True. I guess it just seems odd to me since every other instance we are directly exposed to it’s an involuntary expression. Although there were some hints that it was more reliable during the AoL and the early Breaking.

I always just got the impression that he was “mooning over her” in that moment. She had Elaida watching her like a hawk so I can’t imagine she would have been actually touching the Source at any point prior to arriving in the Tower. Elaida’s view of Wilders would have ensured Elayne would have been in the Tower at the first hint of her ability awakening. The first time she actively sees the ability in someone else is when she sees the glow around Egwene. She also showed little ability with Healing with Rand in TSR after the bottom pinching incident 

It’s a gut level reaction to the complexity and circumstances of the first real exposure she has to seeing the weave performed. Both she and Egwene obvious know about Healing, and Egwene is seen in alternative lives with even greater ability with it than Nynaeve, but the first time they actually watch Nynaeve perform the weave they are both stunned and a little scared of how complex it appears. My point here is that their first real experience seeing Healing being performed impressed a generally negative emotion in them, thus it atrophied their ability because very deep down in their “lizard brain” they doubted that they could do it well because of that experience.

Yes, of course they would care about such things, but there is also the opportunity factor and need factor. Wilders almost universally first touch the Source during a moment of great need, an emergency situation when they have little choice aside from using the Power to accomplish some task. Thus my comment about floods or severe weather being the trigger as opposed to day to day weather issues creating the situation necessary for a channeler to actively spark. This is why there are so many blocks with Wilders, they need end up doing something with the Power during a heightened emotional state and end up unable to touch the source without specific circumstances present (i.e. Nynaeve being angry, or Theodrin being aroused by a boy).

Possible for certain, but as I said above I think the immediacy of the need plays a pretty significant role in how a Wilder comes to touch the Source. Nynaeve was angry about Egwene’s eminent death, Theodrin was essentially sexually aroused, I suspect Tarna was afraid thus closed her eyes etc… I think you are approaching this from a logical point of view, but leaving out the very personal emotional need that seems to trigger the channeling event and the associated block.

Women like Moiraine grew up with full knowledge of the OP so touching the source for her wasn’t likely to be the same as for Nynaeve, odds are Moiraine had Aes Sedai around her her whole life and may even have been guided a bit before she left for the Tower. Being a clever and rather devious minded individual she could have come upon the eavesdropping trick after a little experimentation.

And it’s possible if she had begun sparking at that moment that’s what would have happened as you describe. It’s also possible that a week later she would have come upon a compulsion-lite weave to use on her parents so they would be less cautious of declaring when it was okay to go outside. IMO it’s more likely that a young girl would see her parents decisions as the roadblock to overcome. Unless, of course, there is an actual active weather disaster happening in that moment … feels like most young people are more likely to beg their parents on a daily basis for the permission they seek and come upon a “trick” rather than go about manipulating large scale weather patterns on accident. What I keep coming back to here is that these things happen in the moment and seem to nearly universally effect a day to day routine for the person, like begging your dad for something or sitting for a week with a sick child etc… I’d easily accept someone sitting inside praying for the rain/snow to stop so they could do something outside, but for most people it’s far more likely that they find themselves in circumstances like Nynaeve or Theodrin did.

Is it or is it something that shaped the culture around it? Chicken or Egg since the Kin came into being at roughly the same time as the current culture and worked exceptionally hard to keep what they were doing under the radar.

Maybe, maybe not, but the Power tends to manifest in nearly everyone in deeply personal ways, we can look to the Reds tactics to find male wilders here … overly lucky men isn’t actually about “luck” it’s about a boy who unknowingly used the OP to benefit himself in some way. Falling down a flight of stairs without injury, or the storm turning at just the right moment, the tornado veering another direction and missing the house … all plausible, but also with Wilders of both sexes we know that they eventually either create a block to manage control, or they begin to die. Again, most of these instances seem to focus in on an urgent need. Enough fear or anger and it doesn’t seem unlikely that little Jancy would be calling down lightening to kill bandits or Trollocs charging the farm house.

Because weather changing is far more likely to have a very broad effect for the entire community in most instances. Healing probably mostly occurs in a similar fashion as to what we saw with Nynaeve, she supposed to be healing these people anyway so the idea that someone leaves her house and are no longer sick is an easy logical leap for anyone. On the other hand, if the tornado always takes a dramatic turn when it’s heading to Jancy’s house people may start to realize something odd is happening. One time people will tend to forget about, but with something like the weather if it’s happening a lot it’s hard to miss.

The women aren’t in the fields with plows or repairing equipment or roofing. They are likely cooking, tending the young and the domestic animals, repairing household items and probably keeping the home garden … point being they are not as exposed to the elements as the men in the society. Not to say they aren’t outside, but their tasks, to your point, are less labor intensive and thus less restricted by severe weather. Ma can still darn socks if it’s raining or make dinner when it’s a blizzard, but Pa and the boys are at risk out in the fields if a sudden storm hits etc.

Exactly my point. He’s frustrated and lashes out with the Power.

Yes, one of the things Reds look for is random events that don’t fit the circumstances such as lightning on a clear day … a sign of a channeler.

I’m certain there are many ways to weave lightning, men and women can accomplish the same things to the same degree so it seems likely that a woman might use Water or Air in some way if necessary. Is she really non-violent? She seems to have a pretty big violent streak in her actually. She walked around town thumping people with a stick when we first met her

Because it’s ingrained into the folklore of the entire society? Stories abound about Aes Sedai and the Forsaken and men who can Channel. The most powerful organization around is pretty much centered on finding “outlawed” channelers … men simply because they are men, but women fear being scooped up and forced to go to the Tower too … is it daily, of course not, but look at the immediate reaction to strangers in the TR and how the children were shut down and told to hush up when the words Aes Sedai and Warder came up, a mix of fear and disbelief, then when it’s confirmed an angry mob out to protect themselves from a perceived threat. If common folk didn’t fear Aes Sedai they might have looked to Moiraine and Lan as protectors not the cause of the problem.

Naturally … as I said, I’m just exploring the question for the sake of doing it, I’m not really all that married to the idea 

Sort of in reverse is what I’m getting at … an arsonist who becomes a firefighter so they have more opportunity to be around fires.

Was it though? I don’t recall ever being told how old Semirhage was before the WoP … or how long before she got caught out for what she was doing. Clearly she spent a LOT of time experimenting, but if she was already long gone before the Bore it’s possible that she was doing this for a very long time. Most Channelers are mid-late teens when they begin, and RJ liked to tell us that the Forsaken were simply bad people from the start, I don’t think it’s a huge stretch for Semirhage to have been essentially born a sociopath and even as a small child finding pleasure in others pain. We see it in modern day society with most serial killers having violent episodes even in early childhood.