Editing Sigil:Saël (section)

== Not Magic ==

Saël is often casually described as magic, though learned practitioners consider this imprecise. Magic is not Saël itself. Magic is what mortals call certain ways of interacting with Saël.

A forest untouched by any Crafter still carries the Breath. A battlefield may retain the imprint of terror centuries after the dead are buried. An old home may acquire a character that a newly built hall lacks. A child carries Saël before learning the word, and a river moves within its currents whether anyone invokes a sigil beside it or not.

The world does not become magical when someone works a wonder. The wonder is possible because the world was already alive.

For this reason, many practitioners distrust language that describes Saël as a substance to be gathered, stored, or consumed. Such metaphors are convenient, but they encourage the false idea that the Breath is merely a reservoir of power waiting to be exploited. Saël belongs to the world before it belongs to anyone.