/blæk • ˈmɑːnə/ ◊ noun
The colour of mana representing power, ruthless ambition, and willingness to sacrifice for desired outcomes. Some uses of black mana concurs with nature (death and decay), whereas some uses of black mana conflict with nature (the unnatural extension of life; undeath).
Note: this is drawn from Magic: the Gathering, a fantasy card game by Richard Garfield, Ph.D. and Wizards of the Coast.
Like with chaos magic—it’s all made up and it works! But verily—the five colours of mana offer dispositional heuristics that can allow for you to better perceive and relate to situational phenomena.
From Duncan Sabien’s The MTG Colour Wheel (& Humanity):
Black seeks satisfaction, and it tries to achieve that satisfaction through ruthlessness. Black wants power and agency so that it can act upon its preferences at any time, doing whatever it wants, whenever it wants, and reshaping the world around it as it sees fit. It recognises no limits upon this pursuit except those which emerge from its own desires and self-interest. It is capable of cooperation and alliance, but only consequentially, as in game theory; at its core, black is amoral, not immoral, since it doesn’t think morality is even really a Thing. The archetypal black organisation would be a hedge fund or a startup, and a black dystopia would be a totalitarian dictatorship.
Other words associated with black: achievement, autonomy, determination, fame, influence, pleasure, popularity, reputation, success, status, wealth, ambition, control, dignity, excellence, improvement, innovation, liberty, mastery, performance, power, self-reliant, talented, undaunted, decisive, relentless, industrious, persuasive, realistic, suave, competitive, political, proud, solitary, uninhibited, amoral, arrogant, calculating, egocentric, hedonistic, malicious, opportunistic
See: power, alchemy
