A Note From the Editor:

This book is a general/specific, silly/wise, individual/collective statement(s) of purpose/purposelessness fresh from the mind of the people of Boone North Carolina and its local Wizard, Liam. But it is more than that.

It is also:

· A treatise on the New Magic Economy (know your NME)

· An experiment in radical participation

· A guide to safely exploring non-Euclidean space

· A chronicle of trauma-forged knowledge

· An informational healing salve

· A love letter to Boone, North Carolina

· A spellbook

· A declaration that The World Is Different Now

· A confirmation that you are not alone

Spells? Magic? Yes.

The information age has made it evident there is more that is important beyond the rational or empirical. Beyond the profit motive. There are forces at play we have been taught to ignore, repress, disregard within ourselves. By now we can see the prevailing society has filled us with much useless poison. That we have given of ourselves more than we get. That our modern exoskeleton fails to protect us.

Magic is a strategy. Enchantment are its tactics. This is only supernatural in that the taught definition of natural has shrunk. We are here to say there are other ways to skin the cat of life. To affect change in ourselves, each other, our communities, and thus the world.

This is not a value judgment of our recent and living ancestors. It is an embrace of the ancient, the modern, and the post-modern, with a welcome to what comes next. It is an admission we can do better, by combining what we’ve lost with what we’ve gained. By giving credence to the whispers in our heads, and turning them into meaningful shouts. By using every tool available to us, including Magic (or whatever you want to call it)

Boone is a powerful place for this. I won’t overexplain it. Partly because this is happening everywhere. And because it is most important that you develop your own Magic, in your own town, wherever you are, right now.

So get ready to go on a quest. Find your local wizard. Or better yet, become one.