A Treatise on Magick, by Stillwell Inkblazer
Chapter 1: Magic for the Mundane.
When talking about magic to those who are Mundane, it is difficult to explain or describe how magic works, as they don’t have the inherent ability as we who are trained do. Mundane are just as it sounds - those with no knowledge nor aptitude for Magic. As such, I write this book for explanation and distribution, to educate the masses. I will use some metaphors to help those who do not understand the intricate nature of Magick, so as to more fully describe my points.
Firstly, I would like to note that I am aware that I am spelling the word “Magic” differently, and this is for purpose. Magic has three spellings to it, which roughly translate to:
Magick is the arcane energy used to cast spells. It is pronounced with a hard K sound in the back of the throat. Its plural is simply Magick. It is occasionally referred to as mana, but truly, mana is the magick you hold to control while magick is the energy itself.
Magik is the actual ritual or recipe describing how to do so. It is pronounced with a softer K sound, in the back of the mouth. Its plural is magiks. Magiks are also referred to most often as spells.
Magic is the study and practice of using spells. It is pronounced with a hard c sound in the front of the mouth. It doesn’t have a plural as it is typically an adjective, or adverb.
For an example, One practices magic, by using magiks to manipulate magick to cast spells.
Most Mundane refer to all three as just “Magic”, and that is just fine. Magic is often capitalized, typically referring to the practice, but there is no hard syntax as to when to capitalize vs not.
Now that those terms are clear, the first step is to explain what exactly magick is. Magick is an energy, typically found in the space between things. I don’t mean the space between a table and a chair, or between two neighbors houses, but instead within the table, the air, the chair, and the houses themselves. Much as a rock flung from a sling has energy of movement, the rock and the sling themselves have energy as well, inherent within them. That energy is what magick is.
Magick though has more depth than typical energies such as wind, or the heat from fire. Magick is, in many ways, alive. That is not to say sentient, but alive nonetheless. It grows, wanes, ebbs, flows, and much like a vector, it has direction, and magnitude. Almost all magick has a natural purpose. The energy almost desires to fulfill certain tasks.
When visualizing magick in the world, think of it as a river system, hidden from the eye, that pervades the world around us. But instead of clear water, it is a multicolored flowing of energy, with each hue and shade having a different direction, or purpose. When mixing shades, sometimes they combine, sometimes they stay separate, sometimes one simply cancels the other. It truly varies.
In this great waterscape, there are streams, rivers, small pools, great lakes, seas, and oceans with currents of their own, all swirling together, flowing through itself. Unlike water though, it is not constrained by land. The paths the tributaries take to reach larger sources shift and move, ever changing.
And when visualizing who uses magick, much like those who use paints, they are an artist, and can come in many forms.
Those who study and learn magiks, such as wizards, spend years learning how to combine the magicks around them into viable products. They know the technical side of the energy, what it means, and how it interacts with itself and the world around it. It can truly be a thing of terrible beauty, as that knowledge allows them to shape the fabric of reality itself into whatever their mind’s eye sees. The problem is that once they have learned what magic is, it is sometimes hard to think outside the box.
Those who cast from a rawer and visceral point, such as sorcerers, tend to match rawer artists. Rather than carefully extracting a hue from the well of nearby energy, they simply pull a bucket forth, and use what is there. This can lead to amazing raw powerful magic, but can also be at times, unwieldy.
Some practitioners trade for their magiks, such as warlocks. They hold great power, as their source often rival deific beings, but also they can end up limited by their patron.
There are also those who, through study or practice, spend time using magic to augment their natural gifts. Bards use magic to enhance their music and other crafts, while artificers use magick to enhance their tools, gear, and sometimes even their body.
There are also those, such as the swordmage, who use magic to enhance their way of combat, combining their energy with their martial prowess, using their blades to channel their arcane aptitude.
Excerpt from “A Treatise on Magick”, rev.1, published 119 by Stillwell Inkblazer