#magic sciences

Beast Biology*

Potions*

Astrology/Astronomy

Witch’s Botany

Wand Sciences

من أغرب الكتب التي يشح ذكرها في المصادر العربية «كتاب البلهان» الذي جمعه عبد الحسن الأصفهاني في القرن الرابع عشر، وكتاب العجائب هذا مليء بالرسوم الطلسمية (talismanic) التي شاعت مع علوم السحر والعلوم الغيبية في ذلك الزمان.

من أغرب أجزاء الكتاب تصويراته المدهشة والجميلة لملوك الجن بالألوان، وتنتشر في صوره الطلاسم والرموز التي يتطلب فهمها معرفة بتقاليد السحر والشعوذة والعوالم الخفية السائدة في ذاك الوقت. وترى مثلاً رسم إبليس سيد الشياطين ومشاهير الجن كالملك الأسود والملك الأحمر (حاكم المريخ) وصور تمثل الجن وهم يخطفون البشر أو يسببون لهم الكوابيس أثناء النوم، وليس أقل طرافة منها الجني "شمهورش" الشهير الذي يقضي ويحكم في عالم الجن.

ألف الكتاب وأُعد في بغداد في نهايات القرن الرابع عشر ميلادي عندما كانت بغداد تحت حكم السلطان أحمد الجلائري (وهو من عشيرة مغولية حكمت العراق وما حوله قرابة قرن من الزمان). والمؤلف يدعي أن مواد الكتاب هي للفلكي والرياضي الشهير أبو معشر البلخي (Albumaser). أما الرسومات والتعليقات فهي من رسم وعمل عبد الحسن الأصفهاني نفسه.

ويرى البعض أن كتاب البلهان هو من أعمال السحر والشعوذة، مثله في ذلك مثل كتاب "شمس المعارف الكبرى" الأكثر شهرة بين الناس، وقد يكون هذا صحيحاً جزئياً. إلا أن قيمة الكتاب من الناحية التاريخية تكمن في تمثيله للجزء النادر من التفكير الشعبي والأدب المختص بالغيب والعوالم الموازية في ذلك الزمان. ورغم أن كثيراً من رسوماته خرافية تماماً إلا أنها تمتاز بالندرة والغرابة ولها جمال خاص عند بعض المؤرخين.

ومما ذكر في الكتاب قصص ممتعة عن جزر الواق واق التي يوجد فيها شجر له ثمر يشبه النساء كما رسمه في الصورة ويرجع سبب تسميتها بجزر الواق واق هو وجود ثمار على هيئة رؤوس نساء تتدلى بشعور طويلة معلقة بأغصان أشجارها إذا نضجت سقطت ومر الهواء بتجاويف فيها فتسمعها تقول واق واق.

[Article clipped from an entry titled ‘Forget Mars; Will We Some Day Live in Another Dimension?’ from the April 1996 edition of ‘Beyond the Divide’, a locally traded supernatural science journal]

“Planar Shifting, interchangeably known as Dimensional Shifting or Dimensional Cleaving, is a theory in supernatural physics circles that claims that specific magical energies can be attuned to different naturally occurring wavelengths to open rifts into other dimensions adjacent to prime earth. 

The existence of adjacent universes was formally confirmed to those studying preternatural sciences in 1945, but has been widely accepted for thousands of years... [Clipped]

...Alternate dimensions would theoretically have alternate rules for physics, and transporting between two could prove catastrophic for the integrity of both linked dimensions. Department funded research is deemed theoretical only, and no official tests have been run to... [Clipped]

...Furthermore, the theoretical energy release required to power such a divide is currently something that cannot be manufactured by man. Even with input from matter-bending specialists, it appears the only people who might know how to open these rifts are the people from these alternate dimensions. 

“It’s just not something current magic practitioners have the power to do,” commented a researcher of magical radiation who chose to remain anonymous. “And I don’t think it’s something we’ll ever really be able to do. I think we’re still waiting for a specific kind of key that we won’t be able to produce until someone else tells us how to. It’s just the way magic works in this world. There’s millions of things that even witches don’t understand.”

Different people have different affinities for different magics and no two people will experience it in the same way! 

At its core, our concept of “magic” just stems from science being applied in.... strange ways. The basic form of most magic is alchemy, alchemy being the process that turns one thing into something else of equal value. There’s always a balance of matter: it cannot be created or destroyed, simply..... recycled.

Now, understanding this principle: you can begin to delve deeper into different applications of magic. 

Healing magic is the practical application of alchemy in the medical field and is most often practiced by druidic peoples or those with a particular affinity for “natural magics”. You can take life from the earth to give it back to the people. Magics involving the elements require careful objective planning; fire based magic may be the most accessible (if you know how a flint works you can figure out how to make fire in your hands), but this doesnt suddenly make you fireproof. Then you have teleportation magics, telekinetics, flying, transmutation -- a different branch for every interest. You could spend your whole life practicing one avenue and never be good at it.

Now, spells dont exist in the way that you would traditionally expect them to. There are no incantations, there is no written word, there are simply equations with the solution being Magic Happens. “Spells” will require different components based on what you hope to achieve. Is your goal to heal a cut? It’s objectively simple: you take something of equal value (perhaps a sapling? a freshly bloomed rose?) and you take that life and put it into something else. Objectively very simple. The trick is the math. 

What is equal to a cut? How much life do i have to take? What is this persons blood type? Do they have any pre-existing conditions? How old is the wound? How dangerous is the wound? Is it infected? 

The more you begin to pile on the equation, the more complicated the magic becomes. Some magics are forgiving. Healing a scraped knee is a no brainer; even if you mess it up, the consequences will probably just be “this cut didnt heal, darn.” 

What is the consequence for messing up the equation for trying to open a portal into another dimension?  

If a spell appears to be “cast on the spot” that spell most likely cost that person months of practice, rewriting the script, using their own body as a circuit to conduit the results. You have to be very good to preform magic on the spot. 

Further more: magic cannot be practiced naturally by everyone. It can be studied and replicated, but true magic requires specific genetic structures to perfect the equation. As such: some people will inherently be better at magic than others, and most will never be able to practice at all. 

People born with these magics are often from families whos lineage is dedicated to their own specific form of magic. Some families are healers, some only deal in the elements, some craft magical objects, and some are almost entirely non-magical, but are able to cast one very specific spell.