The Magical Path__episode01

   When you are a young Troll, such as Rusty and his sister, Misty, the world is full of magical things to learn about. They would often go on strolls through the woods, looking for interesting stones and guessing what magical properties might be found in each. It was on one  such expedition that Misty called attention to a pretty yellow stone that Rusty was about to step on.  

   "Pay attention, brother. You don't want to squish the magic out of it, before we've even picked it up."  Rusty picked up the stone and brushed the dirt off on his pants.

Attempting to place the newfound stone in their collection pot, it seemed to jump  clear and land on the ground.

   "Clumsy me", he mumbled as he bent to pick it up again, this time determined to get a firm grip on their new found treasure. He was not about to let it escape again.

   As he moved his clenched fist to the collection pot, he could feel the stone start to vibrate. Suddenly, his hand was pulled forward, with so much force that he began to run, to keep it from pulling his arm from his shoulder.

   Misty grabbed him by the belt, to help Rusty get back in control, but only managed to get pulled along, so fast that her feet seldom touched the ground. She quickly stopped her screams of protest, when she realized this was the most fun she had known in many moons.

   Their flight soon brought them to the door of a large stone building, with no windows, right in the middle of nowhere. The stone forced Rusty's fist to knock on the door. "I hope you were dropping bread crumbs" he said, because neither of them had ever been to this part of the woods before.

   The door opened and they were welcomed in by a charming blonde Elf. "Welcome Seekers", she chimed, "If you've come to be students of White Magic, my name is Amity and you have found your way to the right place".

    "students?, found? That rock dragged us here", piped in Rusty as he added the after thought, "...but do tell us more about learning White Magic, We are very interested in that subject". With that, he opened his hand to show the stone and it promptly took to the air, flew across the room and landed in the weighing pan, bringing the scale into perfect balance.

   "The stone is called `The Golden Gatherer' and its purpose is to help Seekers of knowledge to find their teacher", Amity informed them.

   "Clever stone", Misty said with a big grin.

   The fireplace, or hearth, is the heart of any home and, with or without flames, is a great place to have conversations that get everybody in focus.

   Amity gently steered her students to the stove, to prepare their minds for the first lesson.

   From seemingly nowhere, Amity pulled out a magic wand and tapped the oven, producing a viewing screen that showed images from her mind.

   "We can use my thought screen", she began, "to help you get a better picture of the things we will be talking about".

   Amity began the first lesson with a question, designed to get Rusty and Misty thinking in the right direction.

   "When you make magic, it makes things, but the power used comes from the realm of no things. The power comes from you, but that's the easy part to figure out. The tricky bit is discovering who, or what you really are. Who do you think will be doing the magic that I will teach you?"

   Ever the know-it-all, Rusty patted himself on the chest and announced, "It's me, me, ME! I am the one that will do the magic".

   "Not so fast, little fellow", Amity cautioned. "Your eyes take you to new vistas to explore and your feet carry you there. Your hands have made things from wood, stone and cloth, but they cannot touch that which has no form and can't even be seen. We are looking for the part of you that is using your body as a vehicle or tool, by the real you that is using this tool to experience things. You could say that the real you is somewhere inside of the physical form".

   "I think I know what you mean". Misty volunteered. "Sometimes I feel like I'm really a tiny version of me, that lives inside my head and has two eyes for windows. My Grandmother always says, the eyes are the windows to the soul. My guess is that the real me is a soul".

   "Now you're headed in the right direction", Amity said with a smile, "...but the soul is also just another tool that the real you is using. It's like a doorway, between the form and formless realms. We are looking for the you that is using the soul as a tool".

Amity explained that we each have many bodies to use for gaining new experiences, even above the level of soul. Since our real selves are eternal, we also have forms on many different scales, from the size of stars all the way down to smaller than scientists have yet to imagine,

   With that news, Rusty sprouted some translucent wings and began floating a foot above the floor. "I think we have an angel inside of us", he announced dramatically. I've heard the Elders say, that when we pass from the world of forms, our angel comes out and goes to the world of spirits,"

   "You're getting very much closer now", Amity assured him. As his wings vanished and his tail end was reunited with the floor, his sister stood and crossed her hands over her heart. As she looked up, she was bathed in a bright white light. "I've heard the Elders say that 'Ye are gods'. Perhaps we each have a little piece of the earth mother, Mama G, inside of us", Misty announced with great joy.
   Amity put an illustration, on the thought screen, showing a big flame which was made from many smaller flames. She then explained that all things are living creatures. They get their life from the thoughts of a creator that is the center of the biggest flame of all. The Great Creator can be called by many different names, but is a being in an eternal realm. Even the best of eyes will fail to see the size of the Great Flame at the end of eternity, because eternity excludes beginnings and endings.
 

Just then, the class was interrupted by a loud knock at the door. Amity waved her hand and the door opened. A young, enthusiastic, but hesitant Dwarf entered the laboratory and introduced himself.
   "Greetings, sisters and brother. My name is Woodard, but friends just call me 'Woody', he proclaimed.  "I was out chopping wood, near my home and a red bird landed on my pile of logs. It took me by surprise, when the bird began to talk to me."
    Woody went on to explain the things the bird had told him. A spirit had told the bird that Woody was being summoned to join a class on the ways of  the Path of White Magic. The spirit asked the bird to guide Woody to Amity's laboratory.

"Well, welcome to the class!", Amity announced, as she touched his hand. With that touch, she gave his mind the memories of the class, so far, so it now felt, to him, like he had been there from the start.
   Amity motioned him to come in and join the class, but to mind where he steps. Somewhere in the room, she had a clockwork squirrel roaming about, getting into things. Looking over her shoulder, she spotted Neville, trying to open a jar of almond butter.

Woody remembered that, so far, he had been missing from the conversation, so it was probably his turn to share his ideas. He offered a proposal that, since we are all parts of an eternal thought and part of that thought on every level, it doesn't matter 'who' we are as much as 'what' our job is, regardless of what level we are working on. He has heard many different names for an ax, but they all have the same what for. They all chop things up.

"Good point, Woody", Amity responded. She then offered to give them an example of the kind of work our center of being does. She raised her right hand and two large, colorful gems appeared above it. She then asked Woody if he was told that he could take whichever one he desired most, but that one gem brings good luck and the other disaster. How will he know which to pick? Woody began to wave his hand, slowly over the two gems, to get a feel of their energy. Each of his senses had its own input. One gem might have had a better feel, but the other was a prettier color. Remembering things that the colors stood for, like red for hot and blue for cool was of little help, because sometimes it's cool to be hot and hot to be cool. Words change their meaning with time.

   Amity projected an image of the world behind her and made an announcement.
   " There is always a red and a blue side, to everything in the world of duality. The trick is, we must use our minds, to imagine zooming out to see things in the big picture, from ALL Sides at the same time".

   Misty had been very inspired by the conversation and, with a bright smile, raised and waved her right hand."I think I have the answer to 'what' we are in our center. We are That Which Decides."

   Rusty got a bit inspired with that idea and came up with a theory of his own. "If the center is That Which Decides, then perhaps the outer flames would each have a name for the center which has the meaning of 'I am becoming that which I decide to become'", he offered.
   Just then, a puff of smoke billowed in their midst and a little old gnome appeared and praised the students for a great job of learning the first lesson.

   Amity introduced the gnome to the class. "This is Merle Havgud and he is the Master Magician that taught me White Magic. I'm sure he will be popping in on us, from time to time, to help with the lessons".

   "Yes indeed" the Master answered. "In the next lesson, I will explain the duality mentioned, because this illusion must be overcome before you can use magic to create forms."

Be sure to join us for our next class on White Magic

A Blue Triad Production