A person who could use magic. For a list of Practitioners, see List of Practitioners.
General[]
Practitioners were users of magic. The way they approached and used magic was called their Practice. They could be either human or supernatural, but supernatural beings needed to be able to use magic directly in order to be called Practitioners, and not only be limited to their innate magical abilities. Human Practitioners made up one of the more important elements of the Shadows.
Depending on context and their exact Practice, a Practitioner might have labelled themselves a Hermetic, Occultist, Scholar, Shaman, Sorcerer, Witch, or something else. The words wizard and mage were however seen as a slur or belittling by at least some Practitioners. Religiously oriented Practitioners were often labeled as Believers, though they usually preferred to be called by their faith. The two known such groups were the Grecians and the Evergreeners.[1]
Not every user of magic was necessarily a Practitioner. For this purpose, a Practitioner should have self-identified as a user of magic and be able to use magic for general purposes.
Learning magic[]
Different requirements have been stated for learning magic and becoming a Practitioner. Molly stated that an “an open mind and discipline” were the two important qualifications for learning magic.[2] Sunday on the other hand stated that a strong sense of intuition was the first requirement for a Practitioner.[3] A way to reconcile the two statements is that Molly was talking about learning some magic while Sunday was talking about being good at it and able to make it one’s primary focus in life.
Most people learned magic from mentors or from books. Some managed to perform magic by mistake, which e.g. happened with ouija boards.[4] Some very few—like Molly and even more so Onyx—were naturals.[2]
Using magic[]
Most Practitioners drew their power from the surrounding area, and this power was shared by all the established Practitioners there. Practitioners could still use magic in areas unfamiliar to them, but they were not as powerful or capable as they were at home.[5] Some very few Practitioners however drew from other or additional sources. Making a deal with a demon was one such way, and it was likely that Leon made such a deal.[6] Another case was Evan Murphy, who possibly drew on the stars through Mitu.[7]
Generally, the more skilled and capable a Practitioner was, the less dependant they would be on tools, devices, or elaborate preparations.[8][9]
Practitioner culture[]
Groups of Practitioners working together were usually called circles. The relation between individual Practitioners largely depended on which—if any—circles they belonged to and their respective Practice. In most cases, a Circle was made up of members using the same or similar Practices.[1]
As with many elements of the Shadows, there were few set rules, little trust and much mutual prejudice between Practitioners. One exception to that was that libraries, bookstores and other locations for selling and distributing books and knowledge were usually seen as neutral ground.[10][11] Neutral within Practitioner culture seemed to carry a wider meaning than simply non-aligned, and also implied a safe place where force wasn’t used against other Practitioners.[12][4]
Money played a role for Practitioners, but trade between them often took the role of barter, with exchanges of favors, knowledge, and sometimes magical items.[4][13]
Practitioner culture was largely extra-legal, that is, their interactions amongst themselves were largely kept away from the government or other mundane authorities. Some Practitioners interfaced with the mundane world in various ways, e.g. by holding down mundane jobs. One such example was Kate Oakwood, who worked as a lawyer.[14] Hector Kingston made a living out of his Practice by owning a gun shop where he did “custom work” apart from regular sales.[15] Others lived entirely black lives, unknown to authorities. An example of that was Ms. Black, where the FBI failed to identify her body.[16]
Helpers to Practitioners who used little or no magic were usually called muscle. In most cases these were mundane humans, but there were a few cases where Practitioners used vampires, werewolves, or other supernatural beings as muscle. The most prominent such example was the Family.
Guardian angels[]
Angels considered that humans using magic no longer required the aid of a guardian angel, as the person in question now should be capable of navigating the Shadows on their own and be responsible for their own self-defense. Another factor was that many Practices involved unethical or evil actions, driving away the guardian angel.[17] In ancient times, some Practitioners were known to have guardian angels until evil actions drove them away, implying that the self-defense reason developed later.[18]
Sources[]
Practitioners and use of magic play an important part in the following stories:
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Personal Demons, chapter 5
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Personal Demons, chapter 15
- ↑ Grand Theft Sorcery, chapter 9
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 “Legitimacy”
- ↑ Grand Theft Sorcery, chapter 17
- ↑ Personal Demons, chapter 23
- ↑ Grand Theft Sorcery, chapter 24
- ↑ Personal Demons, Prologue
- ↑ Grand Theft Sorcery, chapter 25
- ↑ Personal Demons, chapter 4
- ↑ Grand Theft Sorcery, chapter 10
- ↑ Personal Demons, chapter 10
- ↑ Grand Theft Sorcery, chapter 2
- ↑ Past Due, chapter 4
- ↑ “Authenticity”
- ↑ Natural Consequences, Prologue
- ↑ Good Intentions, chapter 15
- ↑ Past Due, chapter 20