# Naming a few of my branches of magic.



## Garren Jacobsen (Nov 8, 2011)

First off, sorry I haven't been on in while I am a full time college student and I work over 30 hrs a week so if I am breaking any interwebs rule of forum posting protocol forgive me. 

With that said I have a question to pose to you all. It has been one that I have been struggling with for a time. I can't decide what to name three of my branches of magic. In my work I have five seperate branchs

Metallurgy-the ability to manipulate natural recurring magical energies into metal so that they can be used at a later date.

Seal Magic- The drawing of certain symbols to perform specific tasks A complement to Metallurgy when making talismans

Mage magic-(one that I am having trouble deciding whether I like it) The ability to create, or merely manipulate natural the elements, designated as fire, water, earth, air, light, and dark. The combination of which would create other sub-elements such as lightning.

Wizardry(also debating about this one)-This is the ability to manipulate the natural laws of chemistry and physics. This also is the ability to mess the human mind. Or if we were to follow quantum mechanics it changes the odds of something happening to your favor. This is done through spells

Spiritism(my absolute least favorite name I have come up with)-This deals with people being able to contact the dead, and summon demons, to pull out spiritual matter and with the help of mages create working golems. They also can reanimate corpses but not bring them back to life.

So if you were me what would you name Mage magic(elemental is good but a bit cliche if you ask me), Wizardry(spell casting is also on the table), and Spritism(I hate it and will hate until I can find a suitable alternative.

Thanks for your help.


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## Devor (Nov 8, 2011)

Brian Scott Allen said:


> Spiritism(my absolute least favorite name I have come up with)-This deals with people being able to contact the dead, and summon demons, to pull out spiritual matter and with the help of mages create working golems. They also can reanimate corpses but not bring them back to life.



Look around.  Try synonyms for Necromancy.


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## Ghost (Nov 8, 2011)

I have something slightly similar to spiritism in one of my stories. I just go with spiritualism for that one, but I'm not sure if that works for you since summoning demons and working with golems makes it different. I thought "animation" but that makes me think of cartoons. Maybe theurgy or vivification/vivifying magic could work?

Metallurgy and seal magic call to mind sorcery. Mage magic and wizardry sound like there's overlap, and they sound like alchemy to me. Does wizardry really need to change? I guess it could confuse readers since they might think wizardry is magic in general. I don't see why elemental magic would be bad for mage magic. Changing the name from "elemental" won't stop it from being cliche if it already is. Maybe conducive magic could work for that one, conversion magic could work for wizardry, or you could stick with elemental magic or alchemy. Not the best suggestions, I know.


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## Fiain (Nov 9, 2011)

Why not mediumship for the spiritism one?  Or ritualism.  A part of naming it depends on how exactly the magic is performed, so once you decide on that, it will be a tad easier to name it.

Perhaps for wizardry, you could change the name to arcane studies, or make up a word like arcanism. Define it as magic dealing with the fundamental precepts of both physical and mental reality. 

The mage magic is a tough one, because even though elementalism is cliche, it is really the best fitting choice. For this one, have you decided on limiting the practicioners to only one element, or can they have access to all?


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## Barnes4321 (Nov 9, 2011)

Theurgy is a name for summon spirits/deities for the purposes of using them for magic


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## Garren Jacobsen (Nov 9, 2011)

For the way that maging/elementalism works all practioners of this kind of magic can access all elements and manipulate them. The division of power comes between those who are able to create the element from nothing. The exception to this rule is light and darkness these are considered impossible to create since one or the other are always around. Also only those that create it can change the state of said created element from say fire to water to air. Further only elements made by the creator can be combined to create lightning and other "alloy" elements.

As far as Ouros comment goes there is in fact little relation to wizardy (or Arcanism I like that better) and maging. For example, in the above example only the mage can create fire, wizards cannot. The wizards bend and twist the fabric of reality. So say a wizard wants to create fire they can but they cannot manipulate it in the same way. Once the fabric of reality is twisted for the object it cannot be bent again. Meaning that it cannot be pushed around through mid-air, neither can it be formed into lightning. So seeing that any magical practitioner can use any branch of magic they wish, albeit to varying degrees of success, the wizards focus more on really twisting reality for so long as it is one instance of chaning reality in a confined realm the wizard can twist it as much as their concentration allows.


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