amulets | Lita Burke

The Book of the Dead explains the nature of Church magic in the Enchanters of Sye world.

A Spirit Inside of a Ghost Amulet

ghost amulet [gōst amyələt] noun, c.900, OE gāst < ME goost; c.1550 amalettys < L amuletum; also spirit fetish or periapt.

Physical: Charm, midsize
Magic: Church/Piety
Spell Group: Incorporeal Matters
Restrictions on Physical Construction: Secular, Magic Guild, and Enchanter magic allowed
Ghost Magic: Sciomancer or Priest summons only; Secular and Magic Guild disallowed due to safety; Enchanters disallowed per agreement

A ghost amulet is a charm no larger than a woman’s fist. Its purpose is to house willing incorporeal beings (“ghosts”) who wish to stay in the Sye physical realm under shelter of Church magic. Ghost amulets are portable magical items and can be worn if the carrier has specific spells for protection from the ghost. A typical ghost amulet has a gold metal casing etched with beautiful spells.

Last Year’s Winner in the Magic Guild’s Contest for Best Bubble World Inside of a Ghost Amulet

The inside of ghost amulets are much larger than the outside. Amulet interiors range from simple single rooms to intricately furnished multi-chamber homes. The best ghost amulet makers create small “bubble worlds” that include landscapes, sunlight, and weather.

Summoning and manipulating ghosts is a Church Sciomancer magical specialty. Secular magicians and Magic Guild are forbidden to manipulate ghosts because of the danger to the magician. According to agreed-upon magical segregation, Enchanters do not practice ghost manipulation. However, only Enchanter Grandmasters have enough magical power to send (and retrieve) living visitors to the Fields of Yalu.

Explore Sye ghost care and meet a celebrated Sciomancer ghost in these blog posts:

Read more about ghost amulets, the Book of the Dead, and how ghosts help a magical charms maker hide a dangerous spell book in these Enchanters of Sye stories:

It’s Kiss an Enchanter Day

Let’s observe Valentine’s Day today and talk about one of Lita’s favorite subjects–Enchanter magical essence kisses.

It’s been some time since Lita has talked about the Enchanters in the Sye world. Here’s a quick recap, then we will get back to magical hanky-panky.

Sye is a world where the Enchanters, Church magicians, and others (called “non-Maji’kers”) live. The humans, and some sentient magical creatures, use magic (called “essence”) as an energy source for mechanisms that would otherwise use physics or natural laws in other worlds.

The living world of Sye is a separate place from the afterlife, called the Fields of Yalu (or the “city of the dead”). Ghosts from the Fields of Yalu are regular visitors to Sye. Powerful magicians keep dragonettes as pets. Everyone has a secret name given to them clandestinely by their mothers, which is the source of a person’s magical ability.

Enter the Sye Fantasy World

Lita has visited Sye before, and wrote about her visits with the Enchanters, dragonettes, and ghosts. Here are her Enchanter stories if Gentle Reader has not had time to investigate:

Wrath, Prequel to Tredan’s Bane is a short story that starts things off at a run. In Wrath, a retired Enchanter (Tredan) battles a powerful magician to keep a dangerous spell book from falling in to the wrong hands. Read the back cover blurb, watch the short Wrath book trailer, or read Chapter 1.
Masked Ghosts Threaten the Enchanters in “Ghost Orchid”

Tredan’s Bane plunges in to the thick of things with Tredan’s wife Lanith, a magical oddities dealer, getting a ghost’s warning, then returning home to find her home on fire and Tredan missing. After enlisting the help of the Enchanters, Lanith finds and hides her kidnapped husband’s dangerous spell book. Read the back cover blurb, watch the Tredan’s Bane book trailer, or read Chapter 1.
Ghost Orchid continues Lanith’s adventures, where she investigates crypt murders that release masked ghosts in to the living world who threaten the Enchanters. Read the back cover blurb. Release date for Ghost Orchid is summer of 2014.

Magic Must Make Sense

One of Lita’s pet peeves with some fantasy fiction, especially epic or high fantasy, is how the powerful magicians just wave their hand and bolts of magical energy shoot from their fingertips. Or sometimes it’s the end of the hero’s journey, and he/she has the magic wand/orb/book, and this magical lightweight (at best) use this thingummy to produce the bolts of magical energy.

Balderdash! Be gone, silly images. Magical energy isn’t that way at all. Here’s the truth–you get magical energy from kissing an Enchanter.

Just like the taste of Enchanter kisses–chocolate, cinnamon & peppery spice

What does magical essence taste like? Chocolate. Cinnamon. Hint of peppery spice.

Only Enchanters can produce the magical power that fuels the Sye world. What would be the life of an Enchanter man (or woman) if some magicians will stop at nothing to control the source of magical power? It’s not all smooches. Some of it is big trouble.

Find out for yourself. Lita suggests that you fix a cup of hot chocolate in a favorite mug, add a dash of cinnamon, and curl up with Wrath and Tredan’s Bane. Oh, and keep your Valentine darling nearby if you want to practice your own magical essence kisses.