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fandomhigh2009-02-12 11:01 am
brandyforapples.livejournal.com) wrote in fandomhigh2009-02-12 11:01 am
Thaumaturgy 101 - Thursday, First Period - 2/12
She looked out over her class this morning with a faint smile.
"I certainly hope you all... enjoyed your weekends."
She had spent her weekend being corralled by Mary since she'd insisted on looking for her books, the massive collection of them that didn't exactly exist there because she wasn't actually Elinor Loredan, whoever she might have been. While Abigail Irene knew herself to be a bit past her prime, she still hadn't much liked being a batty old harpy for the weekend and thus, was not going to talk about it. At all.
"Today, we'll be covering the Principles of Thaumaturgy. Of course, I will only cover a few of the most important ones since there are quite a few to go around, but if you'd like to learn more, you're always welcome to visit during office hours."
"The first is the Law of Knowledge, which I tend to describe as such: understanding brings control. The more that is known about a subject, the easier it is to exercise control over it. That goes for yourself as well, and in fact some schools also have a Law of Self-Knowledge as familiarity with one’s own strengths and weaknesses is vital to success as a magician. I think the principle works as is, to be honest.
"The second is the Law of Cause and Effect which states that for every action, there is a reaction and further, that the reaction will be relatively the same if the action is the same. I'm sure any of you who've ever been involved in physics is aware of this one; magicians believe the same. Also, anyone with sense knows that if you bang your head against a wall, nothing more or less will happen than that your head will ache afterwards and you'll have wasted your time.
"The third is the Law of Synchronicity, by which I mean that two or more events happening at the same time are likely to have more associations in common than the merely temporal; very few events ever really happen in isolation from nearby events. It's similar enough to the second, of course, but somewhat more widespread. In other words, children, 'coincidence' is usually just something to hide behind. Especially in magic."
She looked around the room thoughtfully before she continued.
"The fourth is the Law of Association, which says that if any two or more patterns have elements in common, energy can interact "through" those common elements, and control of one element facilitates control over the others. Commonality provides control. It is one of the core values of magic, and of psychology to be honesty. Think of the totems used by native savages, the idols found in pagan temples, or even the statues and art of churches. Malachite is considered a stone good for financial magic because it's green, the color of fruitfulness, growth. Association is a part of almost every piece of magic you'd be like to do."
She smiled now.
"This next one is what most of my own work back in New Amsterdam relies on: the Law of Contagion, which states that objects or beings in physical or psychic contact with each other continue to interact after separation. If you touch something, even once, you've left a 'mark' or a connection with that thing that a skilled magician can trace back. Everyone knows to keep their hair and their blood well away from unfortunate magicians because of what they could do with such samples. The Law of Contagion is why."
She breathed out.
"Just two more: the Law of Pragmatism for one, which states quite simply that if it works, it's true. And the Law of Perversity, which says, plain enough, that if something can go wrong, it will, and at the worst possible time. This island does seem quite talented at proving that last one as many times as it can, now, doesn't it?"
A faint smile as she worked her jaw around.
"Now that I've yammered at you, let's get to work.
[ocd up!]
"I certainly hope you all... enjoyed your weekends."
She had spent her weekend being corralled by Mary since she'd insisted on looking for her books, the massive collection of them that didn't exactly exist there because she wasn't actually Elinor Loredan, whoever she might have been. While Abigail Irene knew herself to be a bit past her prime, she still hadn't much liked being a batty old harpy for the weekend and thus, was not going to talk about it. At all.
"Today, we'll be covering the Principles of Thaumaturgy. Of course, I will only cover a few of the most important ones since there are quite a few to go around, but if you'd like to learn more, you're always welcome to visit during office hours."
"The first is the Law of Knowledge, which I tend to describe as such: understanding brings control. The more that is known about a subject, the easier it is to exercise control over it. That goes for yourself as well, and in fact some schools also have a Law of Self-Knowledge as familiarity with one’s own strengths and weaknesses is vital to success as a magician. I think the principle works as is, to be honest.
"The second is the Law of Cause and Effect which states that for every action, there is a reaction and further, that the reaction will be relatively the same if the action is the same. I'm sure any of you who've ever been involved in physics is aware of this one; magicians believe the same. Also, anyone with sense knows that if you bang your head against a wall, nothing more or less will happen than that your head will ache afterwards and you'll have wasted your time.
"The third is the Law of Synchronicity, by which I mean that two or more events happening at the same time are likely to have more associations in common than the merely temporal; very few events ever really happen in isolation from nearby events. It's similar enough to the second, of course, but somewhat more widespread. In other words, children, 'coincidence' is usually just something to hide behind. Especially in magic."
She looked around the room thoughtfully before she continued.
"The fourth is the Law of Association, which says that if any two or more patterns have elements in common, energy can interact "through" those common elements, and control of one element facilitates control over the others. Commonality provides control. It is one of the core values of magic, and of psychology to be honesty. Think of the totems used by native savages, the idols found in pagan temples, or even the statues and art of churches. Malachite is considered a stone good for financial magic because it's green, the color of fruitfulness, growth. Association is a part of almost every piece of magic you'd be like to do."
She smiled now.
"This next one is what most of my own work back in New Amsterdam relies on: the Law of Contagion, which states that objects or beings in physical or psychic contact with each other continue to interact after separation. If you touch something, even once, you've left a 'mark' or a connection with that thing that a skilled magician can trace back. Everyone knows to keep their hair and their blood well away from unfortunate magicians because of what they could do with such samples. The Law of Contagion is why."
She breathed out.
"Just two more: the Law of Pragmatism for one, which states quite simply that if it works, it's true. And the Law of Perversity, which says, plain enough, that if something can go wrong, it will, and at the worst possible time. This island does seem quite talented at proving that last one as many times as it can, now, doesn't it?"
A faint smile as she worked her jaw around.
"Now that I've yammered at you, let's get to work.
[ocd up!]
Re: Question 1