Hey everyone.
I was wondering if there has been any information written down on the properties of magic.
I.e
-How do casters channel its power?
-Is it a type of mystical energy ? I.e like chakra or spiritual energy?
-Where does this energy stem from in the first place?
-How is this energy woven and shaped into the specific effects desired by the caster? Like how does one shape this energy into a heal spell or lightning bolt for example?
Does anyone have any insight on these questions prehaps?
To start with, I think magic operates according to symbolic rather than materialist metaphysics. By metaphysics I mean how it's defined by logical positivists and not the new-age section of the bookstore.
In materialist metaphysics, a rose is a red flower with a thorny stem. In symbolic metaphysics red represents the blood of the martyr and thorns represent her torments, assuming the rose doesn't represent something else. Meaning is as fundamental in symbolic metaphysics as energy is to materialist metaphysics, that's why an attack spell can know if you're good or evil. Likewise, a water elemental isn't water given thought, cohesion, and movement by some form of superhero-universe physics-bending, a water elemental is symbolic water.
That's my hypothesis, absent of official Paizo opinion.