Disclaimer: The following document fragment is presented from an in-character perspective, it should not be taken as the truth of the setting.
Context: Continuing on the theme from our last post, the excerpt below discusses an actual philosophical concept. This time however, it is applied to magic, and specifically the Left Hand Path… or as you might be more familiar Black Magic. That in itself is a concept we’ve shared some lore on before, but in this case we have something a bit different: an in character critique of the issue.
It would be a lie to say that we are all beholden to the consequences of our actions. But it is true that, at large, the world we live in is. While a person can avoid answering for their decisions, the consequences will play out once causality takes hold.
Let us consider the Left Hand Path and what stance it takes upon consequences. Power should be applied. This is the principal tenant of the Sinistra Via, to act upon the actionable, to have no restraint and to not hold back. Some might say it is the uttermost expression of freedom, but, unfortunately, there is a striking naivete to the paradigm.
What really are the consequences of our actions? After all, the universe is bound by cause and effect, is it not? Our actions are thus the cause, and their consequences are the effect. This is hard to argue against; indeed, it is not a stance the Left Hand rejects. But instead, there is more to consequences than the direct outcome, and this is where the actual difference lies.
When we consider the consequences of our actions, do we consider the consequences of those consequences? What of the further implications of those?
For the Left Hand Path, it is not even the case to neglect this chain of causality; rather, it is to hold a knowing disdain for this line of reason. The demagogues will tell you that you must not be paralysed into inaction by overthinking the possible futures your actions might bring but instead act upon the present to shape the future you desire. This often turns into a direct critique of traditions and taboos as something that limits us. But not only that, it applies these constraints to our agency for reasons we do not even understand.
Indeed. That is true.
For the followers of the Sinistra Via, taboos and traditions bear no weight, for they never spent the time to understand them, to learn from whence they came.
And, of course, nothing in this world truly comes from nothing. And so the traditions and the taboos of our society, at the very least once, served some purpose. That is not to say they are all valid; that would be equally a foolish statement. Instead, it is vital to understand such a construct before it is rejected.
Let us run a thought experiment.
Were you to find a fence blocking your path, would you be in the right to destroy this fence, not knowing the reason it stands in this place? To remove it would be of immediate benefit to you, aiding our goal to be where you need to be, and it is in your ability to do so.
And yet, what are the further-reaching consequences of your actions? There might not be any, but you do not know. All you know is that someone took the effort and committed the resources needed for the fence to stand here in your way.
This allegory comes from the mouth of Gilbert Keith Chesterton, a man of minor importance and no magical talent, and yet even such a man could present us with a meaningful thought.
Possibly the most common fence a mage might encounter on their daily path through life is the taboo of applying mind-altering magic to the magically un-inclined. From the perspective of the Left Hand Path, the use of suggestion, memory implantation or modification is an expression of agency a mage possesses when interacting with a mundane human. The assumption is that manipulating such a person has no risk and holds no negative impacts for the mage. And that might be true from an in-the-moment perspective. But it carries psychological and emotional long-term consequences for the target of such manipulation, which over time affects the quality of the local consciousness grid, which in turn may lead to the manifestation of more frequent or potent nightmares or ghosts.
In a way, it is the mentality of littering.
Esoteric Musings... 