The numinous in America

[klwilliams]

At Westercon, both Lois McMaster Bujold and Michael Swanwich brought up the idea that fantasy needs to contain "the numinous", a spiritual or divine element, the supernatural. I've been thinking about that in regards to fantasy set in the United States. I find that stories with elves set in the downtown of a major city usually (though not always) feel grafted on, because elves aren't something that started out in the U.S. Neil Gaiman's American Gods were gods brought over to the U.S. from other countries. There are good stories with Native American gods and mythology, but I've been wondering what "the numinous" means in the WASP, urban United States, without bringing over gods or mythologies from other continents.

Orson Scott Card's Alvin Maker series springs to mind, based as it is on American folk magic and the Mormon religion. While both have their roots in Europe, they are still distinctly American. (The Book of Mormon is, roughly, the story of Jesus traveling though North America bringing his Word to the Indians.) Nina Kiriki Hoffman's The Thread That Binds the Bones, and her other supernatural stories, are another example. Michaela Roessner's Vanishing Point, while more science fictional than fantasy, is set in the Winchester Mystery House and contains at least a supernatural (science indistinguishable from magic) element.

What are the numinous elements in, say, downtown Manhattan, or the Financial District of San Francisco, or even downtown Pocatello, Idaho? There are always ghosts. Neil Gaiman created the Endless. American churches, such as the Baptists or Presbyterians, don't have the same kind of almost-magical liturgy that Catholic-based churches have.

I'd love to hear your suggestions.

Comments

[janni.livejournal.com]

I wonder whether the late 19th/early 20th century spiritualism movement, which I think existed here as well as in Europe, wouldn't be one vein to mine--I do think of it as city based.

Here's something from Native American lore, too, though it's less urban--there's this strong sense of place. That this or that mountain is sacred. And looking up at the mountains here in the desert is a pretty good way to feel the numinous.

I think the hard thing is finding the numinous in a new city. I, at least, need something beyond the city itself, more based in the land it's build on. This may be less true in Europe, though, where the cities are much older, part of the land themselves, in some ways.

[j-i-m-r.livejournal.com]

"I think existed here as well as in Europe"

Yup, Houdini was connected with it. He's been written about alot, but could be folded into a plot line in some fashion.

"I think the hard thing is finding the numinous in a new city."

What about a Central or South American city that is in a place where indiginous peoples had a large city? Like Mexico City? I don't think of the North American pre Columbian cultures as having much in the way of large settlements, but I could be wrong on that. Just trying to point out that not all New World cities are new.

[klwilliams.livejournal.com]

San Francisco and Boston feel old enough to me to have magic in their stones, while Chicago and even New York City don't. (YMMV.) Salt Lake City, possibly because it's in the mountains, has magic for me, too, though Seattle doesn't.