The Dark Path 1
From Atlantic Roleplay Wiki
The Dark Path - Volume I.
by Annatar.
STEPS ALONG THE WAY
Thus we understand the factors that compel a magician to follow his arcane study, and the motivations that guide him throughout his life. Once the sorcerer has chosen his vocation, we must now ask which steps will he take? Becoming a magician is not as simple as taking a class or reading a book. Sorcery for Idiots does not exist (yet), and should such a book be written, it would truly exist for the fool naive enough to think all the secrets of the universe can be found in 150 pages.
...ooOoOoo...
THE STARVING STUDENT
The potential magus peels alienated from his society at an early age. And he recognizes the Yearning and moves to fulfill it, he begins a lifelong search for the Otherworld.
The mundane arts provide a common draw - anything that affords the hungry child and opportunity to state his Yearning becomes a treat for the seeker. Creativity is the soul of the Universe, and few people truly connect with it, magician or not.
The sensations of the flesh - offer another fleeting lure as the hungry magus tries again and again to either open his senses to the world, or to close them completely. For some searchers, delirium is only a tool, a means of ecstasy that is later abandoned. For others, it becomes an addiction or obsession, trapping the student in his own self-absortion.
Finally, esoteric philosophies offer their guiding light. The mystic paths that once truly ushered a man or woman to new states of consciousness have been diluted with profiteering half-truths. A questing student often passes from philosophy to philosophy, keenly drawing authentic esotericism from mindless drivel. Most seekers are content to dance naked on the moonlight, bantering about different planes of existence and the power of crystals without ever truly realizing their quest.
Thus, the first step along the path is often the last. Mgically inclined searchers satisfy their Yearnings through any number of means, spurious or genuine. Few of them truly reach the Otherworld they seek; they might brush against it now and then, but fail to grasp the prize when they find it. Fewer still recognize the Yearning for what it is: a genuine numinous experience, a spiritual revelation.
Few are lucky enough to find the true path, obscured among the bramble and thorns of modern esoterism. There, a searcher finds some font of truth and immerses himself in its cold, mysterious water.
...ooOoOoo...