A Magic System Inspired by Scripture?

My mom loves to use the phrase “invoice psychology.” It refers to all the niche-specific jargon one must employ to be understood within a given context. So when I talk about my soft magic system within the world of the Tiding Bearer Trilogy, the word “magic” is more invoice psychology than technical term. For the sake of simplicity, I’ll continue to call it a magic system, but if magic typically puts you off or gives you pause as a Christian (totally valid), then rest assured the story uses nothing akin to actual sorcery, spells, or witchcraft.

Now that the disclaimer is over, let’s get into the juicy stuff! * rubs hands together *

Coming as a surprise to no one, I didn’t start out the series with a grand plan for how the gifts and pledges would work—or even how big their impact on the stories and characters would be. (Honestly the more posts I write about my process, the more I realize how much I was winging it at the start…) But while writing book two, and the subsequent series finale, I greatly expanded the all-important LORE of tiding bearers and their gifts. So let’s take a (mostly) spoiler-free walk through my Scripture-inspired “magic system.”

The Ebenezers

In Gift of the Tiding Bearer, the three main characters each receive an unrefined chunk of ebenezer. The fictional ore is composed of verity, a precious metal, and the ebenezer gem itself. Although a raw ebenezer is traditionally a token that someone has accepted the Giver’s Path (symbolizing the acceptance of salvation), the traditions of the tiding bearers have been lost during the High Ruler’s reign and ebenezers are little more than a jeweler’s legend.

Enter, Dara.

When Dara gives Doran, Mavis, and Errol the strangely-shaped rocks, they have no idea of their true significance—only that Dara is promising something each of them desperately wants: freedom, adventure, redemption. While the trio may not grasp the stones’ spiritual importance, they do discover that their combined gems form a miniature model of the Triple Summit, which serves as a treasure map for the rest of their quest in book one.

You are probably familiar with the Ebenezer from the popular hymn Come Thou Fount: “Here I raise my Ebenezer / Hither by Thy help I’ve come.” The hymn and my fantasy gemstone have the same inspiration: 1 Samuel 7:12, NLT.

Samuel then took a large stone and placed it between the towns of Mizpah and Jeshanah. He named it Ebenezer (which means “the stone of help”), for he said, “Up to this point the LORD has helped us!”

Biblically, the Ebenezer is a symbol of God’s faithfulness, a reminder of His willingness and ability to fulfill His promises and to bless His people. This is the role the ebenezers play in my story as well, except that in an allegory, where spiritual realities take on literal manifestations, the gems hold the Giver’s power and can be crafted into a sacred tiding bearer object known as a “gift.”

We’ll tackle gifts in a minute, but first a word about pledges.

The Pledges

Gift of the Tiding Bearer, p.194

Pledges are merely a more fantasy-sounding form of God’s promises, and are often connected to specific tiding bearers and their gifts, as you’ll see throughout the series. Every pledge is a direct quote from Scripture (Doran’s pledge is found in Isaiah 41:10), and grants His special power to those who claim them in faith, sometimes in a miraculous—and even magical—ways!

I’ve always been fascinated by the immense blessings God holds for us in His promises if we will but claim them and believe that He is able to fulfill His word. The concept is as Biblical as it is fantastical. 2 Peter 1:4-5, NLT:

And because of his glory and excellence, he has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share his divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires. In view of all this, make every effort to respond to God’s promises.

The Gifts

Unfortunately, many of the complexities of the gifts and their work are revealed in book two, and I quite like the suspense around the characters’ discovery of all this information, so I’m going to be vague in my summary here. Partially because I don’t want to ruin the immersion, and partially (mostly) because Errol wouldn’t take it well if he found out you knew something before he did.

Going along with the analogy of a magic system, the gifts work like you might expect enchanted weapons or tools to work in a typical fantasy story. But unlike enchantments, the gifts draw their power from the user’s faith; the gifts are only as strong as the tiding bearer’s bond with the Giver. This is because all the “gifts of the tiding bearers” parallel the “gifts of the Spirit” defined in 1 Corinthians 12.

This chapter reveals a deep truth about God’s plan for unified diversity among His people. It’s a theme so close to my heart that I included it throughout the trilogy. (You can read more about that aspect of the series here.)

Paul points out how God equips each of us with unique skills to bring glory to His kingdom and value to His church. In the same way, tiding bearers each hold a unique gift that represents the specialty to which the Giver has called them. There are many gifts—far more than I even get to explore in the trilogy, but the ones you’ll see the most are pictured below: Mavis’s necklace, Doran’s sword, [SPOILER]’s ring, and Errol’s key.

I could say much, much more about the tiding bearers and their gifts, but you must discover the rest on your own, through a journey to the Triple Summit. Who knows? Maybe you’ll even find the Priceless Treasure and uncover a treasonous plot to dethrone the True King once and for all!

I’d love to hear what you think of my little “magic system”! Hit me up on Instagram or drop me a line through the communication form on this website. And until next time, stay kind, curious, and courageous. <3 <3 <3