It is common knowledge from the creation storys of the TES universe (if we can believe these texts) that the Sun is a big hole on the surface of Mundus and the stars are smaller ones, and magic poures through these holes to the mortal realm. That is why different birthsigns give different powers and weaknesses to men and mer. Now the life on real Earth is based on solar power; plants use it to create organic parts from inorganic materials, solar power heats the air and temperature differences cause wind and sea currents, and every energy source originates from solar power (except nuclear energy).

I haven't seen any other big energy source in TES world (Heart of Lorkhan, Eye of Magnus maybe), so let me play this train of thought for a little longer.

Plants on Tamriel are more abundant in areas rich in light, in dungeons (Blackreach is clearly an exception, but the giant glowing mushrooms there can be the source of energy) there are only a few of them. So that means plants need light, such as real Earth plants needs light too. When the TES Sun can't be seen theres darkness (really surprising) so light comes from the Sun, so that means that a part of magic is light. On the other hand TES Sun not only gives light but it gives heat as well, so that means that heat is also a part of magic. Where's magic, there's heat and light as well and maybe in TES world these things are not at all different. I'm not sure about the other continents but on Tamriel the only vulcano (correct me if I'm wrong) is Red Mountain, which grown on the top of Heart of Lorkhan, a very powerfull artifact with great magical potencial. Maybe the Heart radiates some of it's magic (=heat) and that energy melts rocks creating lava and by eruptions the mountain itself.

While Magnus (magic) was fully present in Mundus the realm was very unstable. This was caused by the incredible amount of energy that Magnus represented.

According to the previous thougths magic is a form of energy that is easily transformable when certain circumstances are present. It is possible that when magic flows through the Sun and collides with air it is altered into light and heat, and every big energy source (Heart of Lorkhan, Eye of Magnus maybe) causes similar effects. Magic users can use direct magic energy (from the Sun, from HoL, form EoM, from artifacts, from other sources) or they can transform changed energy forms (=light, heat, muscle strength) back to "clear" magic. Then they can shape this energy with their mind to reach the desired effect and this procedure is called spellcasting.

So according to my theory there's only one kind of energy in TES world: magic. Magic makes the crop grow, the wind blow, the lava boil and the firebolt fly.

Please share your thoughts about my idea!

uhhh yeah. You can turn magic into light, fire, lightning and frost using your bare hands.

Un-actualized, raw magicka are particles [waves?] of speculation.

You are pretty much correct in this matter.

Ha!

@OP: That's a pretty nice and logical idea you've got going there! Just one nitpick, the sun and stars are holes in the Aurbis, not the Mundus. The Mundus is Nirn, and I think the moons as well, while the Aurbis encapsulates that as well as Oblivion and the Aedric Planets.

Yah, basically. It is all because magic. Because Magnus isn't physically present, things are comparatively stable. For example, in the void ob Oblivion where the magic hasn't, for lack of a better word, "diluted" a person's belief can have clear and immediate effects on their surroundings. On Mundus, where the magic has spread into light and heat and other energies, it takes an entire counry's worth of people all believing one thing to make appreciable difference.

I'm pretty sure that's not quite right. Magicka comes from Aetherius. I think the process is more like:

Magicka: I AM
Nirnian: O RLY?
Magicka: YA RLY
Nirnian: O Rly?
Magicka: Maybe not...

Then you get your waves of speculation.

No No No No No.

The O RLYs are there from the start, silly Minotaur. Then, when it makes Nirnfall, the plane's latent [M]TOGTFUsphere causes some Heisenburgian hijinks, collapsing the waveform into discreet phenoms, e.g. Your house getting set on fire, Aunt Margo rising from her grave, etc., etc.

I sincerely don't think that's how that works at all. Nirn is defined as "the gray maybe." Its capacity for doubt is what makes it special. Aetherius IS, afaik. It just doesn't make sense to me, in the context of the monomyth, to imagine magicka as anything but certain being from Aetherius being twisted by Nirnian possibility into a malleable potential-ridden substance. In general, I fully support your silliness, but in this case I'd really appreciate it if someone could give me a straight response on this topic.