The Essence of Change

Within the rest of this book you will find many a useful definition and concept to be used in your search for magical application, but one should not begin study of the arts without knowing the spiritual basis behind the world we live in. So before the boring lectures about spellcraft and complex terminology, let me teach you what magic really is, the essence of change.
Magic is not just the fireballs cast by lonely wizards in their towers, it is truly everywhere. When an ugly insect turns into a beautiful creature, when a playful spirit turns your pot to wood, and when an avalanche collapses on a poor mountain town, all of that is magic. Any time something changes in some way, magic is afoot. The swirling world of spirits of a realm of chaos, where nothing stays the same for long, and this world of change can often seep into the regular world as we know it. Without this realm of lights the mortal world would be stagnant and forever unchanging, a collection of barren rocks floating in emptiness. The spirit realm is simply the projection of all things innate desire for change.
But, living things are special, out of all things which exist they simultaneously hold the greatest capacity for change as well as the largest resistance to it. A fox grows from a small lump into a majestic creature, and fathers grumble when the seasons change. Life holds the unique power to choose when things change and how. A lumberjack can remove a pesky tree from a road with only an ax, or stave off others attempts to take it for wood. As a presumably living being yourself, you can also tap into this ability to cause change, but with a little application of intelligence, and some willpower, you can do it without even a touch. All things want to change, you just need to give them a nudge in the direction you want them to.