Do you freak out at the thought of aliens (intelligent nonhuman life) visiting earth? Maybe you think they do not exist.
Many lifetimes and ages ago, I got my answer to the question of nonhuman intelligent life. A rip- roaring, yes, they are real. And they have visited earth over a vast span of time.
One alien has an important role in my high fantasy series, Stoneslayer. The series is based on four of my past lives and the past lives of family and friends. I encountered this alien, Maguari the Mist-Weaver, during those past lives.
Alien wisdom master Maguari. Art by Christine Miller.
In having an alien key character, Stoneslayer is part of a long tradition of speculative fiction based on the premise of aliens. Most alien-inclusive books, films, or TV shows, however, offer one or two versions of the nonhuman others.
First version: The good alien, like the Vulcans of Star Trek or the Newcomers of Alien Nation. Second version: The very bad no good evil devouring alien, as in Alien(s), Independence Day, or War of the Worlds.
(Kind of like how women are depicted in so much of the fiction written by men. Virgins or whores. But I digress…)
Where Stoneslayer diverges from most alien-premised fiction is its portrayal of the alien as a spiritual master. The novella Enemy Mine (and the film based on it) also depicts an alien as a spiritual teacher for a human being, as does Star Wars with the Jedi master character Yoda.
In the lost island nation of Azgard, where Stoneslayer takes place, the Mist-Weavers are part of the folklore. The name Mist-Weaver arose from their disconcerting ability to appear and dissolve at will in what looks like a mist or miasma.
Maguari says the Mist- Weavers are interdimensional beings. He takes physical form to converse easier with the human characters. He displays a profound sense of the divine and his connection to it and to all life, and tries to encourage that spiritual connection in his human counterparts.
He also does his best to guide and tutor multiple generations of heroines and their families and friends. The human beings often either do not entirely understand Maguari’s perspective or they flat out ignore it.
Much to their detriment. Because it comes from a place of profound spiritual wisdom. On occasion, Maguari does manage to move his human students to examine the limitations of their self-awareness.
Although Maguari is more spiritually advanced than the human beings, he does not try to dictate their behavior or beliefs, solve their problems, or protect them from the consequences of their actions. This alien wisdom master is no Superman, fighting bad guys and righting wrongs.
His support is much more subtle but no less helpful to those who pay attention. He provides insights and warnings about the dark forces the Stoneslayer is amassing that may well destroy Azgard — and much of the rest of the world.
He might seem indifferent to some, but just the opposite is true. Maguari heals first generation heroine Helen Andros of a broken finger and further injuries and often comforts other characters in their most desperate hours.
He intervenes only rarely out of his abiding respect for and deep understand of free will. Well-intentioned human beings often disregard others’ free will and rush in, foolishly, where wiser angels fear to tread.
Perhaps that is what makes this alien truly strange.
The Mist-Weaver does not suffer from that all-too-human inclination to run other people’s lives. He instead offers them alternatives and then respects them to make their own choices — and experience the consequences.
Candace Lynn Talmadge is an author, storyhealer, and paranormalist. Get a free excerpt from Stoneslayer Book One Scandal when you sign up for her free author newsletter on her Substack channel, Wider Realities.
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