A book - more than meets the eye

[Vitus Lazarus]

I love this book - Mage: The Ascension (my current paradigm... I think ).

Chaos Magic taught me to use any paradigm I want to (even if it's not traditional or not "real"), then I found this role-playing game...

First of all: it's pure chaos magic.
You think it's just a game, nothing more, then you realize that everything you've studied about Reality, Magic, etc.... is this.
It's not about fancy magic, fireballs or anything.
It's the philosophy. The metaphysics.

It is a very good reading and an interseting game too, so I suggest you to read it.
But now, of course, I'm talking about real magic.

Let me show You a few part of the book:

"Although a mage’s power is not infinite, it is infinitely diverse. The styles of each Tradition (and convention, andcraft.. .) give a mage tools to push and pull at the fabric of reality. What the mage does with those tools is limited only by the mage’s functional knowledge (the Spheres), enlightened awareness of the universe (Arete), particular belief in a style of magic (paradigm) and by the force with which reality changes the mage who brings change too forcefully (Paradox).
There are no “spell lists” or “magic points” to which mages must adhere. A mage’s power stems from her own inner awareness and will, and so the mage can work magic limited only by that strength. Potentially, every mage could create nearly any Effect; your own imagination fuels the infinite combinations of Spheres."

"Belief is central to all magic. Most mages realize theoretically that the limitations they ascribe to body, spirit and mind are untrue. They only exist because it is believed that they do. Mages impose their own boundaries on themselves. (...)
Consensual reality suffuses all human beings, Awakened and Sleeper alike. Beliefs structure this static reality, but static reality structures beliefs, also. Every participant in this vicious cycle affects all the others and, in the end, themselves as well. Mages, though, are able to ignore, or even fracture, static reality’s paradigm outright."

"More than a mere style, paradigm is the defined essence of the mage’s beliefs, and it has been described by some as the language through which the mage communicates his Art. The only things any mage absolutely needs to practice magic are the will to enforce his desire on reality, the knowledge of the appropriate Spheres and the paradigm through which to focus that desire and make it real."

[AnonALion]

This game is fantastic; it's been years since I've played it, though. I only just now realize how closely the game's theme-mechanics resemble the chaos philosophy. Normally people use the mechanics of a game to create spells, not the other way around.

[Vitus Lazarus]

(08-23-2012 07:13 PM)AnonALion Wrote:  This game is fantastic; it's been years since I've played it, though. I only just now realize how closely the game's theme-mechanics resemble the chaos philosophy. Normally people use the mechanics of a game to create spells, not the other way around.

Yeah, it's pure (chaos) magic.

"Normally people use the mechanics of a game to create spells, not the other way around."
Absolutely right!

I like the liberal, open-minded view of magic - everything is possible throgh creativity, belief, willpower, gnosis / arete and our paradigm.

By the way: I wish I could play this game with a good storyteller.