Alberstaff's Eluctable Primer on the Nature of the Arcayne Energies Engend'ring Hylas and Her Two Moons

Plate XXIV
Found in Alberstaff's Eluctable Primer showcasing the use of Epicycles to predict the outcomes of various Cycles of Magic in our Prime Plane

Excerpt taken from Chapter III..starting at paragraph 18.

"...That was before the Fabricators or Engineers, and therefore we have no thoughts discerning such speculations.  As to how Certain other Persons can work their will upon this Plane of Reality, this has to do with the manipulation of an invisible and undetectable Energie hight The Flow.  For any Flow to occur, there must necessarily be a Source and a Destination for the Medium or Energie to motivate toward.  Our humble dissertation and studies hath uncovered a Truth:  namely, that The Flow is a magickal energie emanating eternally from The Light or The Plane of Positive Energie and motivating speedily toward The Dark or The Plane of Negative Energie,  Our Plane of Primal Reality or Prime Material as it is otherwise knowne, is in the Path of The Flow and certain Persons hath learned to manipulate and direct these ethereal winds to their desires.
As to whither the godlike entities that we call Engineers or Creators fashioned The Flow according to their various and divers desires, or They of a happenstance discovered It when they alighted to this Plane of Reality is a matter of continued conjecture.  What is of essential importance is How this Energie is herded and directed by use of certain Paradymes, to wit:  Cartomancy, Astromancy, Onieromancy, Hydromancy, &c.  Those Persons who seek The Flow and use such contrivances to control It are called Wyzards and must commit to Memory the magick spells they learn.  Once they cast forth the spell that their Paradygm engendered, It is lost to them and must again be studied into their memory.  However, there are Those Persons who are besought by The Flow as it were and They hight Sorcerers who merely cast the spells The Flow gave them and, as such, they therefore use less of the Esoteric Materials than Wyzardes and become more exhausted and tyred since The Flow resides in their very marrow of their bones.  Also, wierdly, Sorcerers and Others such as Bards, Magi, &c., still need to use Paradymes to assist their casting prowess to coax The Flow to do their Will.  Par Exempli:  Bardic musicians use Music, Song or Drumming to bring forth The Flow, whilst Magi practise their swordplay or Tactics to do also...."

Excerpt from Chapter VII...starting at paragraph 4.

"...As a list of such Paradygms we offer the following:  Cartomancy is the steering of The Flow by use of a set of tiles or cards arranged in a certain way, each of which hath a meaning known only to the Wizarde.  Astromancy is a method of studying the positions and movements of the stars and planets to manipulate the winds of The Flow.  Onieromancy is the subtle reading of the innards of slain sheep in order to control The Flow.  Aviomancy is the witnessing and translation of the movements of flocks of birds to cast their spells more effectively.  Hydromancy is the searching for images in the reflective surfaces of pools of water to steer The Flow more to their desire...."

"...This is by no means a comprehensive and exhaustive list.  They are as many Paradymes as there are Those that use them, as varied and divers as the humans, elves and faeries themselves.  Whilst The Flow loveth Order and Means to manipulate It, it is not Of Order nor of Chaos either and will continually straddle the twin steeds never alighting on a particular one much to the astonishment of the Arcanists and Wyzardes who wield it."

Excerpt from Chapter I...paragraph 14.

"...many thousands of years ago when the Worldgates were created, the Engineers used The Flow at that tyme to make instantaneous travel from Hylas to the other two moons Agnion and Thalassa possible.  Therefore, They must have known about it, there is no doubt, but as to whither they Created it is not known.  Drez'Zur is the Engineer or Fabricator who is most connected with The Flow and their priests achieve the same titles as Wizardes and Sorcerers, to wit:  Each magintude of spell mastery is an Opener of that Way.  Par Exempli:  It is well known that the spell hight The Shocking Grasp of the Outstretched Hand is a spell of the First Magnitude or Levell.  And therefore, if that were the most complicated spell one knew that Person would be heralded as an Opener of the First Way.  The spell known in our circles as Thy Compleat Domination of a Person's Sentient Mynde is one of the Fifth Magnitude and, therefore, one who knew that as his most powerfull spell would be hight an Opener of the Fifth Way, &c..."

Excerpt from Chapter XV...paragraph 4.

"...'Twas never an easy thing to direct an invisible Force in an all too visible World.  Therefore, certain accoutrements hight Esoterick Materials are used in conjunction with a Paradygm to control the winds of The Flow.  These Esoterick Materials have their origin in the far-flung Plane of Pandemonium an assumption we are trying desperately to contradict and will be published in a later volume.  These Esoterick Materials are of four kyndes:

Entropick Resin usually found in areas where mass deaths have occurred or been interred.  We have found that those destroyed by lightning, acids or fire tend to produce the most concentrated Resins.  Garian Ebonrood seems to think that undead haunts produce good amounts of this Resin as well. These Resins assist in the casting of magick in the Cycle of Evoking and the Obscura Necromantick.

Geodes are roundish stones which harbour purplish and red crystals surrounding a hollow centre.  They tend to be found in the deeps of Hylas, among flows of liquid stone, or areas where earthquakes have caused upheavals in the earth.  Also, regions where the Elementals of Earth and Fyre have appeared tend to produce these plain looking stones.  These Stones aide in the calling forth of spells in the Parma Abjura or The Magick Shield, and the Circle of Proteus or Transmutation as it is knowne in Alchemickal Almanacks.

Prismatic Sand are granules of polyhedrons of infinitesimal size found on sandy beaches and forlorn deserts.  It is often mixed with ordinary sand and must be carefully sifted to separate the twain.  The means for this most arcane procedure will be elucidated in a later chapter.  [Scribes margin note:  Chapter XIX]  These mystick Sands are used in the casting of spells in the Shroud of Phantasma or Illusion, and the Circle of Summoning or Conjuration.

Verdant Salts are found on the stalks of the Hemp or Cannibis plant after its flowering phase when, in the purple light of the conjoined full moons, dew collects thereon and hardens in the dawn light of blind Heli.  Consuming these Salts cause hallucinations and altered perceptions and is said to improve One's Health.  These strange Salts have alway been used in the manifestation of effects in the Realm of Enchantment and in the Oculus Dei or Eye of the Gods, to wit:  Divinations and Omens.

There is an Esotery that does not fit into the four former Categories, namely, Promethium.  This bright azure crystalline formation is universal in that it can be vouchsafed as any other Esoteric Material.  It is much lighter than the Others and can be found in amounts as large as a elderberry or a Human's thumbnail.  It is much rarer than the Other Ingredients and as of this writing we have not found Promethium in any significant amounts to reveal a Source or Field.  It has alway been our experience that we came across it accidently and even those who sell the elusive Substance hath gainsaid as much..."