WHY WE
SHOULD NOT CALL OUR WIZARD A WARLOCK
A guest post by Lee and
Gary Jordan of the author team PHOENIX
When writing our
paranormal thriller, Leon's Lair, I did some research on
witches because we have a main good guy, Wolfgang Ulrich, who is a what? ... A Wizard?
Sorcerer? Magician? Mage? Warlock. Witch?
It seems all of these
appellations are fine if your witch has good intentions ... with the exception
of the term warlock.
Most people think a
warlock is simply the male equivalent of a witch. I was assured in some of my
research that witch applied to both male or female. However, it bothered me to
call Wolf a witch. It seemed female to me, so I started out calling him a
warlock and found that was a big mistake.
The way I found out was when
I was posting fun stuff on our Facebook Author Page having to do with facts
about vampires, witches and warlocks. I was severely reprimanded by one
visitor. It seems calling our male witch a warlock was a big no-no. People in
the Wiccan religion object to that term.
So I started looking into
it. What I found was there are many people who claim to be witches. I mean,
there is even a school on the Internet – Witch School International – for the
education and training needed to become an accomplished mage.
I also found that people,
who really know their stuff tell you that warlocks, as a Christian legend, were
dark or villainous, consorts of the devil and flew on pitchforks rather than on
brooms. Some say that in Old English a warlock meant an oath breaker, which was
a major offense when someone lived in a time where a man's word might be all
you had to judge him. Warlocks in this sense were liars who could not be
trusted, and they were often exiled or reviled by those who knew of their
deeds.
In modern Wiccan groups,
the word warlock is often used to refer to someone who has broken vows, or who
is a practitioner of dark magic. It's a very insulting and derogatory term in
these circles and shouldn't be used lightly.
Even in modern fiction the idea of a warlock remains dark
and mystical. In games like World of Warcraft and Dungeons and Dragons, the
warlock tends to be dark if not outright evil and diabolical, with power gained
from infernal sources, of or relating to hell.
The difference between a
warlock and a wizard varies, depending on who you talk to, and in both cases,
the terms refer to a practitioner of magic. Some people use the terms “wizard”
and “warlock” interchangeably, along with terms like sorcerer and mage, while
others use these terms in very specific ways. In the Wiccan community in
particular, the word “warlock” has a very specific and offensive meaning.
“Warlock” is an older
word than “wizard,” coming from the Old English waerloga, which means “oath
breaker,” while wizard comes from the Middle English word for “wise.” The
etymologies of the words illustrate the different ways in which people
sometimes view them.
Wizards are generally
viewed as good people with strong moral codes who also offer wise advice and
assistance, and many fantasy stories feature a kindly wizard who helps the
characters achieve their goals – like Gandalf in The Lord of the Rings.
And who does not love
Gandalf?
Now Leon in Leon's
Lair, on the other hand, is bad to the bone. He is not a warlock but a
vampire. If you would like to meet him, and our wizard, Wolfgang Ulrich, a
leader with the secret society called The Association for Paranormal Creatures,
and find out what he and his associates propose to do about Leon, pick up a
copy of Leon's Lair
.
What would you do
if your vacation cruise ship was being attacked and you were certain you would
to be killed?
Would you fight?
Would you hide? Would you try to escape?
This international
thriller/contemporary fantasy is a nail-biting ride that is grisly but somewhat
tongue-in-cheek, a brutal tale of horror and the occult that doesn't take
itself too seriously. It includes romance, continental adventure, action,
suspense, and dozens of vivid characters from around the world.
The adventure starts with
The Jakarta, an elegant cruise ship sailing the exotic seas in Indonesia with a
passenger list of ninety, unsuspecting people. Jane and her best friend, Remy,
are just getting know the rest of the small group of young twenty-something’s
when the ship is attacked by pirates. However, Leon and his band are not your
usual pirates - they want something else.
Jane and two male
companions escape the horror, fleeing in a lifeboat. In their flight to escape
Leon and his men, they become lost at sea for weeks, are out of water, and have
nearly lost hope of ever finding rescue when they finally catch sight of land,
a dangerous rain-forested island that seems deserted. However, their fight for
survival has only just begun.
They are not
alone.
Fate is cruel.
They thought they
had escaped, only to find they are caught in Leon's Lair.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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