[Thaumatology] Divination as the Core of Magic

dataweaver · 12-01-2023, 02:16 AM

Geomancy and Pyromancy, as actual “mancies” and not merely “control the elements of Earth and Fire” notions that some use them as, are potentially quite interesting: for the former, I heartily recommend reading the New Magical Arts in GURPS Thaumatology: Urban Magics: Lapidism is the art of drawing magic out of gemstones; as well, Geomancy is mentioned under Urban Divination and also references the Sacred Architecture and Ley Line Spells entries, as well as a reference to dowsing in all but name.

Note that Pyromancy doesn't actually feature anything about controlling flames, nor are its uses particularly focused on fire-related phenomena: you can use Pyromancy to scry about just about any subject matter you can think of. That said, I could see something vaguely analogous to Lapidism for it, but for flammable materials rather than gemstones: you decide what sort of magic you're after to determine which materials to burn, and then activate the magical effect by burning them.

Continuing the elemental theme, Lecanomancy is the method of divination that features using water as a medium. Again, it's not really about controlling water as it is about using water as a focus. That said, I could see devising a “Hydromancy” that starts out with Lecanomancy, but expands from there into a cousin of Geomancy that focuses more on waterways than on land formations and architecture: rivers, streams, lakes, waterfalls, and irrigation systems would all be suitable matters for it to deal with, and Ley Lines that follow such waterways would be an interesting notion to explore.

Finally, “Aeromancy” could be viewed as a sibling to Astrology: according to GURPS Magic (p.108), Astrology technically deals not just with heavenly bodies such as the sun, moon, stars, planets, and comets, but also the weather. Typically, the weather part of it tends to be given second-class status; but I could see an Aeromancy specialty that makes the weather its primary focus. By contrast, Plato generally viewed the heavens themselves as consisting of a fifth element, or Quintessence; and as such, you might be better separating Aeromancy off from Astrology entirely, with the former dealing with the weather and the latter dealing with the stellar phenomena.

12-01-2023, 02:16 AM	#22
dataweaver Join Date: Aug 2004	Re: [Thaumatology] Divination as the Core of Magic Geomancy and Pyromancy, as actual “mancies” and not merely “control the elements of Earth and Fire” notions that some use them as, are potentially quite interesting: for the former, I heartily recommend reading the New Magical Arts in *GURPS Thaumatology: Urban Magics: Lapidism is the art of drawing magic out of gemstones; as well, Geomancy is mentioned under Urban Divination and also references the Sacred Architecture and Ley Line Spells entries, as well as a reference to dowsing in all but name. Note that Pyromancy doesn't actually feature anything about controlling* flames, nor are its uses particularly focused on fire-related phenomena: you can use Pyromancy to scry about just about any subject matter you can think of. That said, I could see something vaguely analogous to Lapidism for it, but for flammable materials rather than gemstones: you decide what sort of magic you're after to determine which materials to burn, and then activate the magical effect by burning them. Continuing the elemental theme, Lecanomancy is the method of divination that features using water as a medium. Again, it's not really about controlling water as it is about using water as a focus. That said, I could see devising a “Hydromancy” that starts out with Lecanomancy, but expands from there into a cousin of Geomancy that focuses more on waterways than on land formations and architecture: rivers, streams, lakes, waterfalls, and irrigation systems would all be suitable matters for it to deal with, and Ley Lines that follow such waterways would be an interesting notion to explore. Finally, “Aeromancy” could be viewed as a sibling to Astrology: according to *GURPS Magic* (p.108), Astrology technically deals not just with heavenly bodies such as the sun, moon, stars, planets, and comets, but also the weather. Typically, the weather part of it tends to be given second-class status; but I could see an Aeromancy specialty that makes the weather its primary focus. By contrast, Plato generally viewed the heavens themselves as consisting of a fifth element, or Quintessence; and as such, you might be better separating Aeromancy off from Astrology entirely, with the former dealing with the weather and the latter dealing with the stellar phenomena. __________________ Point balance is a myth.[1][2][3][4]