lin·gua·phile

I’ve had the Wizard’s Oath from Young Wizards memorized since I was about twelve, and I’ll say it to myself sometimes when I’m down, or frustrated, or just need to be reminded of my purpose. I know it’s meant for wizards, but I hope you don’t have to be a wizard to feel like the things in the Oath are the things that matter, in this universe or the next one.

In Life’s name and for Life’s sake, I assert that I will employ the Art which is its gift in Life’s service alone, rejecting all other usages. I will guard growth and ease pain. I will fight to preserve what grows and lives well in its own way; and I will change no object or creature unless its growth and life, or that of the system of which it is part, are threatened. To these ends, in the practice of my Art, I will put aside fear for courage, and death for life, when it is right to do so, looking always toward the Heart of Time, where all our sundered times are one, and all our myriad worlds lie whole, in That from Which They Proceeded…

It’s always something that refocuses me, puts my life and my goals and my sense of my place in the world back into perspective. I’m still wary of the permanence of tattoos (the words in the photo are written in Sharpie), but if I ever do get a tattoo, it will be this one.