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Is it possible to use magic without saying "magic"?

Mindfire

Istar
I'm just curious, does anyone know of a way to include magic in a work without actually using the word "magic" or know of a book that does so? The word "magic" has connotations and flavor that don't quite fit with the "feel" of the world I'm building.
 

TWErvin2

Auror
Use a different word, such as spellcraft, or specifics such as summoning, necromancy, conjuration, warding or whatever you want to come up with.
 

Warlock

Acolyte
I think Tolkien did it in his Lord of the Rings trilogy and in the Hobbit, though I haven't read the books in a while so I am not 100% positive. However, in Middle-Earth magic was not something supernatural but a part of the world itself, plus whatever 'magic' was performed was done so in a certainly subtle manner.

Like TWErvin2 said, you could use other words synonyms to 'magic' to describe it, or simply give descriptions of the effects of 'magic' without actually referring to the cause of those effects as some supernatural power.
 

Griffin

Minstrel
What kind of feel are you going for? I can start throwing words out there, but what is your "magic" like? What is the world like? For example, if your world is more "science-y", then you could call it alchemy (I know a difference exists between alchemy and magic, but some works use them interchangeably.)
 
I'm just curious, does anyone know of a way to include magic in a work without actually using the word "magic" or know of a book that does so? The word "magic" has connotations and flavor that don't quite fit with the "feel" of the world I'm building.

I actually tried this once, in a story I didn't get very far on. I wanted magic to be something very vague and undefined; something you couldn't quite point at and say: "That there's magic!" I wanted to give the impression it wasn't something you'd discuss in clear terms. It was tricks you'd picked up somewhere, or instincts you'd learned to hone and trust.

For the most part, "magic" was just individual talents or intuitive skills taken to a supernatural level - a specific thing that the character was just unnaturaly good at, like "finding things" or "opening things." One character was a smith who made magical swords, but nobody ever called them magical swords, they were just swords with some very unusual properties. And the smith didn't cast spells on them or anything, he was just a damn good swordsmith.

So, I think it's definitely possible, but you'll need to make the magic very vague. Because the more clearly defined it is, the more likely people are to talk about it as such.
 
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Mindfire

Istar
I was thinking more along the lines of Avatar, where the bending disciplines are clearly supernatural but are never called "magic". (Except by Sokka in the early episodes in a bit of sarcasm.)
 
I was thinking more along the lines of Avatar, where the bending disciplines are clearly supernatural but are never called "magic". (Except by Sokka in the early episodes in a bit of sarcasm.)

Well, they call it "bending" because thats how it works: They bend one of the elements. That is to say, it's a skill named after its primary mechanic. It shouldn't be too hard to think of an equivalent for your own system, as long as you have a clear idea of how it works.

I'm running an RPG that was partially inspired by Avatar: TLA. It features "espers" which are people who each have a unique psychic power personal to themselves, refered to only as "abilities." Thing is, proper magic does exists in this word, but is considered a form a science because it only works by specific laws and requires a given cost for a given effect. Esper abilites can break these rules, basically causing things to happen for no reason and for no apparent cost. The irony is that because of this, magic is considered serious business whereas espers are considered folklore - most magicians don't even believe in espers because they are "not supposed to be possible."
 

shangrila

Inkling
Of course. I don't think any of Sanderson's books specifically use the word "magic", yet he's well known for his magic systems.
 
In some cases (Empire of the Petal Throne springs to mind) writers have invoke Clarke's Second Law, that is, a highly advanced technology is to blame. If an orc has never seen a phaser pistol before, how will it know the difference between a spell and a highly focused burst of energy?
 
Outlaw Star uses a gun (called a castor) that shoots magic bullets...but I think they only reference the magic aspect once or twice and that was in an episode that was not shown in the regular TV show.
 
MAGICK:

The girl then raised her arms above her head, staring into the rainfall. An immense blue flare began to spiral in the skies above her, disintegrating all that it touched. And as she beckoned the heavens, somebody moved behind her, something; a darkness that loomed over the tiny girl. Coram raised his hand to warn her, but before he could speak, one last streak of lightning crashed down and the world seemed to pause, brighten, and then dissipate.

I could have said:

Then she mumbled, "abrakadabra."
A blue ball of magik formed above her....

First one doesn't say magik, just make it obvious that something supernatural is happening!
 

Oaken

Acolyte
I suggest you refer to magic as "raw biological energy" that exists in every creature out there. However, not every creature knows how to channel it usefully i.e. cast spells.
 
A

Astner

Guest
I'm surprised that no one has mentioned sorcery yet. Thaumaturgy and witchcraft also works.
 

mbartelsm

Troubadour
I use "Animism" as the practice of magic
And "Anima" as the name for magic itself

This is because in my world, magic is controlled trough the soul, and the latin word for soul is anima
 

Ireth

Myth Weaver
The Fae in my novels use a type of "magic" (or so it would seem to mortals) that they call Glamour, which is focused mainly in illusion or enchantment. They can make themselves appear as they wish, or disappear entirely; some, like Kelpies or Pooka, can change from humanoid to animal shape and back again. Others like Merrows or Selkies can do the same, but they need special garments to do so (a cap or cloak for the former, a sealskin for the latter).
 
A

Astner

Guest
What exactly are you looking for? A substitute word, or a segment that describes some unique process?
 
In my world I was dealing with the same thing. Being set in medieval times you don't use the word 'magic' because in medieval times people accused of doing 'magic' were killed. Thus when the people with super-natural abilities rolled around they were very careful to call their abilities power. They were people with power, not magicians.
 
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