The specific approach that a Practitioner had towards magic.
General[]
A specific approach to or system of magic was called a Practice. It included beliefs, philosophies, methods, techniques, areas of interest, and sources it drew on.[1][2] There were some underlying principles that were common to all or most Practices, but generally speaking each specific Practice helped determine what a Practitioner could accomplish with magic, how they did it, what limits they had on their magic, and what price they had to pay for it.[3] However, how powerful a Practitioner was seemed to be tied to the individual, rather than their Practice.
For example, some Practices allowed instant healing of wounds, while others required some sort of price, like taking blood from a donor.[4] Some Practices rejected communication with spirits of various forms, while others had established systems around it.[5][6] Several Practices seemed to place great limits on the use of magic for money, while others allowed it.[7]
A person learning magic could find that they were more or less suited to different Practices.[8] At the same time, Practices were not static. It was often possible to take techniques or approaches from one Practice and apply it to another, though it may have required adaptation to lesser or greater extent.[7][9] As an example, wands were adopted by many Practitioners no matter their original Practice.
A Practice was usually shared with other Practitioners, but there were also cases of users of magic who worked out things as they went along and essentially created their own individual Practice. Examples of the latter were Bridger and Evan Murphy.[10][11]
Evergreeners[]
A Practice oriented around religion, likely with a nature focus.[12]
Grecians[]
A Practice oriented around religion, likely a revival of Greek or Hellenistic religion and magic.[12]
Hermeticism[]
Hermeticism appeared to be the dominant Practice in North America. It had a strong focus on the written word, possibly also on quantifying magic or describing it mathematically. Molly Murray described it as “weird secret physics and math”. The Brotherhood of Apollo was dominated by hermetics.[1]
It is possible that one reason hermeticism became a dominant tradition was that its teachings were well suited for publication in books.[13] Another possibility was that had less strictures around money than other Practices, making it more compatible with capitalism. There were Hermetics who became “filthy rich” using the “magic of numbers” in Las Vegas.[14] However, many hermetics appeared very well dressed and with ample access to mundane resources. It also seemed to be compatible with Christian beliefs, given that Garrison was both a priest and a member of the Brotherhood of Apollo.
It is implied that there were several orders of hermeticism.[15] How these differed from and related to each other is unknown. Necromancy might be one such order, or simply a specific area of interest.[1]
See also Hermeticism (wikipedia).
Shamanism[]
A Practice, or group of Practices, with a focus on nature and spirits. The Native circle appeared to be dominated by this Practice.[7]
See also Shamanism (wikipedia).
Witchcraft[]
The Practice of Molly and Onyx, it was a largely oral tradition with relatively few Practitioners, drawing from nature.[13][2] Witchcraft straddled the line between religion and magic and included a belief in reincarnation.[16] It appeared to be relatively free-form, but seemed to reject most types of contacts with spirits and have strict limits on the use of magic to generate money.[5][7] In Molly’s words, it used “lots of gut feelings and intuition”.[10]
They also had a strong focus on balance, where both good and evil acts could come back to the person doing them.[17]
Molly said that Alex did not fit their practice, but no reason was given. One possibility is that their Practice was female-only, but there is no concrete evidence.[18]
Kashvi referred to witchcraft as “petty tricks of herbs and astrology”.[15]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Personal Demons, chapter 5
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Grand Theft Sorcery, chapter 19
- ↑ Personal Demons, chapter 23
- ↑ Personal Demons, chapter 10
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Personal Demons, chapter 11
- ↑ “Outsourced”
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 “Authenticity”
- ↑ Personal Demons, chapter 15
- ↑ Personal Demons, chapter 4
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 Grand Theft Sorcery, chapter 22
- ↑ Grand Theft Sorcery, chapter 10
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 Personal Demons, chapter 7
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 “Legitimacy”
- ↑ Devil in the Details, chapter 9
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 Past Due, chapter 25
- ↑ Natural Consequences, chapter 10
- ↑ Past Due, chapter 12
- ↑ “More Than Friends”