Bard craft

Poetry is magic. I don't mean that poetry is like magic, or analogous to magic, or magical in some metaphorical sense of the word.

I mean that poetry is, by its very nature, a form of real-life magic. In every culture I am aware of that has magic, poetry is a part of it. Whether people realize it or not, poetry is a spiritual discipline. The words poet and poetry come from the greek word "poesis", which means "creation"; hence a poet is a "creator".

The word sorcery comes from the old French "Sorcier", that is, one who is a source-- a creator.

"MAGIC" comes from the word "magus", a type of persian sorcerer. Poetry was their primary area of study, along with astronomy, medicine, and natural philosophy. But nearly all knowledge was passed through the medium of poetry in those times. It was the source.

From the druids of the british isles to the sorcerers of tibet, to the medicine men in tribes in the south seas, it is fairly universal that poets are magicians. In our culture, which has lost touch in some ways with its roots, we have forgotten this. Anyone who has ever read a really good poem has felt the magic, of course. But we have come to think of magic as some imaginary quick fix for problems, rather than as spiritual discipline. e have forgotten that wizardry is something akin to wisdom.

I want to encourage all poets to think of themselves as stewards and practitoners of an ancient and powerful form of sorcery. It's yours. Own it. develop it, practice it, and never underestimate its power to transform the world around you.

There is no limit to the power of this magic.