Day 17

Set your timer for 20 minutes. Get our your WIP or a new story you want to write or an idea you want to expand that has come to you recently. 

In the heart of the wood lives the wise man. He can mix you a tincture or divine the path you should take but he will not solve your problems for you. Often he may make them a good deal worse. 

The Magus sits in his cottage and feels the threads of destiny spinning around him. He is not the weaver he simply sees the patterns. He can see where the threads are dropped and need to be repaired and he can sometimes predict the shape the pattern will take. He can point you towards the place you need to be but he will not take you there. The magus knows that you must walk the path yourself, no one can do it for you. [Bleugh, mixed metaphor]

The Magus knows how to make the world uncomfortable enough to help you take the path that you need to take. It is always uncomfortable in the woods. The magus may light a path or plunge you into darkness. It is hard to know if the Magus works for good or bad. The Magus does not think in these terms. There is done, not done, might be done, might be better not done, worth thinking about, worth dismissing and all points in-between. What the Magus means is that the world is complicated and good and bad are overly simple and usually unhelpful. Altruism can lead to unimaginable horror and the worst of us may walk through the world without leaving a mark. It is impossible to understand the impact of what you do so you must simply walk the path you choose. But walk it you must. The alternative is to stay in the woods and there are things in the woods that do not want you here.  The Magus knows this. 

The Magus does not strive to bring balance, he simply rides the pendulum. He has made hard choices in his time and knows that once a choice has been made there is little point in thinking of the alternatives, the alternatives are simply unmanageable - there are too many possible permutations for this to ever be helpful. The Magus does demand thought though - that you strive for understanding of what you are doing and why you are doing it, that you think about the impact of your choices to the best of your ability, that you do your very best, whatever that means to you. 

The Magus has little time for people like the hero - those who choose actions instead of analysis and deal with the consequences. The Magus is irked at how often the consequences play out negatively for people other than the hero and the hero marches on oblivious. However, he likes the fool, one who dances on the edge of uncertainty who thinks herself into a state of paralysis - he rather wishes more people would do this. The Magus has given little thought to the princess. He will find that this is a mistake.