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| There are, obviously, no photographs of companions, so here's a white horse. |
But it’s not just these very conventionally
spiritually inspired and/or inspiring works that can give us that
sort of spiritual fillip. Sometimes it’s fiction. For me,
especially, I find some works of fantasy and science fiction
particularly likely to stimulate my thought on spiritual matters –
seeing parallels, intended by the author or not, with matters in our
own world. This is one of the great strengths of some of the best
science fiction and fantasy, showing us things about our own world in
a fresh form to help us see them. Whether any of this is divinely
inspired, I can’t see, but reflecting on it, or even just reading
it, I feel the Light working in me.
There are many examples I could give, and I surely
will (unless it turns out you all hate posts like this one), but
today I’m just going to look at one – Mercedes Lackey’s
Valdemar stories. This is a long-running series, made up of
several linked sub-series set sometimes hundreds of years apart, and
began with the first published novel by Mercedes Lackey, Arrows of
the Queen (she is also known to friends and fans as Misty, but I
cannot bring myself to be so informal). It is in some ways a
reasonably conventional quasi-medieval/renaissance fantasy, with
society and technology based on the norms of feudal Europe, or at
least a popular conception thereof. It isn’t entirely ‘standard’
sword and sorcery work. For starters, for most of the periods covered
by the books there is no ‘sorcery’ in Valdemar (one country among
many in the world), for important plot-relevant reasons. There is
also a distinct lack of conventional fantasy ‘races’ in the world
– elves, dwarves etc – and while some books do include
intelligent non-humans, they are rather more original than the usual
fare. This is not a book review, however – this is a look at how I
reflect on the works, and how you might as well, from a Quaker
perspective. So let us get to the points that are relevant to that
aim, and avoid significant spoilers wherever possible – we’ll
stick to background, not story, or where it is story that is
important it will be abstracted somewhat.
Valdemar is a fairly unique nation in the world of
Velgarth (a name used by the author and others when referring to the
world, but it rarely if ever shows up in the stories themselves).
There are a lot of unique nations, but they are – as one might
expect from the use of the word unique – unique in different
ways. One of their neighbours, usually an adversary of some sort, is
the theocratic nation of Karse, where deviation from the tenets of
the monotheistic state religion can have serious consequences – and
breaking religious rules can lead to unpleasant death. Another
neighbour, Iftel, has little known about it because no-one can go
there unless they are explicitly allowed in, thanks to a magical
barrier established with the help of their own deity/ies. Hardorn and
Rethwellan are much more conventional, with a king and nobles,
cities, councils, and so on and so forth. They have freedom of
religion, though the state may regulate such matters somewhat, and
they have had good rulers – wise, kind and so on – and bad rulers
– cruel, selfish, or foolish (or in one memorable case in the
books, all three at once).
Valdemar, however, was set up by a refugee
population. One feudal lord of a country far to the east, a good and
wise man, feared for his own safety (and conscience) and that of his
subjects due to a cruel ruler. Not seeing any way to resolve this
back home, he took his people, upped sticks, and wondered off west to
find somewhere to settle. They passed through various peopled lands,
though at that time the world had large unpopulated or underpopulated
areas (explanations of why would be major spoilers), eventually
finding an area that had no significant population, no overarching
government, and no opposition to his setting up a new realm. He
founded the city of Haven, used magic to raise a great palace, and
set about ruling wisely and kindly. Any population nearby who wanted
his protection and support in exchange for being subject to his
government were welcome to do so, and any minor independent lord who
felt that it was in his best interests to pledge fealty and
incorporate his domain into Valdemar could do so, but nothing and
nowhere was annexed by force. Other refugee populations came into the
area, and were welcomed. The essential credo of the Valdemaran state
was quickly established – there is no one true way.
You can see why this seems relevant to Quakers
now, right?
With all of these different populations coming in
with different ways of life, different traditions, different faiths,
the rulers of Valdemar, including the founder (whose name was
Valdemar – nice chap, but apparently decided to name his kingdom
after himself), wanted to make sure that all were welcome. People
could have whatever way of life they wanted, follow whatever gods
they wished to, provided that they did not infringe on the liberty of
others to do the same nor on their fundamental rights (which, by the
main time period of the books, includes the right not to be forced to
marry, the right of children to a basic education, some restrictions
on parental rights, etc). When a religion that speaks clearly and
unpleasantly against the equality of the sexes sets up in Haven, it
is even tolerated until it becomes clear that they are not going to
be content to simply spread the word of their god to what willing
audience they could find. It isn’t even required that all faiths
have a respect for the validity of other faiths. They would be
perfectly welcome to believe that every other faith is idolatrous
devil-worshipping or simple misguided foolishness, provided they
don’t try and actually enforce that view on others or harass them
about it.
There is no one true way. It’s not
actually bad as a summary of liberal Quakerism. We might be more
willing than the Valdemarans to describe a way as wrong, as there are
some things that liberal Quakers will generally agree as being beyond
the pale. However, we are now fairly clear in not describing one way,
one spiritual way of being and doing or one way of thinking of the
Divine, as the one true way. Early Friends were not as bashful, and
of course modern evangelical and some pastoral Quakers are very firm
as well, but for most of the liberal wing of the Religious Society of
Friends, we’re very open. Not just open about different ways to be
Quakers – in fact, that is less reliably open in many parts of the
Quaker world – but about different ways to be, spiritually. We say
that we have found a way that works for us, but that doesn’t have
to say that Islam is wrong, be it Sunni, Shia, or Sufi, or even
Ahmadiyya. We don’t suggest that Catholics are mistaken on their
path, nor Anglicans or Baptists. The martial tone of some tenets of
Sikhism might trouble us slightly, but we would not tell Sikhs that
they have made critical errors. We do not argue with other faiths,
nor do we look at them with pity as misguided but well-meant fools.
So, there’s the basic parallel, the similarity
between our outlooks. What else might we ‘learn’ from this
fictional example?
King Valdemar worried, as he aged. He knew that
his son and heir was a good man, wise and good-hearted, but who could
tell what the future would hold? So he went into the woods near his
palace and prayed to every god that he could name, and any others who
might be listening; as a mage, he may well have used some magic as
well. He wanted some way to ensure that his realm would be
well-governed in the future, beyond the lives of any then living. His
answer came in the form of, well, magic horses. Known as companions,
three of these beings – fully as intelligent as a human, and with
magical abilities including ‘mindspeech’ (telepathy) – appeared
from thin air in the grove, sent by the gods. They had the ability to
bond with a person, Choosing them, and they would only do so
with someone who was altruistic, good at heart with clear moral sense
and a devotion to the good of others. Not only this, but they would
be able to guide their Chosen, helping them to maintain that
goodness. The first three companions Chose the king, his heir, and
his herald. Valdemar knew that there would be other companions –
certainly they could reproduce like any other living thing – and
that more would be Chosen. He declared, and put into the most
fundamental law of his realm, that no-one who had not been Chosen
could be king or queen of Valdemar. Not only that, but he knew from
the fact that his herald was Chosen that this wasn’t simply a sign
of the right heirs. Not only would the companions ensure that the
ruler was always a good person and had guidance to help them keep to
that path, but they and their Chosen could help the realm be governed
rightly. There could be only one monarch and one heir, but there
could be many heralds, and so the Heralds of Valdemar were formed.
The Heralds grew into an important, arguably the
most important organ of state in Valdemar. They rode in circuits
around the kingdom, ensuring that new laws were communicated to every
part of the realm. As they did so, they would act as judges, hearing
cases that local judges or elders were unable to decide or that were
still disputed, and making sure that local judges and elders had been
hearing and deciding cases fairly. Their judicial work – and some
of their other work – is much aided by the fact that they can set
the ‘truth spell’ on people, allowing them to not only know when
people are lying, but make their honesty or otherwise visible to
witnesses – or sometimes even compel full and frank disclosure.
They provide honest counsel to the monarch, without self-interest,
because their life is dedicated to crown and country, and their
ethics mean that what powers they have are not abused. They even have
a regard for the general well-being of all people, not just those in
Valdemar, because that’s just the sort of person they are; no other
sort is Chosen.
The Heralds therefore act as an ongoing check on
Valdemar, to ensure that it does maintain its principles, that laws
are upheld, and the principles of the law upheld even more than the
letter. When a Herald dispenses justice, they do not merely think of
the law as written, nor any sort of underpinning basic or
constitutional law, nor elaborate legal principles of equity. They
are concerned with the aims of the laws, and the overall aim
of the laws of Valdemar – to improve things for everyone, to ensure
liberty for all, and to protect those who need protecting. The
various Heraldic ‘gifts’, magical or psychic talents, make them
even more invaluable in espionage, diplomacy, and even in warfare
(for even a non-aggressive culture like Valdemar needs armed forces
in case of aggression, and the Guard also act as a police force and
maintain roads and bridges).
The Valdemaran system has its weaknesses, of
course. It is founded on altruism, and while it does not require that
everyone operating within the system is altruistic, it fosters an
assumption that anyone who seems to be loyal and altruistic is so.
Heralds might be beyond reproach (they can be repudiated by their
companion if they ever do stop being a person who tends to act in the
best interests of others), but anyone can cultivate a positive
reputation that they don’t really deserve. Several instances of the
stories involve people who exploit others, and they may find it easy
to conceal the nature of that exploitation; some involve individuals
of high status who feel it would be better for them if Valdemar were
run like other countries, and so they try to bring down the Heralds,
remove the companions from their role at the centre of the kingdom.
This can even mean conspiring with enemies of the state – perhaps
enemies that the rest of the Valdemaran establishment hasn’t even
realised are enemies yet.
Very interesting world building, you may be
thinking (and if not, read the books, you’ll appreciate it better
there than in my summaries), but what has this to do with Quakers?
Well, just think…
We have our liberal principles, but we need a
constant check on how we implement them. We don’t have Heralds, and
we don’t have magic horses (though I expect there are plenty of
Friends who wish we did), but we do have our own ongoing checks.
Individual, and more importantly group discernment are how we can
check that we are going in the right direction. We do not sit in
judgement on one another (or at least, we do so very rarely), but we
do try to open ourselves to the Divine in order to know that we are
acting correctly. Hopefully, when we approach a situation we will
look at it in terms of principles and the overall objective, rather
than simply following rules or traditions that are handed down to us
from the past. And we are certainly vulnerable to those who would
have us believe they are committed to Quaker principles, but are
actually out for their own interests.
How we solve these issues isn’t something we can
learn from a fictional kingdom ruled by people with magic horses.
Even if our situations were more comparable, even if there weren’t
fantastical elements, fiction is not evidence of what works and what
doesn’t (and on that note, if people would stop referring to Lord
of the Flies as if it were actually a demonstration of what would
happen in the situation it depicts, that would be great). But it does
throw the problems themselves into relief somewhat, and prompts us to
think about them. How can we best ensure that we are more loyal to
the principles of our faith tradition than to the forms and
traditions that have been used in the past? How can we be sure that
we are checking as much as possible that we have correctly discerned
the guidance of the Light? How can we protect ourselves from
exploitation without becoming more exclusive and less welcoming?
Fiction can sometimes inspire answers, but much
more often it can inspire questions that are more important than most
answers.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
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Did you enjoy this post, or find it interesting, informative or stimulating? Do you want to keep seeing more of these posts? Please consider contributing to my Patreon. More information is available in the post announcing my use of Patreon.
