by Lem, Founder of House Lem and of the Cholaeic Order
Magic affects the world around us. It has structure and pattern that may be observed by the discerning eye. It also takes its form from the matter it manipulates. The energy of each spell must be charged and aligned with that which it would influence, like moving like, in order for the wizard's will to be enacted. Thus there are two parts, that which is being worked and the intent that will shape it. The concrete (or intangible) form of the object of the spell, and the technique used upon it. These two parts correspond to parts of our language, the objects of which we speak, the nouns, and the actions which put the nouns into motion, the verbs. There are five concepts that express the range of magical actions one may undertake, and ten categories of matter and being that may be acted upon: these are respectively the verbs and nouns of cholaeic magic, the five techniques and the ten forms.
And thus was the world changed by words. Seconded only, perhaps, by Palenti's formulation of the parma magica, Lem's analysis of the nature of magic made possible the robust and coherent tradition of magical exploration that our order has to this day enjoyed. It could be said that all other cholaeic texts are commentary on the Black Book. This makes the progression of Lem's work all the more bewildering. From the clear, insightful logic of the Black and Red Books, his works take on more and more allegorical and fantastic form, inspiring oblique texts such as the Concordance for the Birds and the Blank Book, which last seems--at least to a superficial eye--a mockery of the work of the order.
It is surely a testament to the genius of this founder that these texts hold great power and offer substantial material for study and work. The house of Lem is one of the largest in the order. But it must be left to faith that a diversity of understandings and pathways of intellectual inquiry be necessary for the strength of the order, since the upper echelons of this house's foundational texts such as the Green and Blue texts remain so obscure to members of other houses, such as myself. And though it is only the house of Lem that may draw value from the Indigo Book, the order as a whole has reaped benefit from the Black Book of Lem that will likely reverberate down through the generations undiminished.
--scholar of Annalum
