Dialogue between a Priest and a Magician

Dialogue between a Priest and a Magician

         There came a time when two men of magic happened to meet upon the road. One was whose name was chosen by his god and another was one whose name evolved through his deeds.

         It was an hour before dusk and two travelers, walking in opposite directions, arrived at a roadside traveler's camp nearly simultaneously. Both men were the same stature in height and body build, being slender and tall. They were about the same age, with laugh lines around the mouth, worry lines about the eyes and salt and pepper gray accentuating trimmed beards. There was also a similarity in their attire. Each man wore a wool traveling cloak and carried upon his back a compact bundle containing everything he would need while on the road. The dark muddied hem of their robes extended passed the cloak and each man wore sturdy leather boots to protect them from sharp stones and stream crossings.

         The man traveling north was the first to break the silence. "My Brother, will you share this modest refuge with me? It is growing dark and time to prepare camp for the night."

         The man traveling south nodded his head. "Yes, certainly. I'd enjoy the opportunity to share a warm fire, a hot meal and conversation this evening. The journey has been long and company has been sparce."

         The two men went about their separate routines to set up camp. The man traveling south set up and lit the fire by chanting an arcane phrase and sprinkling ash upon the stacked tinder. Both men shared a pot and added ingredients equally to produce a stew unique to this sharing, or as the man traveling north said, this communion.

         A discussion regarding talent and philosophy ensued as each man revealed he was able to wield powers not common to all men.

         The man traveling south explained he left a small village just a day's distance up the road where he was asked to purify the water supply from some kind of poisoning from streams leeching over layers of minerals exposed from their mining endeavors.

         The man traveling north nodded as he recognized the name of the same village and explained he traveled there to tend to the injured and the sick.

         The man from the north told the man from the south about the cave filled with the prepared dead and explained that some did indeed die from a fever not caused by the contaminated wells. The villagers awaited the arrival of a priest so they could send their friends and loved ones passed the veil.

         The man from the south nodded his head in silence. He stared into the low fire and sighed. "There will be much need for grief counsel then. There will be those not willing to let go of their loved ones and who will demand they be given back to this world of the living."

         The man from the north: "I don't envy you your task. I am rarely called upon to raise the dead. It is well known that the life energy is lacking from a magician's spells. I can animate a body, but I cannot summon back the soul."

         The man from the south: "Yes, a simple incantation isn't quite enough to convince the departed soul to leave the bliss it has found in death.There must be an act of God instructing the soul to return to it's earthly flesh. However, not all souls, once they pass over, are allowed to leave the place of resting and bliss."

         Man from the north: "My services are simpler. As long as I make known my limitations and I am aware of my inner strengths and weaknesses, I can inform the perspective client of what I can and cannot do. Where as, you are limited by the creation plan and the will of God. You cannot promise a success, or predict a failure."

         Man from the south: "There is also another factor which sways the outcome of a ceremony. My services run on acts of faith. The one petitioning for intervention whether it be the laying on of hands to heal a broken bone or sickness or a potential ressurrection the petitioner must have faith that God will and can intervene. It isn't enough for me to know it can happen. My faith isn't what makes the act of God work."

         Man from the north, chuckling.: "Yes, indeed. My talents will work as long as I am capable of sustaining my concentration and my self confidence and as long as I have the proper components with which to enhance the spell. The recipient's belief in my skills will not weaken my magic. Only lack of faith in myself or lack of proper resources will do that. I am limited in what I can do by myself. You are limited by your client and by the will of God. You have less control but your potential is limitless when all factors are prime."

         Man from the south: "It isn't really that much of a burden. Most acts of faith are common and believed readily. I can heal a serious wound even when someone doesn't believe. This occurs when the person believes they have lived a godless life and think my god won't intervene. For situations like this my faith is enough. Most times after such services, the godless person becomes more receptive to the living in faith concept. So there are moments of satisfaction. I am a witness to what is possible through faith. I am also a witness to what is denied because of lack of faith. There are also other benefits I receive for my servitude to God's children. How old do you think I am?"

         Man from the north: "Well, let me see. You appear physically as old as myself. But given you are a channel for divine power which flows through you unrestricted and I wield power and direct it, I will guess you are older than myself. I guess you are fourty years old. How old do you think I am?"

         Man from the south: "You are correct about the process of channeling. I was lucky to be taught at an early age on how to allow the energies of creation to flow smoothly. I lost a friend in seminary because he closed the flow. He aged fourty years in a matter of seconds and flash burned from the inside out. It was a harsh object lesson on what happens if you don't channel successfully. As to my age, I am nearly sixty years old. I would've guessed you to be fourty, but you indicated just now that you are younger than that."

         Man from the north: "Taking the raw and wild power from nature tends to age the body, yet it also toughens it up. Kind of like curing leather, when done properly a hide will toughen up and last for ages. I started manipulating the element water when I was eight years old. I am now twenty eight and look like I'm fourty. But my mentor and teacher is still active at the age of one hundred and twelve years. He frightens children with his appearance, being stooped and leathered like an old boot."

         Man from the south: "Touching the elemental energy and being used as a funnel for celestial energies does grant longevity, well as long as you allow the energies to flow correctly. My mentor and confessor was also in his hundreds when God finally allowed him to pass into bliss."

         Silence fell between the men as they both watched the flames flicker charring thick sticks hungrily. A cool breeze fanned the coals. Frogs croaked not far over a hill where there was probably a pond or marsh. The smoke smelled fragrant and the man from the north wondered what kind of wood they burned.

         Man from the south: "Well, I need to tend to my prayers and turn in. I must be up at dawn for my sunrise devotions so that I may do God's work tomorrow."

         Man from the north: "I too must sleep and meditate with the coming dawn. We are not so different in that respect."

         Man from the south: "May your sleep be restful."

         Man from the north: "May your dreams portray only wisdom."

         Both men then stood and prepared their bedrolls for sleep. In the east a sliver of moon peeked from behind a cloud and to the west a coyote sang a lonesome song. The man from the north took a container with a chalk like powder and walked a short perimeter chanting and sprinkling the powder ceremoniously. The man from the south, added a request in his prayers for himself and his companion to be watched over in the night and protected.

         The men slept undisturbed and awoke refreshed just before the dawn. Each attended to his duties required to refresh his perspective use of magic and afterwards ate a cold breakfast of trail food. The men parted, the priest going north and the magician going south. Each man appeared to have a slight spring in his step. It was a good day to be traveling.