The Dark Mage

Preface

     To preface what this story is about, it is meant to bring to light things for contemplation. Although many of us may not encounter anthropomorphic magical creatures, that is beside the point. The point is that these characters are meant to bring to mind different parts of ourselves, even some less savory aspects along with the better parts.

     As for myself, in my own life, I am quite unremarkable and wouldn't stand out all that much. But beside that unremarkable persona, there is someone who could be considered a kind of theologian in the classical sense, not in the sense of doctorates and masters in divinity but in the sense of partaking in the life of the Orthodox church and studying to understand and go deeper into the mysteries of the life of God.

     What inspired to write this story was thinking of how I could make theology and philosophy accessible to ordinary people as well as point towards higher things than sensory experiences. And as someone who doesn't value external sensations very much beyond their practicalities, I have found many forms of media to be underwhelming and hollow and made of cheap materials. So, I wanted to create something that would point towards higher things and would appeal to the whole person, including their human rational mind and heart.

     And the biggest challenge for me in this endeavor was to communicate things that were once easily understood over the centuries but have since faded out of the collective consciousness. And doing that was made more difficult with the restriction of not turning this story into an academic dissertation that the falling attention spans of people would not be able to sit 30 seconds through. I also respect people enough as to not insult their intelligence and believe anyone who can think is capable of coming to the knowledge of the truth, and I would be demeaning people if I did not let them think.

     As such, I did not intend everything in this story to be immediately visible but knowable from putting the pieces together and thinking them through. So armed with a heart that feels, a mind that thinks, and a strong intuition, the underlying secrets of this story can be unlocked to reveal the meaning that underlies it all. And as such, the meaning is left open-ended for those who read this story to discover it.