mundane n. 3

Mundania is in many respects more advanced, more civilized than Xanth. Deprived of the benefits of magic, the Mundanes have had to compensate in ingenious ways. They have turned to philosophy, medicine, and science.

Someday there’s going to be a war between telepaths and mundanes, Stephen.

‘It’s an organization,’ Charlotte said. ‘A rather old organization of mundanes who have interested themselves in the magical arts. At their meetings they do spells and try to summon up demons and spirits.’ She sighed. Jessamine snorted. ‘I can’t imagine why they bother,’ she said.

Though she could ‘see’ magic, so to speak, in her mind’s eye, it wasn’t visible to mundanes. Much like electricity, gravity, or magnetism, the only visible aspect of magic was the effect it had on the world around them.

Even when mundanes didn’t have science to helpfully explain the world and happily burned witches at the stake, they didn’t really believe in magic. If you believed in magic, you wouldn’t drag a witch to the stake; you’d have her lob fireballs at your enemies instead.