by G L Hooks

The questions I knew needed asking to give structure to my worlds of magic

This is an exercise in determining consistency across the magical universe of my created realities. In other words, I’m attempting to define and expound upon an underlying framework that makes the magic in my fantasy worlds possible.

This may be a Teacher from one of my stories attempting to explain what is and what could be, or not. Any resemblance to this reality is an attempt to anchor said theory and should not be accepted as true and correct, unless it helps clear your filter.

I have discovered in my decades of living we don’t need answers, we need questions. The right question reveals the answer and just by asking it, we open our personal door to wisdom.

Wait…what? It sounds backwards, doesn’t it? We spend our lives searching for answers, to life, to love, to purpose, to everything. We’re shouted at, over and over, by this one and that one, telling us how they have the answer. They know the secret. Just give them your attention (money) and they will share what they know, but are we asking the right questions?

A Confused Focus

The focus of our search implies the answer is contained in the knowing and sorting of things. We’re taught to believe that an answer needs to be sought outside of you or given to you by an outside source. Not that there isn’t a world of valid things to learn from comparison and structure, but the knowing of truth is personal and comes from within. We are taught from very young to believe we don’t have any answers. Is everything we need to know in the things around us? Do others have the opinions and beliefs we need?

The world understands the sorting of things so much better than we do, but this is a confusion of focus and a distraction. Especially when it comes to the big answers, the ones we all eventually seek. We sift through all the things, searching for the perfect item, when looking to the source of those things is our answer.

We really need to think of the right questions. The right question opens up a storehouse of wisdom, focusing your knowing as the answer floats up. It bypasses your constructed filter. Using language, experience, and the dna’s undercurrent of structured perception, an answer is presented, if you ask the right question. It may not be what you wish to hear, or you may choose to ignore it, or decide it’s too hard, but the answer is given to you in spite of your personal filter.

Focus on the Question

The right question is like focusing a special searchlight into the void. Each of our personal searchlights has a filter, created by our beliefs and opinions, already blocking parts of the information available that we have discounted. We only allow ourselves to see the truth from certain points of view, at certain angles, and at certain times. The right question can adjust the filter, so the answer you asked for is shown as it rises from the void. It cuts through your biases and opinions to show you a truth unvarnished by personal belief.

The problem arises when the question focuses your spotlight, highlighting something the conscious mind (the builder of the filter) doesn’t like, can’t readily explain, or refuses to accept. Everyone has a huge jumble of conflicting beliefs and opinions, decision points where disordered things forced a choice. These choices are almost always informed by what we already believe and others people’s beliefs or opinions.

Is Order Truth?

We each have a pile of things we just know are true. We’re sure of it because an authority figure we completely trust told us, and why would they lie, right? The problem is it may not be a lie, just something they accepted as truth when they were younger. They are passing information to you, but having everyone believe something doesn’t make it true. It may just add another layer to your filter.

Then there’s the pile of possibilities we’ve been forced to choose between, when two or more sources give us conflicting information. We usually choose based on the opinions we’ve already accepted, not worrying about it’s truth as much as whether or not it clashes with what we already believe. Lastly is the pile of things we’ve been taught were true.

The conscious mind has sorted through this massive amount of belief and opinion to draw order from it. Has it succeeded? Order is an avoidance of conflict, a reduction in chaos, but that doesn’t mean it’s an exercise in truth. What type of order has each of us achieved? How can we be sure we have an accurate view of reality? One word, doubt. Doubt everything you know is true and the false beliefs will not stand. You’ll clean a few layers from your filter and help yourself see the world you’ve built a little more clearly.