ON MAGIC

The Universe is made up of patterns. Because of this, the Universe is fundamentally orderly. That all the phenomena of the Universe are connected together in a great design or pattern is one of the fundamental assumptions of magic.

Even though we see the chaos inherent in reality, there are patterns in the chaos, especially when you view them from further out. Chaos has underlying, often repeating, structures & regularities that exist within seemingly random or disordered systems. 

We view things as more chaotic than they actually are because we can’t see the pattern yet or because we are too close to the thing & haven’t been able to zoom out & understand the patterns. Like most things, when you’re in it, it’s hard to see.

Magic use is the harnessing of these patterns by people. Doing this is unusual & most view it as the miraculous distortion of reality that it is or they see it as impossible & the realm of charlatans. 

Individuals that can harness these energies & bend reality are feared or revered. Rightly so, distorting reality has many terrifying implications. Either way, using magic isn’t normal or commonplace, it spooks people. 

We divide magic use between Witchcraft; the use of nature to create magical effects & Sorcery; the use of the will to distort reality. People use both to effect magical change, but they are distinct methodologies. 

Witchcraft is integrated into the natural world. Because Witchcraft is so much about the synthesis with & use of nature, it doesn’t have enough of a human-centric view of the world to appease most power hungry people & therefore is considered taboo.

The driving force behind sorcery is a desire for power. To excel at sorcery you have to sacrifice your humanity & frequently the people around you. Sorcerers end up alone, insane & sometimes as mere shadows of their human selves. At its furthest extreme, the Sorcerer’s ambition is to wield power over the entire universe. This unchecked power-hungry, anti-social behavior & manic drive for power is a threat to the status quo & therefore not smiled on.