All magic begins as a seed on the edge of one's mind, a spark, an idea. You may hear of something interesting happening in a far off land, or rumors of war, or you may see a flower that resembles an animal, and wonder how does it do that? All of these lingering thoughts on the edges of your mind are the first step to magic. They want to weave and grow, and build itself up, until one day, they are more than an idea in your mind, until one day… They materialize into something substantial… And that is what magic is. That is what life is.
You may think, Fahran, how can thoughts be magic? They are not of the material world, how can they affect it? And I say to you, that if your landlord has the thought of evicting you and puts these thoughts onto paper, will mere thoughts be unable to affect you? If your king has the thought of going to war, and sends out draft letters to every home in the kingdom, would these thoughts be unable to affect you? Everything begins in the mind, and in truth everything is of the mind. The rocks on the ground, the seeds sprouting from the earth, and the river coursing through the land; these are all just thoughts, the mind of something much greater.
But this book isn’t to explore the matters of gods and the greater universe. This book is to explore magic.
As mortals, what matters to us, is how is magic useful to me? How can it benefit me?
If I were to ponder the question, I couldn’t really give you an answer. Magic is something different to everyone, and magic has different uses for everyone. Much like how individuals can think similar thoughts; in the end, they are still unique beings, with separate personalities, separate dreams, separate desires. Magic is the same. But if I was to give an answer, I would say that magic is something we can explore for several lifetimes, it is something that can teach us so much. As such, I believe that the greatest benefit in learning magic is our own personal growth.
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There are many schools of magic, and they teach many different types of thinking. These ways of thinking can be the foundation for our ways of life. You are the victim of a thief? What do you do? One school of magic would say that the obvious answer is to destroy the thief, obliterate him, and pray for his soul in the next life. One school of magic would say, guide the thief, teach him there are better ways. Another school of magic would say, let the thief steal what he wills, if his soul can bear the burden, may the thief at least have material wealth to comfort him.
As I said, all magic begins in the mind, and it is the mind that benefits the most from it. When we enter this world, we are innocent, our minds are clean, but inevitably we must face the world and all the terrible things that are possible. For this we must have a way of thinking, a way of life.
Fahran takes one last puff of his pipe and puts it down on the table, before grabbing a bottle and pouring himself some alcohol. He lifts his cup and smells it before taking a healthy gulp.
Fahran lets out a breath of relief. Damn, life is good. He thinks.
He sets his cup down and looks at what he has written so far. Suddenly, he lets out a laugh. I must be getting old. These kids don’t want to hear any of this. They want to know how to make fire sprout from their hands and cause lightning to fall from the sky. Fahran thinks with a shake of his head.
Fahran picks up his pen once more…
Magic offers us this, and it offers us the power to face this world. With the right formula and the correct weaving of magic, one can cause lightning to fall from the skies. But in the same way, a powerful way of thinking can make it so your road is smooth. Not only would you not need lightning to aid you from the heavens, you would not even need to worry. If your way of thinking is powerful enough, you can take a stroll through hell and come out unharmed.