Magic defines the existence of mages. But what is it? To some, magic is power; it's the ability to make things happen. To others, it's wisdom, the enlightenment that comes with internal fulfillment. Some practice magic as an external force shaped by procedure and ritual, while others consider it the energy that flows from inside the magician.

    Magic is all of these things and more. It's a dynamic force of change, whether that change tears down the old, strengthens the new or creates the wonderful. Through strength of will, belief in practiced forms and an enlightened consciousness that speaks to the Tellurian, mages reweave the Tapestry itself.

    The magic used by mages steps past the boundaries of lesser tricks and supernatural phenomena. Many sorcerers and their ilk find themselves constrained to specific ritual formulae and particular repeatable "spells." An Awakened mage has no such limits, instead forming his own approach to magic as tempered by the teachings of history and heritage. Although a mage's power is not infinite, it is infinitely diverse. The styles of each Tradition (and Convention, and Craft...) give a mage tools to push and pull at the fabric of reality. What the mage does with those tools is limited only by the mage's functional knowledge (the Spheres), enlightened awareness of the universe (Arete), particular belief in a style of magic paradigm) and by the force with which reality changes the mage who brings change too forcefully (Paradox).

    There are no "spell lists" or "magic points" to which mages must adhere. A mage's power stems from her own inner awareness and will, and so the mage can work magic limited only by that strength. Potentially, every mage could create nearly any Effect; your own imagination fuels the infinite combinations of Spheres.

    It's up to each player and Storyteller to work with the combinations of power that the magic of the Spheres provides. A potent mage can literally reweave the skein of reality to her whims, and an unwise or impulsive magician may wield magic that crushes the very life and resistance from his adversaries and trials (and from the story itself). Telling a story about magic isn't an exercise in showing off the powers of wizardry; it's a group effort that everyone should enjoy. The powers of Mage thus bow, ultimately, to the imaginations of Storyteller and player alike, and to the desire to tell an entertaining story.