Magick

For Magick within OAGS, see this article or the list of rituals.

Magick (so spelt to distinguish it from stage magic) is the practice of enacting rituals to produce a supernatural effect. The Agency's term for an individual who uses magick is a sorcerer. All magick rituals have certain elements in common. Firstly, they must be performed by a conscious mind- a ritual cannot be performed by a robot or automaton. Secondly, rituals always work if performed correctly- while there may be certain requirements for successfully performing a ritual (for example some rituals can only be performed by ritualists of a certain gender, while some require a ritualist who is an ordained priest), rituals do not make judgements about the ritualist- a priest who does not believe in God can still perform rituals that require an ordained priest, whereas no layman, no matter how devout, could successfully perform them.

Beyond these constants, there are a vast array of necessary components for various rituals; some require specific materials, some require incantations or gestures, some require ritual clothing, some require human or animal sacrifice, some only work at particular times or in particular locations; the variety is endless. Many rituals that seem to be unreliable are in fact, reliant on a factor the ritualist has yet to be able to determine.

While some rituals may be taught to mortals by the forces of Light or Darkness or may channel energy aligned with Light or Darkness, rituals themselves are morally neutral. Magickal knowledge acquired through deals with the Devil is not necessarily corrupt or evil inherently, though some of the rituals may have effects other than those claimed by Lucifer.

Rituals can invariably be traced back to one of three sources. The first is rituals taught to humans by angels; both factions have been known to do this, either in exchange for favors or simply to thwart each other(such as Loyalist Angels teaching how to perform exorcisms). The second is rituals from parallel universes; many parallel universes are home to xenoforms whose knowledge of magick is highly advanced and many of the rituals known to human sorcerers come from off-world. The third source is those rituals which survived from Atlantis or Mu. With the end of the First Time War, the secret of how to research new rituals seems to have been lost, but back in the days of the ancient civilizations, new rituals were being constantly discovered.

See also Witches, warlocks, sorcerers and wizards for a guide to terminology concerning ritualists.