# Protection from Magic



## Black Dragon (Jun 4, 2011)

What are some creative ways through which people may try to protect themselves from magic or witchcraft?  I'm looking for some of the lesser known methods, beyond talismans and religious medals.


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## Amanita (Jun 4, 2011)

In of my nations they try to protect themselves with salt. They always put a barrier of salt in front of their doors and take some with them, whereever they go. It's not completely useless but not as effective as they hope either. Not very creative, I'm afraid  but it's the first thing that comes to my mind. 
Besides that there are various mental rituals to protect themselves from mental powers such as telepathy and mind control. Some of them work really well, others do not. Besides the form of ritual this also depends on the strength and ability of the magical attacker and the supposed victim.


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## Kelise (Jun 4, 2011)

I wonder if there would be some way to change your body so magic simply doesn't work on you. Either by having a high iron intake (as iron bars is said to get rid of demons like salt does) or making yourself really unhealthy, or some such.

Or if you wanted to be more sci-fi than fantasy, they could inject their blood with some kind of formula, perhaps. Hrm...


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## Amanita (Jun 4, 2011)

I think this really depends on the way magic works in the particular setting. Some fantasy world have simple "shield charms" and the like, especially those with "universal magic". 
Magically charged substances that can be taken into the body sound interesting though, I might actually use these as well...


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## AParker (Jun 4, 2011)

Unusual ways to protect yourself, hmm? *cracks knuckles*

Well, apart from talismans and religious medals, there's a wide variety of formulaic gestures and sayings, from crossing yourself, to the sign of the horns, or recitation of various religious formulas or prayers (I.E.  "May the saints preserve us,").

Moving on, there's this weird emphasis on counting that keeps cropping up- a lot of supernatural creatures apparently having a severe and very specific form of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.  This takes a number of forms.  For example, a method of protecting yourself from vampires is to carry a pocket full of seeds of some kind.  Upon a vampire (presumably) leaping out of the bushes and yelling at you while waving his arms menacingly, you would throw these seeds down on the ground and skedaddle, while the vampire would be compelled to kneel down and count the individual seeds.  Kind of gives you a new perspective on Sesame Street's Count, no?

Another example of the whole counting thing was the Greek belief that certain goblin like creatures could be kept from entering your house by placing a colander on your doorstep.  The creatures would stop and count each hole in the colander, apparently consistently slowly enough that they could never finish before the sun came up and forced their retreat.  Maybe leave out a colander full of poppy seeds, just to be safe?

In certain British folklore, one could free oneself from the glamour of a fairy by taking off one's coat, turning it inside out, and putting it back on.  Also, some generally good rules with faeries- don't eat or drink anything.  Some faeries were also reputed to have a great deal of trouble with, variously, the Lord's Name, Bible verses, or the sound of church bells.

Jack O Lanterns, along with other grotesque carvings of various materials, were meant to frighten off malign spirits.  Keeping a small mirror on your door could also do this, either frightening them off with their own horrid visage, or leaving them fascinated by their reflection until sunrise, when such things tend to lose their power.

Some things cannot cross running water, so I guess living on an island in a river would be a good call there.


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## Hans (Jun 4, 2011)

I agree that this highly depends on your magic. Everything or nothing could help.

What was used on earth against superstitious magic starts with simple things as staying home at night. Don't tell your name to strangers (Although in more areas on earth the laws of hospitality were much higher respected.). Dont answer to the first knocking on your door.
Different materials were used as protection. Salt was already mentioned. A more durable protection was reached with mountain ash or rowan. Rosemary was a "well probed" herb to cleanse from evil magic.
Prayers were often said to be very effective. I have a little book here named "Geistiger Schild" (~ spiritual shield) from 1674 which has all sorts of protective and useful prayers. Even such as how to win in gambling (never tried it). Some are said to be powerful enough to protect even as long as you carry them with you.
A vast diversity of gestures were said to help against curses and witchcraft. Spread fingers directed against the source of the curse were one of them. With a little search you can find lots more.


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## BeigePalladin (Jun 4, 2011)

sheer disbelief is sometimes used - but that's more in worlds where magic is the manifestation of someones will. kinda makes sense, if someones mind makes a fireball to shoot at me, then my mind should be able to render said fireball intert (or only scalding)

also, as said above it depends. it's probably be harder to defend from something physicla made by magic, or thrown by it, than something like a glamour or mind control.


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## The Realm Wanderer (Jun 4, 2011)

In the novel I'm currently writing, there are people chosen by a deity to protect the realms from a demon-like race. Different people acquire different means of defence but I have four types thought up so far:
- *Veilers* can hide anything from the senses of demons. That includes objects, people, and even entire villages. Their magic throws off the demons' smell and hearing, as well as confusing their sense of sight. For example, they could make a cave entrace seem like nothing more than a cliff face.
- *Forbidders* are able to actually cast a dome over people and villages (though the latter takes 3 or more of them depending on size) that will strictly prevent demons from being able to enter it.
- *Repellers* emit an aroma so unbearable (to the demon kind) that they are simply forced to stay clear. Not one hundred percent effective however.
- *Sonics* can create an ultrasonic sound through whistling that torments the demons' ears and causes them to retreat.
That's pretty much all I've got so far. Not hugely inventive, and it mostly revolves around the senses of the demons because physically, they're nigh invincible.


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## myrddin173 (Jun 4, 2011)

In some books, running water is a defense.  In the The Old Kingdom Trilogy by Garth Nix the Dead are impeded by running water, the swifter the better.  Also in my world crossing running water while having a spell cast on you will cause it to come undone.


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## James Chandler (Jun 5, 2011)

Running away works. At least it does for Rincewind (Terry Pratchett)


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## Helbrecht (Jun 5, 2011)

In my book-in-progress, there's no reliable "anti-magic" to speak of, which is precisely one of the reasons why magic is so feared. However, there are many ways to suppress the setting's plethora of supernatural creatures, and I've been getting really deep into folkloric and mythological research in developing the strengths and weaknesses of each. Cold iron and salt are the big and obvious ones.

Hm. If your setting has an established anti-magic substance, like cold iron or salt, maybe a character could get a tattoo with this substance in granules being stirred into the ink? That's the most inventive thing I can think of.


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## James Chandler (Jun 6, 2011)

> If your setting has an established anti-magic substance, like cold iron or salt, maybe a character could get a tattoo with this substance in granules being stirred into the ink? That's the most inventive thing I can think of.


 
If you haven't already, read the Warded Man by Peter V. Brett and the sequel the Desert Spear.


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## Hans (Jun 6, 2011)

Helbrecht said:


> If your setting has an established anti-magic substance, like cold iron or salt, maybe a character could get a tattoo with this substance in granules being stirred into the ink? That's the most inventive thing I can think of.


 
A lot of tattoos already have iron based pigments. Don't know about the "cold" part.
And finely distributed salt already is abundant in the body. Just sweat a lot, let that dry and you can see white salt on your skin. Does that help against magic? (Well, the answer of course is very world dependent.)


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## BeigePalladin (Jun 6, 2011)

Hans said:


> A lot of tattoos already have iron based pigments. Don't know about the "cold" part.
> And finely distributed salt already is abundant in the body. Just sweat a lot, let that dry and you can see white salt on your skin. Does that help against magic? (Well, the Answer of course is very world dependent.)


 
true, but it would be a bit of a cop out - particularly agains heat based spells...

"How did that fail"
"well, you tried to cook me, which made me sweat, thus covering my body in fine grains of salt - which then stpped the cooking spell from working"
"...darn?"


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## Hans (Jun 6, 2011)

BeigePalladin said:


> true, but it would be a bit of a cop out - particularly agains heat based spells...


That would effectively limit the usability of heat spells for battle purposes. And should be well known by the mages of that world.
It also leads to a direct other consequence: Hard work protects against magic.


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## The Realm Wanderer (Jun 6, 2011)

As James noted, The Painted Man (The Warded Man in US) and The Desert Spear which are both brilliant books has its main character tattooed with magic runes. That to me was a really cool way of defending.


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## Helbrecht (Jun 6, 2011)

To clarify: When I was talking about cold iron and salt in tattoo ink, I was using materials reputed to have anti-magical properties in real-world mythology as examples. In a given setting, an analogous substance could be Lyrium or Kryptonite or anything like that. (The salt thing doesn't make much sense at all when I think about it, but the original folklore's probably referring to table salt specifically. The exact definition of "cold" iron has always been elusive, but many now assume it meant metallic iron that hadn't been heated by human hands - i.e. from meteorites.)

@James Chandler: I've just Googled its premise and that's more or less what I was talking about, yes.  Although in that world, it's the symbols of the wards themselves that hold power; what I was suggesting was more to do with the ink involved in the tattooing. In any case, I'm putting those books on my reading list, cheers.


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## Amanita (Jun 6, 2011)

In my world, many beings can't cross a line made of salt. For this to work, it needs to be complete however. If some part is left out, the being will get through. Therefore sweat doesn't help and tatoos containing salt wouldn't either. A specific property of salt inside of the body really wouldn't make much sense because it's always there. 
The people also believe that taking a bag of salt with them will protect them in some way. Throwing at at certain being can distract them or keep them off a bit, but it's not very effective.


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## James Chandler (Jun 6, 2011)

> @James Chandler: I've just Googled its premise and that's more or less what I was talking about, yes. Although in that world, it's the symbols of the wards themselves that hold power; what I was suggesting was more to do with the ink involved in the tattooing. In any case, I'm putting those books on my reading list, cheers.



You could try unobtanium tatoo ink. ;-) You would want to either research or invent the materials you would use. You could also set it up so different combinations of material may impact the effectiveness of the protection. You could also use the "lost art" trope, but you have to be careful with that so it does not sound like a re-hash.


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## Telcontar (Jun 11, 2011)

I've always liked the running water bit. I see it in a lot of stories. Sometimes magic isn't even accesible over large bodies of water (such as on an ocean). 

I usually imply in my stories that sheer willpower will protect someone, as magic is usually one person trying to affect reality through thought and that can be resisted even without magic of one's own.


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