Controlling Nature

The Source and its outgrowth, the Power, are forces of nature that some people have learned to use, or channel. The world has split into two factions, those that favor using the Power and those who want to suppress its use. Aes Sedai are women who have gone through an initiation period and are masters at channeling. During this cycle in the Wheel of Time, the faction against them hunts the Aes Sedai and tries to turn them into docile damane, similar to trained dogs. Yet average people need to be in contact with the Source because its presence is as important as the sun. Without it, people feel empty and depressed.

From the anti-Source faction's point of view, the Power is evil because it had been used before during wars, and the impact of this use was terrible, similar to how the real world reacted to...