In the early days of the mystics, the fundamentals of magic were little understood. Down through succeeding generations, the principles would be analyzed, codified and refined into exacting relationships and effects. In the beginning, however, the mystics felt their way clumsily into the power of magic ... its metaphor and analogy ... and were doing so by instinct alone.

One of the most basic principles of magic – especially in that first Age of the Mystics – was that of reciprocity. All things hold within themselves a power; a power of presence, potential and force. The magic, too, has a momentum of its own. It then imparts this momentum to the people and objects in the world that it affects. However it only does so in a great cosmic balance between the worlds. Heat in one realm becomes cold in another. Light in a third realm dims two others. Greatness borrows its power by diminishing another sphere. No magic in any world has any impact without affecting in reciprocal one or another of the others.

All of this was still part of the great mystery in the First Age of the Binding, unknown and unsuspected. Massive, chaotic magical effects were enacted without consideration of their direct impact on other realities. The results were often unexpected and profound in their implications. One need look no further than Galen and the Battle of the Enlund Plain for an example. The Magic of the Stones caused much of the army of Satinka to vanish in a cataclysmic abyss of destruction. Yet no thought had been given to the reciprocal; the army had vanished but the power that army represented had imparted a momentum of its own to the magic. To Galen and those on the Plain, the army had disappeared, but its reciprocal momentum still existed within the magic and searched for its release...

The Commentaries of Ignastus
Bronze Canticles / Folio XII; Leaf 17

Overview of Magic

Magic in the Bronze Canticles is commonly referred to as either Surface (or Common) magic and Deep magic ... even though the two magics are related. All magic in its various forms and regardless of cultural custom, appears to be linked to one or both of these forms. Further, it is important to understand that while the nature of magic remains constant throughout the Binding of the Worlds, the methods by which it is employed change over time due to the altering conditions of the Binding itself.

Magic in the Bronze Canticles is thought of generally as reciprocal and metaphoric magic. It is reciprocal in that creative events in one world translate into magical effects in another world, often greatly amplified in power. It is metaphoric because the causal translation of the creative and subconscious mental energies involved relies on icons, metaphors, representations, symbolism, interpretations, similes and parables.

Magic is also transtemporal in nature. Within certain limits, the timing of magical cause and effect between the worlds of creation is flexible. A Mystic in the world of the humans who draws upon a Faery Seeker may both meet in the Dream (the ethereal realm) while they are both asleep even though the passage of time in their respective worlds since their last encounter may be counted differently. This is true of both Deep and Surface magic as surface magic naturally compensates for the power of deep magic.

It may be helpful to look at magic in the realms of the Bronze Canticles in terms of the model shown in Illustration 1.1 below. The Mystic (red) in human lands draws on the magic of an ogre (bronze) in the realm of the goblins. This may happen when one of them is asleep, or both of them, or neither of them. Once the Deep Magic connection is made between the worlds in the ethereal realm, it continues whether awake or not. The Mystic calls on the power of the linked partner through the Dream (ethereal realm). In doing so, this draws up the power of the Surface Magic from the Ogre’s realm, altering the reality there to suit the changing conditions. This creative energy drawn from the actions and thoughts of the ogre and then translated (through metaphor and symbol) as well as amplified by the ethereal realm (perceived by the mystics as the Dream). This translated force is then conveyed through the Mystic into the human world. Note that while the effect is directed (red outward arrow) it also effects the Surface magic which runs outward as ripples from the mystic into the world, making its own corrective changes.

Illustration 1.1 Deep and Common Magic

Surface (or Common) Magic

All the worlds have always had Surface Magic, also known as Common Magic. It is a power that is tied to the Deep Magic and both operate in tandem, although this fact was not fully understood by the Mystics until late into the Binding of the Worlds.

Each of the different incarnations of the world utilized Common Magic in some form or other although always with different names and processes. The Faery were the most adept at this form of magic and incorporated it unquestioningly into the very fabric of their society. The Famadorians used it also although without nearly the subtlety of the Faery and most often through shamans. They Kyree used it through what they called Oracles. The Dragon-kings and their Pir priesthood utilized a rigid form of it to actually suppress the burgeoning Deep Magic. This was the source of such magical properties given to the Eye of Vasska staves utilized by the Monks or the visions in the Dreamsmoke of the Dragon-kings. The Dwarves had totems which were imbued with Common Magic. While the Titans themselves had spurned all forms of magic – Surface or Deep – the servants and slave gnomes, goblins, imps and ogres often has societal shamans or even simple superstitions which drew upon the Common Magic.

Coincidence, Reality, Cause and Effect

One of the important effects of Common Magic as it related to the Deep Magic was in the area of causality or cause and effect. The Common magic permeated all of creation in all incarnations of the world. It was a leveling force that helped keep the worlds in balance while it was being acted upon by the more dynamic and focused forces of the Deep magic. Thus a great many ‘little coincidences’ in one world could translate through the Deep Magic into dynamic and powerful effects.

Deep Magic

In the early days of the mystics, the fundamentals of magic were little understood. Down through succeeding generations, the principles would be analyzed, codified and refined into exacting relationships and effects. In the beginning, however, the mystics felt their way clumsily into the power of magic ... its metaphor and analogy ... and were doing so by instinct alone.

Creative expression in many diverse forms is the medium by which magical force and change is generated on the World of the Ethereal, also called the Dreamworld or Thoughtscape.

As it is this ethereal plain by which all magic is created, the basic and fundamental principle is that all magic results in an iconic or metaphoric translation of action or thought from one realm to powerful incarnation to another. Thus any magical action can only have effect if it draws its power from reciprocal thought or action in another version of the world.

Reciprocity

One of the most basic principles of magic – especially in that first Age of the Mystics – was that of reciprocity. All things hold within themselves a power; a power of presence, potential and force. The magic, too, has a momentum of its own. It then imparts this momentum to the people and obj ects in the world that it affects. However it only does so in a great cosmic balance between the worlds. Heat in one realm becomes cold in another. Light in a third realm dims two others. Greatness borrows its power by diminishing another sphere. No magic in any world has any impact without affecting in reciprocal one or another of the others.

All of this was still part of the great mystery in the First Age of the Binding, unknown and unsuspected. Massive, chaotic magical effects were enacted without consideration of their direct impact on other realities. The results were often unexpected and profound in their implications. One need look no further than Galen and the Battle of the Enlund Plain for an example. The Magic of the Stones caused much of the army of Satinka to vanish in a cataclysmic abyss of destruction. Yet no thought had been given to the reciprocal; the army had vanished but the power that army represented had imparted a momentum of its own to the magic. To Galen and those on the Plain, the army had disappeared, but its reciprocal momentum still existed within the magic and searched for its release...

Abstract Translation

The exact form which provided energies take shape is controllable but naturally tends toward representational or abstract translation. Visions in the Dream, for example, rarely, if ever, depict a clear and exact representation of either the source of power or its ultimate form. Rather, inside the dream, these are represented by icons that are similes, analogies or parables to the actual source or result.