This is the freebie for the November 17, 2020 bonus fishbowl. It was inspired by a prompt from mama_kestrel . It also fills the "awareness of nature" square in my 11-1-20 card for the Sense-Ation Bingo fest. This poem belongs to the Not Quite Kansas series. "Ma’asit" [Tuesday, November 13, 2018] "Well, that was an utter fucking waste of a long weekend," Gideon said as he flopped onto the couch in the rec room. "What went wrong?" Raymond said. "Kabbalah seemed so promising. Does it not work after all?" "Oh, it works, all right," Gideon said bitterly. "The infrastructure is valid. With enough skill, you can shift awareness from one layer of nature to another. It just doesn't go where we want it to -- it doesn't lead home." "I'm sorry the intensive didn't work out as you hoped," Raymond said. "Thanks," said Gideon. "I'm just tired and frustrated." "Did you learn anything useful from it?" Raymond asked. "Maybe," said Gideon. "It has a lot of angelology and demonology. Most of that is pretty esoteric stuff -- you have to be an expert for major workings, such as creating a golem." "Most disciplines have limitations like that," Raymond pointed out, offering him a blanket. "The system does lend itself to amulets, though, which work for whomever wears them," Gideon said as he wrapped himself up. "That sounds promising," said Raymond. "Even if you can't make those, we could probably buy them somewhere." Gideon groaned and rubbed a hand over his face. "I am so fried, I didn't even think of that." "You're learning. No knowledge is wasted, especially when you're figuring out what works here as opposed to home," said Raymond. "Did anything else come up?" "I'm starting to develop a better sense of nature, I think," said Gideon. "If I meditate, I can see layers that I didn't notice before." "Then you accomplished plenty over the weekend," Raymond assured him. "You can try out practical applications later. For now, rest; you earned it." Gideon burrowed deeper into the couch and obeyed him. * * * Notes: Jewish magic divides Kabbalah into the iyyunit (theoretical) and the ma’asit (practical) branches, although they overlap in some areas. Together, they use knowledge of divine nature to manipulate objects and events. Explore a beginner's introduction to Kabbalah . Yes, this works, although it's stronger in some dimensions than others, so study it responsibly.