Magick and the Metaphysical

[Cora Courcelle]

Following on from the idea of Newtonian magic, it could also be that like mass, luck is a constant. So if you give someone an amulet that gives them good luck, then someone else will get an equal amount of bad luck. Perhaps the people in the proximity of the amulet holder.

I knew there had to be a reason!
But I prefer to think that someone else might or might not get the bad luck and you won't know which it is until you open the box, so to speak, and let the cat out. (Unless the cat is Greebo, in which case you probably want to keep the box shut)*

*Apologies to the non-Pratchett fans for this reference.

[Prof Marvel]

Following on from the idea of Newtonian magic, it could also be that like mass, luck is a constant. So if you give someone an amulet that gives them good luck, then someone else will get an equal amount of bad luck. Perhaps the people in the proximity of the amulet holder.

there is a japanese "kami" called Bimbogami, the spirit of "bad luck" or "poverty". some believe that the Bimbogami take "luck" from some individuals and give it to others.

yhs
prof marvel

[Atterton]

Let's keep this going.

[Hurricane Annie]

 Magic is at the end of the garden ... under the the fern leaves .. and over the violets.... and left by the moon

[MWBailey]

 Magic is at the end of the garden ... under the the fern leaves .. and over the violets.... and left by the moon

And "straight on 'til morning?"

[Inflatable Friend]

My impression is that rune magic derives from writing in general having a magical quality.  Dating from a time when only an educated, and hence special, minority could read and write.  Magic seems to lose it's "magical" quality when nearly everyone can do it.

Magic does work best when it's got something to contrast against (typically the world-at-large being non-magical).

For me, whether something is magic or not depends on the setting and on how it's presented within that, handily most settings label magic as such so that it's easy for the viewer/reader. What magic is and how it works will vary wildly according to the setting that it's placed in, from the Science as Mathmatics of Charles Stross's Laundry Series, the Newtonian angle of Ben Aaronovitch's Rivers of London series or the magic-is-magic type traditional fantasy. So long as it all makes sense in universe.

Ideally magic should be rare and out of the ordinary - If it's everyday and humdrum then it isn't magic, in the same way that (to paraphrase Syndrome) If everyone's super, then no-one is. There doesn't need to be a set, single definition!

[Prof Marvel]

It is oft' difficult to define something of this nature with pinpoint precision.

with that in mind, I shall paraphrase one of the learned black-robed ones in D.C. :

I may not be able to define it, but I know it when I see it:










yuuuuuuuuuuuuupppp. Chinese Black Magic

yhs
prof marvel

[Prof. Cecily]

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen.

(My smartphone works because a crystal inside it vibrates in sympathy with the aether as controlled along Ley lines. ...

Isn't crystal resonant aetherwave technology wonderful? 

Indeed. I'm enjoying the New Year's concert thanks to crystal resonant aetherwave technology.

I like the idea of probability magik. And rune magik, as rune magik spans cultures, making it an interesting phenomenon.

My impression is that rune magic derives from writing in general having a magical quality.  Dating from a time when only an educated, and hence special, minority could read and write.  Magic seems to lose it's "magical" quality when nearly everyone can do it.

My impression of rune magik is quite different, as I was influenced by the writings of Jan Fries during that stage of my life when I created my own runes (from the wood of an apple tree, of course) kept a rune diary of my musings and searched out the living runes formed by leafless branches against the winter sky.

Your point of view has intrigued me to the point that I took out my old books and diaries and rune-staves and have resolved to go just a bit farther along the rune path.

I remain yours,
Prof. Cecily

[Peter Brassbeard]

It is oft' difficult to define something of this nature with pinpoint precision.

with that in mind, I shall paraphrase one of the learned black-robed ones in D.C. :

I may not be able to define it, but I know it when I see it:

Magic is pornography?