Rituals

Table of Contents

Guild notice—Introduction to rituals

Written by Mistress Alina Lange for the rune guild.

Note: Reminder that all rituals are illegal and that this information is only presented to give students an understanding of what this field is about and what its dangers are.

Ritual magic is wild, difficult to control, and incredibly dangerous. Those characteristics are well known, but they are not the only elements defining it. Rituals are magic based on symbolism and the environment, allowing their practitioners to gather huge amount of magic otherwise inaccessible to them. They are also the most primitive form of magic and easiest to practise without an elaborate education, and they used to be strongly associated with religion. Rituals have slowly been phased out of society over the last centuries, and even before they were outlawed, only nobles were practising them regularly.
Rituals are tightly linked to specific locations and culture. As such, before rituals were outlawed, common practices tended to be shared at a regional level, with variations increasing with distance regardless of in which school of magic someone had been educated.

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Rituals vs other types of magic

Rituals

What: Magic based on symbolism of all kinds.
Where: In specific locations linked to the magic practised.
Aim: Channel huge amount of wild magic from the environment, allow for results without fully understanding mechanisms involved.
Requirements: Very good understanding of symbolism, high ability to control magic to avoid it running out of control.

Other types of magic

What: Limited to what magic the caster has available immediately or that is contained in specific materials.
Where: Anywhere, not location-bound.
Aim: Tight control over the results of the magic, lessening the risks.
Requirements: Learning an infinite number of precise techniques and fully understanding the mechanisms involved for each.

Other types of magic:

Intent-based magic

Runic magic

Alchemy and Enchantments

Main risks of rituals:

Magic invoked by the rituals easily running out of control, wreaking through the practitioners' bodies and killing or maiming them.

Very strong magic invoked, so effects of the rituals most often cannot be undone.

Symbolisms used during ritual not fully understood, leading to unexpected effects.

Ritual not properly performed, leading to unexpected symbolisms and their effects.

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Main applications

Empowerment Rituals

What: Rituals centred around one or a few individuals.
Aim: Taking magic from the environment to put it into those individuals.
Applications: In the fields of health, personal empowerment, fertility, and pleasure.

Religious Rituals

What: Rituals gathering huge amount of people for special occasions (birth, solstices...).
Aim: To thank or make requests to the gods and to control, get magic out of, or give magic back to the environment.
Applications: Cultural and religious practices

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