Magic

Magic
Related pages	Book of Shadows Circle Magic Muscle Practice Practitioner

Supernatural effects that depend on focus, intent, symbolism, and context.

General

“Anyone can learn the basic principles from a book, sure. Knowing which books to trust is the first real trick. Putting it to work is a level up. Also, it’s important to remember there’s more than one way to fulfill the principles. Different Practices have different philosophies. It can feel like the magic works in completely different ways, but there’s a kind of cart-before-the-horse thing going on when it comes to sorcery.”

— Onyx, Past Due, chapter 14

Magic was supernatural effects largely which depended on belief and probability. Most people, human or supernatural, could learn some magic with effort, belief, and discipline, but accomplished or natural talent was rare.⁠ The way a mortal approaches magic was called their Practice, and the individual was often called a Practitioner.

Focus, intent, and symbolism were important factors in magic. How they were expressed varies with each individual Practitioner.

Magic could appear as obvious manifestations such as fireballs and other magical attacks, or as illusions. It could be used to ward against individuals or groups of supernaturals. It could also cause unlikely events or coincidences to occur, even across millennia. It could help to set the right people on the right path.

A sign of a mortal Practitioner using magic was that their eyes turned red. It is possible this was a sign of magical strain or achieving more magical power than usual.⁠⁠

“I think about it like magic is shy. Magic is comfortable with big, splashy antics as long as everyone is a friend or in the loop, but around strangers it’s timid. It’ll only do stuff the strangers won’t notice.”

— Molly, “More Than Friends”

Overt magic and other supernatural powers were suppressed or made less effective by many mundane witnesses, though probabalistic—like charms of luck—or sensory magic could still be effective.⁠⁠ At the same time, magic attracted the supernatural, and coincidences became more common.⁠⁠

Use of magic also left traces that could be sensed in the subject of the magic or in the area where the magic was used.⁠⁠ How strong or how lasting those traces were depended on the strength of the magic, people passing by, and possibly simple cleaning.⁠ These traces often carried signatures which were unique to each magic user, though only few Practitioners were aware of that or could read them.⁠⁠

Magical power

Most magic users in an area drew on the same pool of magic, and were thus to one degree competitors with each other. By forming into a circle, Practitioners would both reduce their own individual draw on that pool and have access to a greater amount of power.⁠ As an example, the Practitioners in Seattle noticed an increase in available power soon after the destruction of the Brotherhood of Apollo.⁠

A magic user who went to an unfamiliar area would be impacted by the change.⁠ This would impact their strength but also possibly have other effects. Some magic users could however draw from other sources than the local area.⁠

The exact effects and mathematics of this are largely unknown. It is possible that individual talent and symbolism also played a part in the power available to a Practitioner or circle.

The primary power to make magic usually came from the within casters themselves.⁠ Sacrifices could be used to generate magic external from the caster.⁠ Another way to generate magical power was through sex.⁠

Magical foci

Human Practitioners often had need for various foci or tools in order to use magic. They should preferably be personally meaningful to the user, e.g. by having been made by the Practitioner themselves, or be symbolic for the desired magic. Mass-produced items were generally not suited for as ritual or magic tools.⁠

Thus wands were usually made by the users themselves.⁠ Molly’s lock-breaking spell used any spare key as a focus. Iron nails could serve to either anchor a spell or disrupt incoming magic.

Generally, Practitioners required precision of speech and gestures in order to work magic.⁠ Some very skilled human Practitioners could cast spells using only their hands—or possibly other body parts—as their focus.⁠ However, it appears that the most important factor was to be able to enter the proper state of mind.

Magical times

Different Practices placed different emphasis on dates and times.

Midnight was significant for some but not all Practices. One such example was witchcraft, but there are no known examples of how it was significant.⁠ Sunrise and sunset appeared to be more universally significant.

• Onyx’s quick ward on Alex lasted through sunset until the next sunrise.⁠
• Lydia’s summoning of Baal was timed to sunset.⁠
• The main part of the ritual to alleviate Alex’s Post Traumatic Reincarnation Disorder ended at sunset.⁠
• The spell Breathe In the Sun had to be done at sunrise.⁠
• Molly’s spell to assist a person’s skills in lying and misdirection lasted until sunrise, and was probably cast after sunset.⁠
• Sunday was resurrected the following sunset or sunrise after death.⁠

When discussing a love charm for Drew, Molly noted that the moon was right at the time.⁠ The Ritual of Blades lasted until the new moon.⁠

Samhain (sunset October 31 to sunset November 1) was noted as a good time for rituals, at least for witchcraft.⁠ Deterministic or future-predicing astrology was however not considered viable.⁠⁠

Types of magic

Not all Practices would use all of the following types and the list is by no means complete. Some types—like necromancy—might have been associated with both an effect and a particular type of Practice. This does not imply that only that particular Practice could use those effects, or that the Practice only concerned itself with that particular field. E.g. both shamanism and necromancy concerned themselves with communication with spirits, and a necromancer was likely to be hugely concerned about wards. Likewise, some of the methods of demonology were applicable to angels, and probably vice versa.

Alchemy

The known piece of alchemy involved cold liquid copper. It could only be created by magic, and served as a powerful conductor of magical energy.⁠

Body shaping

Changing the looks or the shape of a body. It seemed to have been a common practice within the Brotherhood of Apollo.⁠ Succubae could shape their own bodies and appearance to a great extent, and could also affect the bodies of other people.⁠⁠

Demonology

The study of, communication with, summoning, and binding of demons. The knowledge also applied to angels, as evidenced that a ritual meant to summon a succubus—Lorelei—instead summoned an angel—Rachel.⁠

Dispellings

Magic that counteracted or cancelled other types of magic. Salt could act as a natural medium for dispellings.⁠

Divination

Magic that foretold or hinted at the future. It functioned by giving a sense of what other people or animals planned to do or were concerned about.⁠⁠

Dowsing

Finding or locating places, people, or objects. Even relatively simple wards could block most of these techniques or make them less effective.⁠

Fighting magic

Magic that was usable in a fight. Rare according to Sunday.⁠

Healing

Magic that healsed the body of wounds. Good healing magic could avert otherwise certain death. Some Practices allowed the Practitioner to heal themselves.⁠⁠ Angels had great natural powers of healing. There was also healing magic for the mind and spirit.⁠⁠

Illusions

Magic that made things or people look different or hid them. They were greatly enhanced and simplified by mundane actions.⁠ Many supernaturals, like succubae and jinn, had great inherent powers of illusion concerning themselves and people nearby. Cameras might have had a limited capacity to see through illusions.⁠

Language

Magic that translated between languages and interpreted unknown scripts.⁠⁠

Life extension

Some Practitioners were known to have lived very long lives. Elizabeth lived through the First World War, and was still hale and hearty when she was murdered, giving an age of at least 100 years.⁠ Her methods were unknown. Kashvi gained youth and longevity through a deal with a supernatural being. Anatole and his associates gained longevity through deals with Hell.⁠

Mind control

Magic that influenced the mind of another person in various ways. It was a common ability, to varying degrees, among many supernatural beings. It could go from nudges, to suggestions, outright commands, and total control of the body of the target. Mind control could be countered by willpower or magical defenses, but also be conditioned against.⁠ Frequent or forceful use could cause mental damage.⁠

Necromancy

Magic that concerned itself with communication with the spirits of the dead, the control of corpses, ghosts and other undead, and the line between the dead and living.⁠⁠ It could be used to create and bind ghosts.⁠

Potions

Magic that was ingested for various purposes. As a result, it was usually impossible to detect or undo.⁠ There were however exceptions to this.⁠⁠

Probabalistic magic

Magic that influenced the probabilities of events over a period of time. Examples were charms of luck or love. A love charm worked by putting the right persons on the right paths to meet each other, but did not make people fall in love magically.⁠ The succubus curse worked in a similar way, and also drew on natural desires.⁠⁠

Scrying

Similar to dowsing, but more focused on seeing or visualising distant places. Scrying was usually accomplished through sense sharing, since sending one’s senses outside of the body unattached to a living being took great effort and practice.⁠

Second sight

The ability to see or otherwise sense auras or magical effects. It could also serve to see through illusions or perceive invisible beings.⁠⁠ Some people had it as a natural if uncontrolled talent.⁠

Sense sharing

Sharing the senses of one person or animal with another.

Sex magic

Sex and magic can be used together for several purposes. It could be used to enter a specific state of mind, to generate magical energy, or to bond with other people.⁠⁠ Some rituals required sex magic. These often involved procreation or relations between the participants.⁠ Garrison’s ritual to bind Rachel and Lorelei to him included sex magic.⁠⁠ See also succubus.

Shapeshifting

Instant or quick shapeshifting is only known so far among jinn.⁠ Omar can e.g. turn into a cat.⁠

Summoning

Calling and binding natural or supernatural beings to you, for various purposes. Ouija boards can be used for this, though it is generally not recommended.⁠

Telekinesis

Being able to move or interact with items at a distance, e.g. to open or close doors.⁠⁠ It appeared to be a very rare ability among mortal Pracititioners, perhaps only possible using extra-planar power.

Time manipulation

Manipulating or warping time was possible, but very hard and took lots of power.⁠ It is probable that the easiest way to manage it was to balance the manipulation of time, so that supernaturally fast actions of the caster were balanced by prior supernaturally fast actions of the intended target.⁠⁠

Vitality

Magic that provided more energy, increased resilience, and alleviated pain. One such spell was Breathe In the Sun.⁠

Wards

Protective magic that blocked, curtailed, or warned of the supernatural. They could be personal or cover an area. Permanent or stronger wards required physical anchors, where disruption of the anchors would cause the ward to dissolve.

Wards could be used to inhibit magical or supernatural power to those who triggered it or were not attuned to it. This would not necessarily block entrance or prohibit casting, but it would give a “significant advantage of power” to those who set it up or were protected by it.⁠⁠

Wards often used salt. Other elements used were ash and rose quartz.⁠⁠ A simple ward against detection could be created using a few candles and intent.⁠

Weather control

Starting or stopping rain, controlling winds, calling lightning, and so on.

Theories

§ Fighting magic was rare according to Sunday.⁠ However, most known encountered Practitioners in Seattle showed some knowledge or aptitude in using magic as a weapon. One possibility is that the magic users encountered were an atypical group. Another is that groups like the Brotherhood of Apollo and the Light placed a premium on fighting magic. A third is that Sunday’s definition of fighting magic was more strict than magic usable in a fight.