The Eternal Art (1)

Truly, what is the most eternal of arts? Prostitution, compromise, war. All such convincing candidates. None of these. It is magic.

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Prostitution, compromise, war. All such convincing candidates.

War seems to be part of the human soul, both the inner and outer conflicts. And our oldest records are replete with wars. Compromise is surely ancient too, perhaps a natural consequence of long, bitter wars. How could peace ever come without it?

And prostitution. It seems like an ancient alchemy of the other two, war and compromise swirling around each other, winding ever more tightly, like a stormwind. 

All of these answers are infused with familiar human arrogance. Despite so much contrary evidence, we cling to the notion that we are the culmination of creation, the natural master of the worlds. We are not.

The Eternal Art is, of course, magic, which predates human hubris by millions and billions of years. 

Magic was present at the creation of this universe, and it shall be the inciting element of its end, just as certainly.

Long before humans emerged from our breeding pens, before the other small sentients had been conceived, magic was the domain of two primeval forces: Order and Chaos.

Not even the Dragons themselves know the real truth of it, but even they acknowledge that they are but one pole of creation, forever at odds (but in balance) with their exact opposite: the Faeries.

Dragons are creatures of structure and will. For them, the Eternal Art is one studied over a lifetime — and beside the Dragons, we are but flies. Over thousands of years, a Dragon will travel from teacher to teacher, sage to sage, learning, committing to memory, categorizing, thinking.

For Faeries, magic is a thing discovered, felt, experienced. It is not known whether Faeries live longer than Dragons or for a shorter span than even humans, but what is known is a glorious nightmare, one of trickery, deceit, spontaneous joy, and ground-splitting rage. 

They are not to be trifled with.

What we know of magic is primarily from the Dragons, though they are far wiser than we. However, I worry that understanding the Faeries is vital to solving our ultimate problem. 

Continue reading with Part 2 - The Circles of Old.

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