As a long-time role-player and student of the mystical, one would expect to have a firmer grasp of the idea and function of magic in the real world. (Real magic: is that a contradiction in terms?) Yet, I have always found this subject to be a fly in the ointment when it comes to role-playing games and their implementation of magical systems. Trying to gamify a topic as nebulous as the magical always leaves one wondering if one has really captured the essence of the idea. There are great variations in the implementation of magical game systems and their fictional and real sources, but nothing seems quite to satisfy the itch.
Folk magic, shamanic magic, clerical magic, ritual magic, animism, demoniacal and angelic magic, kabbalistic magic, divination: all of these varieties and more immediately come to mind when considering the topic. There is such a plethora of different schools of magic to consider; how to even begin such a study? And who uses magic? Is magic restricted to those initiated into secret cabals? Is magic the province of witches’ covens or is its use available to all? What is the distinction, often made in Role Playing Games such as Dungeons & Dragons, between sorcery and divine magic? Are there historical precedents for such distinctions in history, or is it an invention of game designers looking to make scenarios more playable in their fantasy worlds?
One means might be to examine historiography. Another would be to look at types, terms, and classifications. Both of these are somewhat impeded by the tendency of scholastics to be dismissive of the subject as worthy of serious attention. One doesn’t just take a major in magical arts, at least not outside of Hogwarts or Miskatonic University. So where to begin? I don’t rightly know, but I do have a library that encompasses many of these topics, and I intend to delve. If you are interested in such arcane and forgotten lore, I invite you to come along for the journey. Maybe we can learn something. Let’s see where it leads.
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