The Art of Magic Series - Mitch Williams

The Magician is the perfect combination of the warrior and the philosopher. In him is the complete balance of action and contemplation; of power and wisdom. He creates the harmonious blending of an intense air of mystery with a child-like sense of humor. He walks the narrow path of balance between the alchemical poles of Spirit and matter. To be "in the world but not of it" is the goal of the magician. Complete detached involvement is the path he strives to tread.

Unlike the common warrior, who takes the active path for personal (or even national) gain, or the mystic, who isolates himself from the world in hopes of some brief glimpse of the infinite, the magician must stand with his feet firmly set in BOTH worlds; the spiritual and temporal.

It is a lonely path he must tread; for those who live in the world cannot understand why he responds to the world as he does; and those who seek only the spiritual path cannot understand his involvement in the world at all. He must constantly balance the directed drive of purpose with the care-free humor of detachment.

In faith he walks; sure of his actions, but unattached to their outcome. His inner expression meets the outer need, and the result is healing and growth.

The magician understands that our experience of the world as "reality" is ultimately an illusion. He remains aware of both the unreality of the illusion and the importance of the proper use of the experience of the illusion, which will inevitably transcend itself. In understanding that the illusion is not real, the magician is able to work with it effectively, free of the confines of its limitations.

And this is the role of the true magician: to bring the illusion back to the Truth.