The Heartbeat in the Soil: Why I Chose Dirt Over Wands
A note before we begin: this essay discusses the magic system in my novel set in the village of Morecroft. I’ll be drawing on some passages from the book, but I’ve kept things as spoiler-light as I can. Think of it less as a plot breakdown and more as a peek behind the curtain at why I built magic the way I did. Nikolai Astrup (1880-1928) Midsummer Night Part One: The Anatomy of the Groundseer When I sat down to design the magic system for Morecroft, my first instinct was to ask myself a single question: what does power feel like when it belongs to the land? Not the land as setting. The land as a living, breathing, broadcasting entity. In Morecroft, the earth isn’t just dirt; it’s a broadcast. The women who can receive that broadcast are called Groundseers, and their gift is, at its core, a gift of listening. Not in the metaphorical, spiritual sense -- though that’s there too -- but in the most physical sense possible. The body is the instrument. The soil is the signal. When we f...