Guide to the Arcane Realm

Applied Magic

Refers to when magic is used for a practical purpose or with a specific reason in mind.

While most physical forces are indifferent to the thoughts of living creatures, magical energy (and similar forces) is typically responsive to the willpower of a conscious being, even their subconscious impulses. Sapient beings have a greater capacity for intentionally applied magic, mainly due to "higher" order functioning such as thought, reasoning, emotion, abstraction and belief having a greater effect on the flow of this energy and producing more dramatic effects.

In the context of our world, applied magic is defined as any event in nature which is brought to pass by any being's will, whether it be as dramatic as casting a spell that conjures fire or mundane as applying bandages to a wound.

Types of Applied Magic

There is a variety of different ways to apply magic, some that can be used by all and some exclusive to certain groups or individuals. The general term for basically any individual that intentionally uses magic for specific tasks is a magic user or mage.

Sorcery

Sorcery is the blanket term for any innate magical trait (passive or spontaneous) or ability (consciously active) and are usually specific to a species. It is usually seen as an instinctual and specific form of magic. Some of the most simple and most powerful magical abilites can fall under sorcery such as theurgy and endowments.

Mana Sorcery

Mana Sorcery is a type of sorcery unique to hominin species. It involves an individual using the mana within themselves to conjure a dynamic substance called manaplasm they can manipulate.

Theurgy

This sorcery is high level magic normally possessed by only divine spirits. Magic of this type usually allows manipulation of various levels of physical laws, thus producing feats beyond that of most ritual magic. Divinities can also be summoned or choose to bestow a portion of their power to non-divine beings, in the form of endowments or thaumaturgy spells.

Endowments

These are personal superpowers derived from a divinity channeling their theurgy into a non divine sapient being. The nature of the power is dependent on the recipient's personality, hopes, wants, or needs.

Ritual Magic

Ritual magic is based on a sequence of activities involving gestures, words, and objects, performed according to set sequences to create a magical effect.

Rituals can produce magic because of knowledge that has been collected about the natural world and used in a certain way. The rituals in most of these magic types, are geared toward putting the mage into a desired altered mental state. In this altered state, a practitioner's emotions and focus are key to gathering magical power from within or without that can reproduce natural phenomena or create improbable phenomena with sufficient force of will.

Ritual magic works due to magical thinking, the belief that one's thoughts by themselves can bring about effects in the world or that thinking something corresponds with doing it. Emotional stress and events of personal significance push people strongly toward magical meaning-making and have the magic power of the world act accordingly. Ritual magic has so far manifested as Alchemy, Summoning, and Spellcraft. While anybody is able to use ritual magic with proper practice and study, individuals from families with long magical heritages possess a natural affinity for these magic practices.

Spellcraft

Spellcraft is the creation of spells, structured rituals that give ambient or stored magic energy the instructions to reproduce some type of phenomena. The majority of spells can be reproduced and taught with the right conditions. Those who use this are specifically known as Spellcasters.

Summoning

Summoning is ritual magic that calls upon another being and allows for it or its power to come to one's aid. Those who apply magic in this way and are the recipients of a summon's abilities are known as Summoners.

Invocation is the art of calling upon the power of separate entities. Evocation is the act of physically summoning or manifesting such beings. Exorcism is related and essentially the art of controlling, or dealing with hostile spirits.

Alchemy

As a whole, alchemy is a branch of applied magic that essentially boils down to using the magical essence of things to manipulate and alter existing matter. There is a philosophical side to alchemy focused mainly on perfection of one's self, later overshadowed by practical alchemy which involved activating the magic energy within everyday objects to give them new properties or putting together magical reagents for specific outcomes. A growing branch of alchemy is the creation of artifices,  technological devices that use magical energy to operate or can perform magical effects.

A/N: Hello it's the author again. Now here is were we scratch the surface of my magic system. Before I solidified it, I had it work differently for different creatures and implemented particle physics, it was crazy. I'm hoping the form it is in now is simple enough for anyone to pick up but leaves enough intrigue for those who want to now more.