About the Nature of Magic
You want me to tell you of magic, little elf? Of the mysterious inner workings of you, the world, your consciousness and all the existence itself? Tell me, young one, do you think, this is something that can be explained, without experiencing it first? But very well.
You already know of the first way of magic, young one, as every living being does. You use it, every day and it comes to you as easily as breathing. In fact, breathing is almost a part of it. You feel and know yourself and the energy inside you. Some of you also feel the energy around you; the pulse of the world, the lifeness of water, the anger of fire. And even fewer are able to channel this energy, direct it, albeit only for a short time or not much at all.
This is the concept of Having.
You mortals are still young, yet you are not without sight. Some of you already understand more, see deeper into the fabric of magic. They understand that simply being is already magic and what defines us is as unchangable as it is undetermined. Those of you who understand this, learned already how to see something and understand it and by understanding it, change it to your will. Your best hunters, young elf, are one with their arrow, with their bow. When they let their arrow fly, they fly with it, understand its purpose, its way, its reaction to the world and the wind.
Your best bow makers even can use this understanding to give the arrow a new being. To let it fly faster, be stronger, be lighter. All these aspects can be changed by a skilled being. Even a skilled mortal - and you and your brothers, the dwarves, you show exceptional skill in that.
This is the concept of Being.
Ah, young one, you want me to explain matters you cannot fully understand. You are but a childe, even a dear one, so I will try to explain. Do not worry if you no longer can follow my words. You heard about understanding the Being of Things, but it can go even further. Everything is, everything becomes. If a painter thinks of a painting he already sees it and it exists in his mind, yet it is simply not in existence. This is true for everything. Before something is, it needs to become and becoming is an act of the conciousness.
As the painter can create and form, so will the magician who understands how things become. He can create and destroy a thing, a feeling, a thought, he can create what has never been, take from existence what always has, have the end before the beginning, yes even himself can see, be, when and wherever, for he can change the simple chain of becoming and being. He can master the mind, he can master the Senses, he can master time.
But I forgot, these powers are not unknown to you mortals. You see the devout being granted these powers by their gods - because the gods understand these powers, and when bending the mind you can also create understanding.
No, dear young one, I do not posess these powers. I cannot give you understanding.
I struggled to grasp the concept of Becoming myself, I humbly admit.
You still want to know more, I see. You need to know more and that alone ennobels you. We now enter realms, that no mortal can truly understand. When you understand the Being and the Becoming, there is only left to understand what Somewhere actually means. Understand your place, the place of everything, how all is connected and how the being somewhere is an entity in and of itself - then you will be able to be in the Somewhere and be Somewhere and Nowehere and Everywhere at the very same time. By then even time and space becomes meaningless, so that you will be able to understand everything in creation and time and future of itself, as long as you are able to keep and let go the notion of Yourself at the same time.
Not many mortals have achieved this. Those that did are gods, but most of them are nothing anymore. They are not dead. They are no longer alive. They are everywhere, unable to understand themselves anymore, haunted consicousnesses that ceased to be without ever being.
This is the concept of the All, to fully understand it, one must be a god. Alas, I have not yet achieved it.
The gods themselves told me, that there is yet another aspect of magic. As far as I recall, the moment you understand everything you are aware that you cannot understand everything. So the gods learned to expand their understanding of everything unto their chosen domains, gaining deeper understanding there. But it seems, that the domains in itself cannot or should not be shared. But a domain is vague and they overlap, so does the power and the nature of the gods. Where one god encompasses one domain containing the smaller domain of another god, this god is but a lesser one. This is how the six gods became the mightiest, although there are several more beings in the godly plain.
This last one, the concept of the domain, is the most intriguing of all. Someday, I myself want to achieve it.
Young one, you listened patiently. You will not be able to understand what I told you. Fear not, since you are simply mortal. Maybe one day this will change, but most likely you will simply be a mortal - but you have potential. Look. See. Understand. The magic can be found everywhere. Everywhere is magic. Magic simply is.
You already know of the first way of magic, young one, as every living being does. You use it, every day and it comes to you as easily as breathing. In fact, breathing is almost a part of it. You feel and know yourself and the energy inside you. Some of you also feel the energy around you; the pulse of the world, the lifeness of water, the anger of fire. And even fewer are able to channel this energy, direct it, albeit only for a short time or not much at all.
This is the concept of Having.
You mortals are still young, yet you are not without sight. Some of you already understand more, see deeper into the fabric of magic. They understand that simply being is already magic and what defines us is as unchangable as it is undetermined. Those of you who understand this, learned already how to see something and understand it and by understanding it, change it to your will. Your best hunters, young elf, are one with their arrow, with their bow. When they let their arrow fly, they fly with it, understand its purpose, its way, its reaction to the world and the wind.
Your best bow makers even can use this understanding to give the arrow a new being. To let it fly faster, be stronger, be lighter. All these aspects can be changed by a skilled being. Even a skilled mortal - and you and your brothers, the dwarves, you show exceptional skill in that.
This is the concept of Being.
Ah, young one, you want me to explain matters you cannot fully understand. You are but a childe, even a dear one, so I will try to explain. Do not worry if you no longer can follow my words. You heard about understanding the Being of Things, but it can go even further. Everything is, everything becomes. If a painter thinks of a painting he already sees it and it exists in his mind, yet it is simply not in existence. This is true for everything. Before something is, it needs to become and becoming is an act of the conciousness.
As the painter can create and form, so will the magician who understands how things become. He can create and destroy a thing, a feeling, a thought, he can create what has never been, take from existence what always has, have the end before the beginning, yes even himself can see, be, when and wherever, for he can change the simple chain of becoming and being. He can master the mind, he can master the Senses, he can master time.
But I forgot, these powers are not unknown to you mortals. You see the devout being granted these powers by their gods - because the gods understand these powers, and when bending the mind you can also create understanding.
No, dear young one, I do not posess these powers. I cannot give you understanding.
I struggled to grasp the concept of Becoming myself, I humbly admit.
You still want to know more, I see. You need to know more and that alone ennobels you. We now enter realms, that no mortal can truly understand. When you understand the Being and the Becoming, there is only left to understand what Somewhere actually means. Understand your place, the place of everything, how all is connected and how the being somewhere is an entity in and of itself - then you will be able to be in the Somewhere and be Somewhere and Nowehere and Everywhere at the very same time. By then even time and space becomes meaningless, so that you will be able to understand everything in creation and time and future of itself, as long as you are able to keep and let go the notion of Yourself at the same time.
Not many mortals have achieved this. Those that did are gods, but most of them are nothing anymore. They are not dead. They are no longer alive. They are everywhere, unable to understand themselves anymore, haunted consicousnesses that ceased to be without ever being.
This is the concept of the All, to fully understand it, one must be a god. Alas, I have not yet achieved it.
The gods themselves told me, that there is yet another aspect of magic. As far as I recall, the moment you understand everything you are aware that you cannot understand everything. So the gods learned to expand their understanding of everything unto their chosen domains, gaining deeper understanding there. But it seems, that the domains in itself cannot or should not be shared. But a domain is vague and they overlap, so does the power and the nature of the gods. Where one god encompasses one domain containing the smaller domain of another god, this god is but a lesser one. This is how the six gods became the mightiest, although there are several more beings in the godly plain.
This last one, the concept of the domain, is the most intriguing of all. Someday, I myself want to achieve it.
Young one, you listened patiently. You will not be able to understand what I told you. Fear not, since you are simply mortal. Maybe one day this will change, but most likely you will simply be a mortal - but you have potential. Look. See. Understand. The magic can be found everywhere. Everywhere is magic. Magic simply is.
Flavorful and enticing. This could be the opening of a book.
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