Gaining Magery

[Whitewings]

Assumption 1: Mages are relatively rare, about as common as medical doctors in our world.

Assumption 2: Magery is very, very rarely inborn. Most mages have to acquire it.

Assumption 3: The process is neither gruesome nor evil. No bargains with demons, ritual murder, or similar.

From these assumptions, what rituals might suit a roughly late medieval/early Renaissance European-like setting?

[Fred Brackin]

Originally Posted by Whitewings

From these assumptions, what rituals might suit a roughly late medieval/early Renaissance European-like setting?

Really medieval types use an analogue to the vigil the fledgeiing knight stands over his armor and weapons before his dubbing. Have it involve fasting and purification and _lots_ of prayers. after that's over he gets invested with hs robe of office and tapped on the shoulders and head with the staff of a real mage.

The important thing to the medieval mind is that it can only be accomplished as a Work of Faith.

For the Renaissance you have a lot more learning of Secret Knowledge and probably some Alchemy.

[ericthered]

Figuring out your exact humors and then inbibing a mystical brew.

Having it bestowed upon you at midsummer's Eve by seven other mages, who can only do this for one candidate a year.

[WingedKagouti]

Originally Posted by Whitewings

Assumption 3: The process is neither gruesome nor evil. No bargains with demons, ritual murder, or similar.

From these assumptions, what rituals might suit a roughly late medieval/early Renaissance European-like setting?

The church in the time period given considered all magic to stem from the Devil. When holy miracles did happen, they did not happen on command nor did they happen frequently.

So unless the setting diverges in a major way in that aspect, all Magery should require some sort of demonic bargain.

[whswhs]

Originally Posted by WingedKagouti

The church in the time period given considered all magic to stem from the Devil. When holy miracles did happen, they did not happen on command nor did they happen frequently.

That is actually not accurate. See Benedek Lang, Unlocked Books, which goes into considerable detail (I borrowed from it for GURPS Locations: Worminghall).

Two kinds of magic are generally prohibited. Anything that calls on spirits, whether angels or devils, is considered idolatrous, since it looks like prayer and sacrifice; and divination is forbidden, because it trespasses on divine omniscience. However, an exception is made for interpretation of dreams, as there's a lot of scriptural precedent for God sending dreams. Pretended divination is simply criminal fraud and is punished by the secular authorities (that's using Fortune-Telling).

Spellcasting generally falls under image magic, which calls on the natural affinities and virtues of plants and stones and the like (it's kind of analogous to what Celebrimbor did in making the Three Rings). It's not prohibited, but it might well be considered to require a vigil, as Fred suggested.

There's also simply knowing that a certain herb is good for a certain illness, and that sort of thing. Knowledge of natural qualities, even magically potent ones, is not problematic. Though it might be regulated by a guild, which might have a religious affiliation, perhaps to a particular saint.

At least at one period in the middle ages, I have read that the church condemned the belief in magic as a heresy.

[Dalin]

Originally Posted by Whitewings

Assumption 1: Mages are relatively rare, about as common as medical doctors in our world.

Assumption 2: Magery is very, very rarely inborn. Most mages have to acquire it.

Assumption 3: The process is neither gruesome nor evil. No bargains with demons, ritual murder, or similar.

Given the three assumptions, I might begin by thinking about what might be the limiting factor for mages. With doctors in our world, the limiting factor might be the amount of work required to become one. It is an investment of many years, requiring money and labor. You could posit something similar for mages. They have to engage in many years of study and apprenticeship, with many dropping out along the way. Graduating from Mage School might provide you with Magery 1 and some sort of license to practice plus a sizeable debt. Some mages might join programs that reduce the debt burden in exchange for service to a patron or a state-supported program.

[Donny Brook]

Pilgrimage to a mystic place
Near death experience
Divine favor
Psychedelic mushrooms
Passing a test (like going through a maze or confronting a fear)
Obtaining a powerful object
Discovering/inheriting a magical role

[RGTraynor]

Originally Posted by Dalin

Given the three assumptions, I might begin by thinking about what might be the limiting factor for mages.

Actually, I'd think about something very few GMs/settings do. While I don't believe in the common fallacy (https://ravenswing59.blogspot.com/2013/09/ggf-3.html) that mages are numerous enough to remold society, they're quite common enough to be able to do a whopping lot of things which power elites tend not to like.

So you have to figure that especially in an authoritarian culture, the ability to and/or the people allowed to learn magic is going to be restricted. Certain spells will be illegal to know, outside the rulers' personal cadres: Teleport, Invisibility, Mind Control spells, the like. Training generally might be restricted to the aristocracy, or to those oath-sworn to the ruler. Any "mages' guild" will be run by the Court Wizard. And so on.

[Whitewings]

Originally Posted by RGTraynor

Actually, I'd think about something very few GMs/settings do. While I don't believe in the common fallacy (https://ravenswing59.blogspot.com/2013/09/ggf-3.html) that mages are numerous enough to remold society, they're quite common enough to be able to do a whopping lot of things which power elites tend not to like.

I think by “limit” he means “limit the number of mages per capita.”

[Anthony]

The simplest option is "magery requires 15 points worth of study"; having power come from scholarship is within the medieval paradigm, and having to spend 4,000 hours under a teacher or 8,000 hours of self study to get magery 1 and 5 spells at IQ-1 is gonna keep magic rare enough.