#van magic

A Van spell from the City which temporarily misdirects attention from you.

You will need:

Any sort of blindfold or wrap

Marker

Any paper (receipts especially)

Any fire

Something to extinguish the fire

At midnight, ready your supplies; light the fire and draw an eye on one side of the paper; on the other, write your intentions. The traditional way of phrasing this is, "Strike me from the eyes of the world." You may fill this seal with emanation (ie. channel energy into it) if you have the ability.

Draw an empty circle(s) on your body wherever you most feel the world through, be it your head, chest, hands, so on.

Blindfold yourself, then take the seal. Burn it while focusing on the darkness of the blindfold; close your eyes if it helps.

Extinguish the fire, then remove your blindfold. This spell will last from this midnight until the next, approximately; during that time, expect the world and spirits to ignore you, even be it subtly or indirectly.

Optional:

As with all City magic, you may use the ash of something smoked to empower the fire or seal, and/or you may also do so with blood. Doing either will make the act more powerful; beware this if you might need to be noticed for the following day.

This ritual is recommended for going unfound, hiding, or for any reason you would like to remain out of everyone's perception. It will not make you invisible nor entirely unnoticed; as with most magic in this world, the effects may be subtle. You may not even realize what has passed you by that otherwise may have ran into you, sought you.

This is a common City way to perform a basic curse, mostly for binding. It is also commonly used elsewhere, and uses general Van principles.

You will need:

A piece of wood or rubber, scavenged yourself or touched by the target

A thorned vine (optional)

A sharp object, preferably blessed with Van emanation (dark or negative energy)

A marker or carving implement (this may not be the primary sharp object; if this implement is also blessed darkly, it is preferable)

The target's preferred name

An area in which you may draw a circle; concrete or paper works best

A method of channeling emanation, be it yourself or a tool

It is best to begin this at 2:00-3:00am or midnight.

Carve the target's name into the wood/rubber. You may empower this now by smearing the name with blood, ideally the target's, but any will do; or else by smearing it with any kind of ash, but preferably from something burned while fresh or living. A fresh-picked flower works best.

Wrap the wood in the vine if using one; this is ideal, but optional.

Write your intentions in a circle around the wood/rubber. Again, impressing blood or ash onto this sentence will empower it. The common way of phrasing this in the City is, "Thorns wrap you, thorns pierce you; they restrict you from [aim of binding]." If there are any specific languages you would like to write in or symbols to include, so long as they have not Yyd (light or positive) connotations, you may use those. Any will work.

Channel Van emanation into the wood and the written sentence as you are able.

Stab the sharp object into the wood/rubber.

Clean up and cleanse the area if you like, but stow the pierced wood or rubber somewhere safe and hidden; the curse will last until the object piercing it is removed. If the effects seem to stop working, channel further emanation into the sharp object.

This will at least discourage the target from doing whatever you have bound them from, if it does not firmly stop them. Magic in this world is a subtle art; be prepared for the effects not to be completely noticeable.