The Rules of Wizardry

Jun 25, 2023

Given proper motivation, almost anyone will believe almost anything. Most human beings are under the spell of social consciousness which is mainly driven by fear and uncontrolled urges. Because of this people believe lies because they are afraid it is true or, because they want to believe it is true.
Everyone's heads are full of knowledge, facts and beliefs. Most of it is false, yet they think it all true. Most people only rarely tell the difference between a lie and the truth, yet they are confident they can, and so are all the easier to fool.
Being afraid something is true is accepting the possibility. Accepting the possibility is the first step to believing.
To defend against the first rule, I must be always vigilant knowing that I too am vulnerable and never arrogantly believe I am immune. I must always be alert that I can fall prey.

The greatest harm can result from the best intentions. It sounds paradox but, kindness and good intentions can be an insidious path to destruction. Sometimes doing what may seem right is wrong and can cause harm.
Good intentions, being kind, can encourage the lazy and motivate sound minds to become indolent. The more help you give, the more help a person will need. As long as you're kindness is open-ended, they will never gain discipline, dignity or self-reliance.
To counter to this is knowledge transformed into wisdom, forethought and understanding of the first rule. Even then it is not always enough, violation of this rule can cause anything from discomfort to disaster to death. Think what might happen if we add magic?

There is magic in forgiveness; the ultimate aim in true magic is to create and heal.