Magic in the Moonlit World

The term Magic has two related meanings. First, it refers to a supernatural force or energy described as "the essence of life and creation." Second it refers to the practice of harnessing this force to produce changes in reality. An act of magic is called a spell, and the act of performing such an an act is called casting.

Magic as energy
According to Wizards, magic is life's essence. It is generated by living things, and may be thought of as akin to the concepts of Odic force and prana. However, the human heart and soul is also powerful source of magical energy. There's more magic in a baby's first giggle than any fire that a wizard can call up. Emotions are a kind of channel for magic, a path to carry energy to a practitioner. Practitioners can draw on their own emotions for power. Black Magic comes from negative emotions like lust, fear and anger, which are easy to harness and to make grow.

The Seven Laws of Magic
The seven laws are more or less, the basic foundation of magic in the world. Whether you're a member of the Mages Association, the White Council or a Ministry, the laws hold power and are as follows.

The First Law of Magic: "Thou Shalt Not Kill"

It forbids the killing, specifically of humans, with magic.

Second Law of Magic: "Thou Shalt Not Transform Others".

The Second Law of Magic forbids the shapeshifting of other humans permanently.  Third Law of Magic: "Thou Shalt Not Invade the Mind of Another"

The Third Law of Magic forbids the use of psychomancy. Forcible magical violation of someone's mind by extracting knowledge against their will is inherently destructive – Mind magic is so dangerous that the Council has not even dared trying to explore how to build better defenses, which gives an advantage to black wizards less bound by such scruples as well as certain magus in which the magical laws are less restrictive in their society.

Fourth Law of Magic "Thou Shalt Not Enthrall Another".

The Fourth Law of Magic forbids the binding of any being against its will.

Fifth Law of Magic: "Thou Shalt Not Reach Beyond the Borders of Life".

The Fifth Law of Magic forbids the use of necromancy.

Sixth Law of Magic: "Thou Shalt Not Swim Against the Currents of Time".

The Sixth Law of Magic forbids time travel, with the purpose of avoiding the paradoxes due to any attempt to change the past through temporal manipulation. Even divination of the future is frowned upon in all but the vaguest, most general instances.

Seventh Law of Magic: "Thou Shalt Not Open the Outer Gates".

The Seventh Law of Magic forbids the summoning or contacting of Outsiders; Creatures related to the Lovecraftian Pantheon which the hapless author wrote extensively on.

Magical Societies
There are three types of Wizards in the world, who have managed to create three distinctive societies and each with their own set of laws. There is the White Council, arguably one of the most powerful but unabashedly draconic in their safeguards regarding the Laws. Their magic is drawn from their will and crafted into their essence to the point that electronics short out whenever they walk around. Somanic in nature and highly elemental and shamanic, they trace their roots all the way back to Merlin himself and indeed, the head of the council is nicknamed 'The Merlin' in remembrance.

The second society of magus are known by the moniker of Clocktower, due to their headquarters entrance located in Big Ben. Their real title is simply 'The Mages Association.' The Mage's Association is an international, self-preservative and self-defense organization formed by practitioners of magecraft for the purpose of controlling, concealing, and developing Magecraft.The Association has set up research institutions and established and enforces laws that forbid the criminal use of magecraft in order to promote the development, or perhaps regression, of magecraft. The Association is mainly concerned with the preservation and concealment of Magecraft in criminal aspects. They do not care about hideous crimes committed by magi so long as they are not a threat that might reveal the existence of Thaumaturgy to the common public. Like the White Council, they too have their own version of Wardens to police their laws, the beings known as the Enforcers. They revere Nimue: The student of Merlin who surpassed her teacher.

The final major society of magecraft are known by the derisive nickname 'sticks' to both Mages Association and White Council, due to their over-reliance on their wands as all-purpose tools. Despite that, due to the almost laughable ease a magically gifted youngster can learn in comparison to a White Council or Mages Association as well as the plethora of spells that both prior societies would never dream of, they are the most numerous of all three. They rule via national councils titled 'Ministries' and enforce their laws with the wizards they refer to as 'Aurors'. They revere Merlin as well, but their patron wizard is actually Cathbad of Druidic lore, who first conceived of the idea of wands as a viable method to produce a more streamlined form of wizardry.

It is utterly impossible for a mage of one society, to use the magical methods of the other. For the Mages Association, this lies in the heavily ritualistic manner of their magic as well as the specific Mage Crests passed down in families, incompatible with wands and unable to muster the power required for the White Council style of magic. For the White Council, the Laws they follow and the sheer power in comparison prevent them from using theirs effectively. The Ministry on the other hand, lacks the power to perform White Council spells properly(with exceptions) to say nothing of the lack of fine-tuning they're used to their wands automatically doing, unlike White Council who learn this for themselves. And the spells of the Mages Association are simply too alien for them to perform.

Wizards when they go rogue can become some of the most dangerous of enemies. Their magic has no restraints, they can blend into the populace more easily and are capable of binding and drawing monsters to their own will. But they are not invincible. A wizard caught unprepared by its enemies, is a dead wizard. But even then they are dangerous, as they have the power to inflict their Death Curse. All wizards have the ability to Soul Gaze; To look into another eyes and see the soul of that person, though this reveals them to the person they Soul Gaze with as well. All wizards also possess the Sight.

The Sight goes by many names. It is the ability to see representations of magic on the physical world. For example, if a wizard sees a man whose wife has just died, he might see the man with sword wounds all over his body. It is able to pierce through various illusions. It has a major flaw that prevents it from being commonly used. What is seen is never forgotten. While there is a chance of seeing something positive, the chances are that the wizard would see enough negative sights to drive him into complete insanity.

Tools of magic

 * Circle: The circle is one of the basic tools of magic.  An empowered circle creates a barrier that magical forces and beings of the Nevernever cannot cross.  A practitioner will place a circle around an area where a spell is being performed in order to prevent magical "background noise" from interfering with the spell.  Because supernatural beings cannot cross them, empowered circles can be used to contain such beings, as well as to keep them out of an area.
 * Name:  A being's Name can be used to create a thaumaturgical link to that being. When using a Name in a spell, a practitioner must pronounce it in exactly the same way in which the Name's owner does.  In order for a Name to be magically useful, the correct pronunciation must ultimately have been learned from the Name's owner.
 * Physical Samples: When a piece of an object is removed from the main mass of that object, the piece retains a thaumaturgic link to it. A bit of hair, nail clippings, or fresh blood can be used to aim a thaumaturgic spell at the person it was taken from.  The principle works with inanimate objects as well, such as bits of clay taken from the same large mass.
 * Mirrors: many things can use mirrors as windows and doors.
 * Pentagram: A magical symbol, a five pointed star drawn as a single line, forming a pentagon in the center. Used primarily for more advanced protective circles, prisons to enclose around certain beings or to summon.
 * Pentacle: A pentacle is another magical symbol, essentially a pentagram enclosed within a circle. It represents the five elemental forces of Air, Earth, Water, Fire, and Spirit bound and contained by human will.
 * Focus: A focus is a magically prepared object used to aid a practitioner in performing a spell.
 * Homunculus: A homonculus is an object used as a temporary vessel for a spirit incapable of manifesting a physical form of its own.  Some practitioners use fresh corpses, but this isn't required; Harry Dresden used a  Cabbage Patch doll as a vessel for Ulsharavas; A loa spirit guide. The Mages Association are capable of creating greater and more powerful Homunculus via methods unknown to the other societies.
 * Cats: are Magic-friendly, they can move back and forth across magic boundaries, like circles, without disturbing them. Cats can also see ghosts and spirits.

Using blood

 * Blood has  a kind of power; a magic user can use blood to track the person who spilled it.
 * Once blood dries, it's harder to use.
 * Using blood is tricky, the user has to keep it from drying out and keep it undiluted.
 * The amount of blood needed depends on: the efficiency and skill level of the magic user—and—how much energy is required: the more energy being sent, the more blood is needed. If for a simple tracking spell, not much is needed, if for making a targets heart explode, a lot is needed.

Types of magic
There are two broad types of magic in the Moonlit World: thaumaturgy and evocation.

Thaumaturgy operates by creating magical links between objects. It operates over greater distances and with more precision, but is more time consuming and requires a conduit to the target - usually a physical sample.

Evocation is loud, flashy, instantaneous, and often destructive. It works on its target directly without the need for a link, and can be performed quickly, but has limited range, requires a line of sight to the target, and is generally more difficult to wield with precision.

There are a number of terms for more specialized forms of magic.


 * Divination is magic which is employed to gain information, especially information about the future.
 * Summoning magic brings a spiritual being from the Nevernever to the mortal world.
 * Binding magic is used to enthrall (enslave) a summoned being.
 * Charm is a kind of short-term magic.
 * Enchantment magic is used in the construction of magical instruments, such as foci.

Forms of magic can also be named according to what the spell affects, rather than what it does. These names are typically constructed from a Greek or Latin root and the suffix -mancy, from a Greek word meaning divination, but which in English has taken on the meaning ''area of magic relating to. Thus "pyschomancy", derived from Greek psyche (mind) plus -mancy'' is "area of magic relating to the mind," specifically mind-control.

Curses
Curses, such are spells intended to do harm. They need some means of directing the magic at a target; body parts like hair, nail-clippings, fresh blood work best.To make a curse long-lasting, it needs to be anchored to an object or a blood relation.

Really strong curses require three people at the least to cast the spell: one to gather the energy, one to shape it, one to aim it. The exception to this rule are the Ministry of Magic, though save for three particular illegal curses, the term 'curse' could range in effect from your nose hairs growing at a rapid pace to instant death.

One reason why the Mages Association and White Council look on with some measure of disdain and interest.

External links for inspiration
General:
 * Magic (paranormal) - Wikipedia
 * Black, White, and Gray Magic - Spells and Charms

Types:
 * Whatevermancy - Television Tropes & Idioms - includes an index of terms for types of magic
 * Many Types of Magic - Spells and Charms
 * Ritual Magic - Spells and Charms
 * Main/Functional Magic - Television Tropes & Idioms
 * Varieties of Magic
 * Thaumaturgy - Wikipedia
 * Evocation - Wikipedia
 * Different Types of Magic
 * 7 types of magic - Forum Library
 * The Eight Kinds Of Magic
 * Of Wizards, Sorcerers and other Magic Users
 * Main/Magic and Powers - Television Tropes & Idioms

Tools of Magic:
 * Casting a Circle - Wicca and Witchcraft
 * Cast a Circle
 * Tools of the Craft
 * Sigil (magic) - Wikipedia
 * Runes - Wikipedia
 * The Tools of Magic - Introduction

Spells:
 * Witchcraft Spells - White Magic, Magic Spells and Wicca
 * A Guide to Successful Spell-Working - Spells and Charms