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Subject: Magic's Definition ('Hedge Witches' RPG)
From: nagasiva <nagasiva@yronwode.SPAMcom>
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Date: Mon, 24 Jun 2002 03:41:22 GMT
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50020623 VII Hail Kaos! Kday! Summer's Stand! Lunatix! All at Once!

I found this while reviewing one of my role-playing game magic systems:

		Magic is the ability to affect [sic] change 
		in the universe through invoking the 
		supernatural (Otherwordly beings, cosmic 
		powers, etc.) and forcing the will of the 
		magician upon the forces of nature.

	This is useful, but facile. Magic is more than simply 
	a technique for affecting [sic] change. It is a way of
	life, a means of thought often rooted in, and 
	inseparable from, a host culture. It is a world view,
	not just a mode of controlling the world, but a mode
	of actually perceiving it and participating in it.

	Magic is universal; look to almost every culture and
	you will find it. For some people, magic and religion
	are inseparable -- priests are sorcerers and sorcerers
	are priests. Sometimes, it is a *verboten* art,
	practiced only in secrecy for fear of condemnation.
	Occasionally it is fashionable, a method of rebellion
	against authority, the church, family or all of the
	above. At times, it even takes on the mantle of savior,
	offering power an status to disenfranchised groups and
	individuals (Negroes, women, Oriental immigrants,
	refugees, etc.). At its heart, magic is all this and
	more. To define a thing is to limit it, and true
	sorcerers care less about the definition of magic than
	the operation of it.

	The Black Art is a way of life. It is a new way of
	living in the world, of seeing the unseen, of hearing
	the unheard. It is a means of controlling what was
	never before even understood. Magic is a means of
	learning the secret laws of creation, of tapping into
	the hidden potentialities of the universe.
	-----------------------------------------------------------
	"World of Darkness: SORCERER", by J.E. Looking Eagle
	 and P. Brucato., White Wolf Publishing, 1997; p. 11.
	=======================================================

for your consideration/critique. :>

nagasiva