Pages about Sympathetic Magic: | Ceremonial Magic | Enchantment | Symbolism | Symbols | Mikhail Mao Formulas

Description: Mind magic invoked by sympathetic ceremony. The two "sympathetic" forms of mind magic, ceremony and enchantment, differ from the other forms in that they are fundamentally non-linguistic (though language is often a component). Instead, they are based on the principle of "sympathy", which suggests that an object's properties and history can be invoked to cause analogous effects to be transmitted across space and time and magnified hundreds-fold. Ceremonial magic is difficult to quantify and therefore difficult to explain theoretically, but the existance of certain ceremonial "recipes" lead the vast majority of magical theorists to conclude that it is a form of mind magic.

The "pain doll" of darkness magic is the canonical example of ceremonial magic: obtain a bit of the hair of your enemy, attach it to an effigy, cover it with the blood of a snake, drink spider or snake venom, make the sign of the Webweaver, and finally push pins into the doll wherever you want your enemy to feel pain.

Relative to many other ceremonial recipes (particularly the most famous forms of ceremonial summoning), the pain doll is the least of what ceremonical magic is capable of. Advanced ceremonial magic is like stockpiling gunpowder. The more time and effort expended on the ceremony, the greater the ultimate "bang" will be. The fact that ceremonial magic allows pain and explosions to be created in famous sizes is another reason for its widespread distrust, along with its lack of unifying theory.

Ceremonial magic is the easiest form to invoke. One merely needs to learn a formula, perform it, & await the results. The most common uses of ceremonial magic are done by mages of other forms seeking a spell outside their range of power. Witchcraft is similar in many ways to ceremonial magic, and it is said that witches were the first wielders and teachers of the form.

Weak spells can be cast with simple combinations of ingredients & movements, & strong spells require complex, extremely long ceremonies. Multiple casters can ease the time & difficulty of a spell.

All spells use a thaumaturgical circle, a circle drawn on the ground with a series of complex lines crossing it. This wards of outside influences, like blue zones. Other common ingredients: water, flower petals, frogs or toads, herbs, feathers of many sorts, spiderwebs, bowls, chalk, certain stones, hair, hammers, part of your intended victim, common symbols of a faith, wands or staves used for gesturing or tracing on the ground, important times.

Symbolism: Every sphere has its own set of symbols commonly used in ceremonial magic.

Sphere		Best Common Symbols		Best Common Actions
Chaos		Eye, Bat, Crab, Ruby		Twirling
Darkness		Blood, Spiderweb, Snake, Spider, Sulfur		Murder
Cosmos		Stardust, Space Cow, Quartz		Standing still
Dream		Sand, Net, Fox, Parrot, Indigo Ink		Sleeping
Moons		Crescent, Wolf, Moth		Cyclical movements
Fire		Fire, Tiger		Burning
Light		Cross, Swan		Charitable acts
Pestilence		Scarab, Rat, Skin		Catching a disease
Destruction		Three, Hawk, Moragstone		Destroying something
Earth		Stone, Badger		Mining
Hatred		Dagger, Mask, Boar		Vengeance
War		Sword, Horn, Bull		Fighting
Water		Water, Fish		Swimming
Knowledge		Mind, Book		Reading, learning
Famine		Rusted Scythe, One Wing, Vulture		Starving
Peace		Horseshoe, Crane, Horse, Pearl		Meditation
Sun		Lion, Disc, Hawk, Sunlight, Noon		Sunburn
Hope		Chrysanthemum, Lemur, Swallow		Empowering
Flora		Leaf, Flower, Rose		Gardening
Harvest		Scythe, Fascha, Turkey		Feeding
Music		Song, Instrument, Thrush		Singing, performing music
Order		Chain, Crown, Bee, Ox		Following rules
Creation		Globe, Hammer		Making
Death		Rook, Skull, Gate		Dying
Despair		Scar, Tears		Weeping
Life		Silver, Lamb, Seed		Birth
Silence		Veil		Silence
Meta		Wand, Toad, Cat, Bottle		Thaumaturgical Circle
Fauna		Fang, Tail, Feather, Scale, etc.		Wildness
Healing		Bandage, Blood, Quail, Opal		Healing
Truth		Mirror, Lantern		Honest talk
Weather		Lightning, Cloud		Attracting lightning
Air		Feather		Flight
Celebration		Cup		Drinking alcohol
Luck		Coin		Gambling
Time		Clock, Watch		Reviewing
Dragon		Dragonscale		Hoarding
Fate		Thread		Waiting
Undeath		Bone		Undying
Love		Heart, Sapphire, Cockrobin		Sex
Wealth		Diamond		Commerce
Envy		Thorn		Stealing
Vision		Crystal, Heron		Art
Ice		Icicle		Freezing
Travel		Footprint		Moving
Home		Shell		Being home
Change		Chrysalis		Altering
Balance		Scales		Balancing
Metal		Steel, Electrum, Hammer, Forge		Smithing
Might		Hammer		Feats
Wisdom		Owl		Dispensing wisdom
Mischief		Raspberry		A prank
Connection		Bridge		Connecting
Hunt		Bow, Horn, Predator		Hunting
Insight		Silhouette		Introversion
Skill		Bell-Covered Armor		Something learned
Family		Lavender		Family activities
Story		Quill		Storytelling
Force		Hand		Coercion
Nightmare		Scarecrow		Scaring someone

More Symbolism

A longer list of Symbols by sphere

Sympathetic Principles

Formulas: Formulas are wide and varied, and many, many fakes exist. Finding a genuine one is difficult, and mages spend lifetimes studying them, improving them, and so on. One does not only have spheres in ceremonial magic, one has formulas as well. These are often multi-sphere affairs, hugely complex. Every formula has a final Action that completes the spell.

Learning: Learning is determined by formula. The power of the formula cast is determined by the complexity of the formula and the potency of its ingredients. Difficulty to cast a spell is determined by the appropriateness of the formula used. Some formulas seem easy, but require such specific times and ingredients that they can be learned nearly instantly, but take forever to put together or find the right moment to cast. The chart below, however, shows the typical time it takes to learn a formula based on its power.

Power		Time (in weeks)
25		166
24		143
23		121
22		102
21		85
20		70
19		57
18		46
17		37
16		30
15		25
14		21
13		18.5
12		16.25
11		14.25
10		12.5
9		11
8		9.75
7		7.75
6		6
5		4.5
4		3.25
3		2.25
2		1.5
1		1

Furthermore, a ceremonial mage can leanr the basics of a sphere and gain an understanding of how their ceremonies work, being able to improvise formulas in that sphere:

Power		Time (in years)
25		332
24		286
23		242
22		204
21		170
20		140
19		114
18		92
17		74
16		60
15		50
14		42
13		37
12		32.5
11		28.5
10		25
9		22
8		19.5
7		15.5
6		12
5		9
4		6.5
3		4.5
2		3
1		2

Group Magic: Having multiple people involved can be complex. People have one of two roles in a ceremony: caster or ingredient. Often, though, a person takes both roles in a spell, even when casting alone. Therefore, everyone must learn their part perfectly.

Think of it like a play: you learn your role and those of the ones you interact with so you can react to any changes or missteps.

Having multiple casters can make it easier, but it can also raise the risk of a mistake being made.

Lowering: Some ceremonies allow difficulties to be lowered, but this will be built into the formula. Times vary by formula.

Fatigue: Time means time during the actual ceremony, not the gathering of ingredients and waiting for the right time or finding the right place (unless that's part of the ceremony). Anything more than what is listed generally just keeps going up the chart. If difficulties are lowered, the consequences increase a level. Special to exceptional, etc.

Time spent		Exceptional success		Special success		Normal success		Tie		Normal failure		Special failure		Exceptional failure
25 hours		-16		KO		KO		KO		KO		KO		Death
22 hours		-13		-16		KO		KO		KO		KO		KO
19 hours		-13		-16		-16		KO		KO		KO		KO
13 hours		-13		-13		- 16		-16		KO		KO		KO
10 hours		-10		-13		-13		-16		-16		KO		KO
7 hours		-10		-10		-13		-13		-16		-16		KO
4 hours		-7		-10		-10		-13		-13		-16		-16
1 hour		-7		-7		-10		-10		-13		-13		-16
30 minutes		-4		-7		-7		-10		-10		-13		-13
15 minutes		-4		-4		-7		-7		-10		-10		-13
10 minutes		-1		-4		-4		-7		-7		-10		-10
5 minutes		-1		-1		-4		-4		-7		-7		-10
1 minute		None		-1		-1		-4		-4		-7		-7
30 seconds		None		None		-1		-1		-4		-4		-7
15 seconds		None		None		None		-1		-1		-4		-4
9 seconds		None		None		None		None		-1		-1		-4
3 seconds		None		None		None		None		None		-1		-1

Casting: How it works!

What do you want to cast? Oh, that sounds fun. What sphere(s) would that be? Do you have a formula? Great! Do you have suitable ingredients? Gather them! Great!

No formula? Find one, or make one up! Got the ingredients? Gather them! Great!

Does the formula call for a time, place, or other people? Arrange them! Great!

Perform the ceremony! Cast it! Perform the final Action! Great!

Does the formula say when it'll take effect? Great! Wait for that to happen.

Failure: See here.

Sensing: See here.

Auras: None.