, instead of grinding meal and instead of powering a loom, being turned by the True Source acts as a loom itself, spinning out the Pattern of "reality" using the souls of its inhabitants as the threads.

 

Now, where the soul threads come from is another unaddressed mystery, but I can see them in my mind's eye being spun through the Wheel's center as it spins, and being laid out into a fine tapestry, each thread, glowing a different color, lightly tugging and being tugged by the threads around it.

 

Obviously, it's an unfinished and unpolished bit of hypothesis and imagination, but that's where I am on the subject so far.

 

Channelers, then, to get back to the original subject, are a special kind of thread being spun into the Pattern that are able to harness the One Power in order to redirect the constant flow of the True Source, slightly altering the movement of the Wheel and thus slightly altering the weaving of the threads of the Pattern, altering the "fabric of reality" (you like that?).

[nashdude]

Shendare, I like the analogy of the water wheel. It kinda goes along with what I've been thinking for a while.

 

Just speculating here, but I don't think that the Wheel of Time has always been a wheel. Rather, I believe time began as linear---having a beginning and ending---and at some point in history, the Wheel was CREATED. Whether the creation of the Wheel was spiritual (i.e. the Creator or the Dark One) or technological (mankind discovers the OP and taps into it) hardly makes a difference. Point being, time was originally linear, but now it's cyclical.

 

As to the question of the OP running out, or overflowing, I agree with what has been said in other areas of the board. RJ's universe is governed by the same laws of conservation that ours is---matter and energy can neither be created nor destroyed, only altered. In some form or fashion, the OP always HAS existed, and it always WILL exist. It appears to be a natural process, and in perfect balance with the rest of the universe.

[Lord Nik]

look to moraines explantion in book one she'll answer better then me :P

--

but the power goes something like this....

i dont know how much of it there is except that there is alot of it... and u cant run out. Think of it like this.. you have an ocean of water, you dip in a cup and take a glass. (channelers) and u dont use the water, (the power) you pour it right back into the ocean when you "use" it. So the power doesnt dissapear just goes right back to the "ocean"

that help?