That old black magic.
The Dr. Strange School Of Magic has closed. It is no more. What I'm referring to is the type of magic whereby the user calls upon a higher being, a god (small g) so to speak. This was actually the easiest type of magic to perform, but could only be accomplished if the god favored you. Typically people would try it and then be led to believe that it was bogus when in fact the god just thought that the person was a pathetic loser undeserving of power or aide. But the gods are dead. They have ceased to be. When William killed Char'noke Mir'ta, the Dreadwind, all of his children, all of those gods, popped away in a puff of nothing. Nietzsche made his famous statement too early. The only religions currently worshiping something that actually exists are the Gaea or Earth/life religions. Everybody else is singing in the wind.
There is still magic, and the Matrix was actually close. The remaining magic is best described as cheat codes to reality. A person must not only know about them but well and truly believe them as well as having the strength of will to enact them. Think of it this way, you may know what keys to hit to do a cheat code in a game but maybe the combination requires you to move more swiftly than possible, or to have more fingers than you actually have. Just knowing something isn't enough. Strength of will is the issue here, which is why so many magic users are such complete assholes. Plus, you have to understand how, precisely, it affects the code. Not as easy as you thought, huh?
There is still magic, and the Matrix was actually close. The remaining magic is best described as cheat codes to reality. A person must not only know about them but well and truly believe them as well as having the strength of will to enact them. Think of it this way, you may know what keys to hit to do a cheat code in a game but maybe the combination requires you to move more swiftly than possible, or to have more fingers than you actually have. Just knowing something isn't enough. Strength of will is the issue here, which is why so many magic users are such complete assholes. Plus, you have to understand how, precisely, it affects the code. Not as easy as you thought, huh?