a Felix culpa. Julian May's description of "metapsychic" abilities explicitly refers to the concepts of auras (particularly in Part III of Intervention) and chakras (particularly in discussing the feeding of the "Hydra"). Aspects of May's Universe Alien races The Lylmik (LIL-mik) are the oldest race in the Galaxy, having been shepherded to mental Unity or "coadunation" by the entity known as Atoning Unifex. They created the Galactic Milieu, and in turn mentored the Krondaku, Gi, Simbiari, and Poltroyans. The Krondaku (krah'n-DAH-koo) are large tentacled invertebrate "monsters", the Gi (ghee) are feathered hermaphrodites with a well-developed aesthetic sense, the Simbiari (sih'm-bee-AH-ree) are green and slimy, while the Poltroyans are small purple humanoids who most resemble human beings both physically and mentally. Planets Events of the novels take place on several planets: Earth; the Concilium Orb, an artificial planet constructed by the Lylmik, and the seat of the galactic Council; Hibernia, an Irish-dominated human colony; Caledonia, a Scottish-dominated human colony; Denali, a snow-covered planet popular as a holiday destination; and the cosmopolitan human colony planet of Okanagon. Apart from the home planets and colonies of the alien races, a number of other planets are also mentioned in passing. "Metapsychic" powers Julian May describes five categories of "metapsychic" powers in the series: creativity, coercion, psychokinesis, farsensing and redaction. Each of these powers is associated with a colour, as originally described in the Saga of Pliocene Exile. Creativity is the ability to create illusions and manipulate energy. In its strongest form, it can involve permanent changes of matter from one kind to another, as when Jack creates flowers from waste. The same level of power can also be used to create mental lasers, and the "Metapsychic Rebellion" causes considerable damage with such mental weapons, produced by brains amplified with cerebroenergetic (CE) equipment. Rogi possesses creative abilities, though unreliable ones, and these occasionally help him in moments of need. Coercion is the ability of metapsychic mind control over other people. For example, in Magnificat, Denis uses metapsychic coercion to manipulate Rogi to climb Mt. Washington. Psychokinesis (PK) is the ability to move physical objects through space metapsychically. Within the series, flagrant use of this power (especially amongst non-operants) is considered immensely juvenile and déclassé by most operants. Farsensing is the ability to communicate with others and to sense remotely via metapsychic means, much like telepathy, clairvoyance, or remote viewing. In Intervention, the ability of farsensing