Magical Discussion
Mar. 9th, 2026 09:33 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ysabetwordsmithThis video looks at magic in worldbuilding. It lays out four points ...
Part 1: Magic Is Mundane.
This means that magic appears in everyday life. Lots of people use it to solve common problems such as health complaints or social conflicts.
It's good advice, because many cultures have worked that way. It's what you'll see in a magic-rich setting. A magic-scarce setting is less likely to develop along these lines. But then again, local-Earth isn't a magic-rich setting, it only has a little, and practices are quite widespread.
Part 2: Magic as a Profession?
It can be, but it doesn't have to be. We've had this profession probably longer than Homo sapiens -- it likely emerged when an earlier form of human realized that the tribe's crappiest hunter actually excelled at dealing with the terrifying powers of the Spirit World. Specialization starts when a hunter says, "I'll give you a haunch of this aurochs if you'll make me a charm to protect against evil spirits."
But there are two aspects here. One is the use of magic in a professional context -- that is, using spells as part of some other job, or selling magic. The other is magic as a profession unto itself: someone who just makes potions or just scribes amulets or maybe uses a bunch of different methods to solve problems with magic. The more diverse the kinds of magic a world has, the more likely its professionals will also diversify and instead of one guy who does everything, you have an alchemist for potions and an astrology for divination and so forth. The scarcer magic is, the less likely it spreads through professions and the more likely it concentrates in a few people who will be more generalized users. But also, if there's so little of it, people may not have the concept of magical specialists at all.
Part 3: Magic as Energy?
Well, magic is energy because EVERYTHING is energy. The gestures used to write are kinetic energy; the light used to read is electromagnetic energy. Speaking and listening rely on sonic energy, sound waves traveling through a medium such as air or water. Chemistry works based on forming or breaking bonds between atoms to create or destroy molecules, which may absorb or give off energy and byproducts. Even "solid" matter is really just a bunch of whizzing little bits of energy holding hands and pretending really hard to be solid.
But that energy can appear in many forms and be controlled in different ways. It's a lot easier to manipulate what you can sense than what you cannot, so there are often subtle senses for parsing magic. A different approach is the use of tools to tell you what something is doing, such as dowsing rods. Energy can be captured and stored, hence the tradition of "charging" items by leaving them in sunlight, moonlight, or some other source. Some people may be able to manipulate energy in the environment; others may have a pool of personal energy to use. Artifacts may have energy that can be used to create specific, limited effects. As mentioned in the video, magic can come from relationships, asking a deity or other power to do something -- but that entity is still using a form of energy, just ones that humans can't use alone. Alchemy is basically magical chemistry, and in fact, modern mundane chemistry grew out of historic alchemy.
There are myriad possible manifestations of magic, but they do all involve some kind of energy, because everything does. There may be rules and limits -- or magic may be an expression of chaos that seems to have no consistency or logic.
Part 4: Good vs. Evil
This is really talking about politics more than morality. We can look at magic which is evil (such as torture spells or feeding someone to a demon for gaining power), neutral (a firestarting spell can keep you alive in winter, or commit arson), and good (like purification or breaking curses). People may have different opinions about good and evil based on their culture or religion, but widespread concepts exist because violating them causes problems. Just as societies discourage theft because stealing wreaks havoc, there will be magical acts which are widely condemned for the same reason -- summoning demons often falls into this category not just because "priests say demons are wicked" but because demons tend to get loose and eat everyone in sight.
So when you look at good vs. evil in regards to a magical system, you have layers to considers. What do the spiritual leaders say? What do the secular leaders say? How do people in the community feel about it? And what are the outcomes, positive or negative, for doing it?
Part 1: Magic Is Mundane.
This means that magic appears in everyday life. Lots of people use it to solve common problems such as health complaints or social conflicts.
It's good advice, because many cultures have worked that way. It's what you'll see in a magic-rich setting. A magic-scarce setting is less likely to develop along these lines. But then again, local-Earth isn't a magic-rich setting, it only has a little, and practices are quite widespread.
Part 2: Magic as a Profession?
It can be, but it doesn't have to be. We've had this profession probably longer than Homo sapiens -- it likely emerged when an earlier form of human realized that the tribe's crappiest hunter actually excelled at dealing with the terrifying powers of the Spirit World. Specialization starts when a hunter says, "I'll give you a haunch of this aurochs if you'll make me a charm to protect against evil spirits."
But there are two aspects here. One is the use of magic in a professional context -- that is, using spells as part of some other job, or selling magic. The other is magic as a profession unto itself: someone who just makes potions or just scribes amulets or maybe uses a bunch of different methods to solve problems with magic. The more diverse the kinds of magic a world has, the more likely its professionals will also diversify and instead of one guy who does everything, you have an alchemist for potions and an astrology for divination and so forth. The scarcer magic is, the less likely it spreads through professions and the more likely it concentrates in a few people who will be more generalized users. But also, if there's so little of it, people may not have the concept of magical specialists at all.
Part 3: Magic as Energy?
Well, magic is energy because EVERYTHING is energy. The gestures used to write are kinetic energy; the light used to read is electromagnetic energy. Speaking and listening rely on sonic energy, sound waves traveling through a medium such as air or water. Chemistry works based on forming or breaking bonds between atoms to create or destroy molecules, which may absorb or give off energy and byproducts. Even "solid" matter is really just a bunch of whizzing little bits of energy holding hands and pretending really hard to be solid.
But that energy can appear in many forms and be controlled in different ways. It's a lot easier to manipulate what you can sense than what you cannot, so there are often subtle senses for parsing magic. A different approach is the use of tools to tell you what something is doing, such as dowsing rods. Energy can be captured and stored, hence the tradition of "charging" items by leaving them in sunlight, moonlight, or some other source. Some people may be able to manipulate energy in the environment; others may have a pool of personal energy to use. Artifacts may have energy that can be used to create specific, limited effects. As mentioned in the video, magic can come from relationships, asking a deity or other power to do something -- but that entity is still using a form of energy, just ones that humans can't use alone. Alchemy is basically magical chemistry, and in fact, modern mundane chemistry grew out of historic alchemy.
There are myriad possible manifestations of magic, but they do all involve some kind of energy, because everything does. There may be rules and limits -- or magic may be an expression of chaos that seems to have no consistency or logic.
Part 4: Good vs. Evil
This is really talking about politics more than morality. We can look at magic which is evil (such as torture spells or feeding someone to a demon for gaining power), neutral (a firestarting spell can keep you alive in winter, or commit arson), and good (like purification or breaking curses). People may have different opinions about good and evil based on their culture or religion, but widespread concepts exist because violating them causes problems. Just as societies discourage theft because stealing wreaks havoc, there will be magical acts which are widely condemned for the same reason -- summoning demons often falls into this category not just because "priests say demons are wicked" but because demons tend to get loose and eat everyone in sight.
So when you look at good vs. evil in regards to a magical system, you have layers to considers. What do the spiritual leaders say? What do the secular leaders say? How do people in the community feel about it? And what are the outcomes, positive or negative, for doing it?
