Those unaquainted with the ars magica would have us believe that it is somehow outside the bounds of normal reality, the imposition of control by an outside force, in this case the mind of the wizard. In fact, this is utterly untrue; reality is symbolic in a fundamental way, created and sustained by the consensus of consciousness--the consciousnesses of mortals as well as those of the gods. Magic is, therefore, merely the manipulation of symbols to effect a change in the symbolic, that is the real, world. The map is the territory; affecting the map effects changes in the territory.

-- Mundus Esotericus, Tsung the Mathemancer, Serene University Press, 5 IV Age