This is the second half of my interview with Esmerelda, a local practitioner of weather witchcraft. You can read the first half here, along with the very lively discussion in the comments. I want to thank everyone who’s contributed their thoughts; there has been a lot of great conversation about the ethics of weather working, its plausibility, and whether it’s actually dangerous. Esmerelda addresses these issues more in depth in this half of the interview.
When did you first think you might have this talent? What finally convinced you that it was real?
I have always been convinced that the weather forecasters didn’t know what they were talking about–after all, in my experience, they are rarely right more than a third of the time. It turns out this is not a common assessment of their competence…
But I didn’t figure out what I could do until the summer of 2006. I was very skeptical; after all, it was just a coincidence that the parched Midwest got rained on right after I was deeply saddened to see the fields of dead corn as we drove there. After much soul-searching, I was open-minded enough to conduct some little tests. I spent that September trying things out, and they worked better than I could have possibly imagined.
Here’s one thing I did: School was going to start in a few days, and I found out that there was going to be an outdoor assembly. But, because of a budget shortfall, the school had not rented a tent. They could have held it inside, but it really would not have been the same, as there would not be enough room for the parents who needed to attend. And it was Pouring! And the forecast called for it to continue pouring for the rest of the week! Six straight days of rain. I tried to change it, but didn’t really know how. So, the night before, I sat and relaxed and pleaded and prayed to the powers that be to bring sunshine to the children for their beautiful assembly. By 7am, the rain had stopped. The clouds slowly but surely started to clear, so that it was sunny at 11am, just in time for the 11:30 assembly. All of the parents were quite surprised, because they were so sure that it was going to keep raining for the rest of the week. It was thrilling!
» Read the rest of this entry «
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This is the first of a two-part interview with Esmerelda. In this part, she discusses what weather magic is, how you know you might have a talent for it, and the limits of its influence. In the second part, she’ll go over her personal history with it, its ethical considerations (which are very important, as you can imagine), including its potential to influence global warming, and other tips on effective practice.
What is the purpose of a state? Up to about a hundred years ago, the states of the world were justified by nonsense like the “divine right of kings”, but nowadays people usually have other justifications in mind. Some would say its purpose is to protect its citizens from aggression; others say it should also protect its citizens’ liberty, and provide a system of justice; others say the state should help out the general welfare with education, food or wealth redistribution, health care, etc. Does a state do a good job of these things, compared to a tribe?