A story passed down by generations of my family reminds me of this
conflict of magick vs non-magick, I will tell it to you.

South of the Desert is a small village of people that were once the
people of my mother's clan. They lived their lives peacefully and it was
a time of hard work, peaceful nights and a time of tranquility. There
was another village further south that my mother's people often traded
with and oftentimes marriages were formed between the two clans. The
neighboring Clan was called the Timi'Chuk.

The place in the Desert that they lived expanded many miles, but was
very near to a mountainous range that provided the water source. The
water formed a Y, in which two springs formed, one to my Mother's
village and one to the neighboring village of the Timi'Chuk.

There were many travelers that would come to both villages for trading,
and along the way, they would drop plants and seeds, in which new life
would grow. It was along the waters of the Timi'Chuk Clan that an
unknown weed was dropped, then this weed began to grow along the water
banks. Soon, the whole waterway was alive with this weed and it even
started to grow within the water itself.

Every year the two Clans would unite and celebrate the new year, much
trading would go on during this time and the elders would decide on
couples that would be selected to wed. But during one particular year,
my mother's clan started to notice a big difference in the Timi'Chuk.

The Timi'Chuk, once a healthy Clan, started to look weak and pale, their
eyes were often glassy looking, even blank looking, but they were always
happy it seemed. There was always a smile on their faces, from the
elders to the smallest of children. The people of my mother's tribe
began to notice that despite their happiness, it didn't seem to be
heart-felt, rather it was more of a false pretense.

Many of my mother's clan grew worried over the difference they had seen
in their friends and neighbors, thus marriages that were planned were
called off. My mother's clan knew something was not right, the Timi'Chuk
were just not the same.

It was then that there were investigators into this dilemma, into the
source of the changes within the Timi'Chuk Clan. Three men and two women
went to the neighboring village and spent three nights and three days in
the company of the Timi'Chuk. It was then they discovered this plant
that grew along the banks of the water source of the Timi'Chuk. They
discovered that the weed was used in drinks, food, even smoked by the
elders, but was largely used in desserts, such as brownies. The
investigators decided that one of them would partake of this weed and
see what would happen.

Just as they thought, the one that partook of the weed seemed to be
there, but "not there" mentally. Always with this wide smile on his face
and laughing at things that were not really funny, in fact, he was
behaving as the Timi'Chuk were.

The investigators took this information and some of this weed back to
their home village and explained to the elders what they had discovered.
There was much concern over this discovery and it was then that three of
the Council members went to the Timi'Chuk village to discuss this with
their elders.

Within the council gathering the people of my mother's clan expected
that all would go well, that the Timi'Chuk would realize what this weed
was doing to their people. Perhaps it would be an eye opener to what
this weed was doing to them, and with the help of my mother's clan, they
would help them get rid of it.

What the Council did not expect is for the Timi'Chuk to get angry, in
fact, they were so angry, they killed one of the visiting High Council
members and chased the others back to their own village.

When the two Council members returned, they told their story and of the
death of the third, which created great unease within the village. It
was decided that they would send more people and they would bring along
weapons in case the Timi'Chuk tried to kill them.

The Timi'Chuk were expecting them to return and the entire village was
ready with many weapons and they attacked before my mother's people even
stepped foot within the Village. But, while they were there, Tamnas of
my Mother's Clan went to his daughters tent and he captured her, taking
her back to her home village, he did not want his daughter living among
those that were there, but not mentally there.

It took many near three months before Tamnas' daughter was healed of her
afflictions and when the effects of the weed finally wore off and she
did not undergo any more delusions and or cravings for the weed, that
she was finally able to speak of what happened. She explained that the
weed had made her feel good about herself, stronger, happier and more
alive, but what she did not know was that all along, the weed was
killing her. She had grown very thin during her time with the Timi'Chuk,
her skin was pale and she was weaker than she'd ever been in her life.

The daughter of Tmanas also explained that no matter the amount of the
weed one would get, they were still affected, no matter how much water
one drank, they were still affected and that false sense of confidence
affected them all but in different ways.

The Timi'Chuk village soon grew too weak and they were unable to care
for their crops or to care for themselves. Finally, it was my mother's
tribe that went in and cared for them all, taking them away from this
weed that they had named "Cactus Weed".

------
All in all, it is the same with magick. No matter how much magick one
uses, it all comes from the same source, and those that use it are
ignorant to the affects it is having. Perhaps one day, those that do not
use magick will have to go in and save those that do. We will be here
when you need us
it may not be today, it may not be tomorrow, but we are a patient
people.

Penned by my hand on the 4th of Tenebrae, in the year 458 AD.