Sex and the Talent

Summary

Many people believe, and repeat to their friends and children, the idea that engaging in sexual intercourse decreases The Talent.
Mages who work in anthropology and psychology attribute this belief to two possible sources:

• a desire to keep young people celibate until marriage. Some of these scholars noted that the legend of the inverse relationship between sexual experience and magical power seems to be rampant in secondary schools, but is as often dismissed.
• avoidance of domestic obligations. Scholars studying this aspect of the folk-belief note that people often use this belief as a way to decline sexual invitations from one's spouse (possibly to avoid further pregnancies and children).

In 1968, the MIH (Magical Institute of Health), a scientific agency of the Department of Integrated Services, investigated this belief in a study at the University of California, Berkeley. The study divided volunteers into three groups: a celibate group, a sexually active group, and a control group, which was given no instructions about their sexual behavior. The study tracked sexual activity and magical power and found no correlation between the two. Further studies (Institute of Magical Sciences [1973], Dartmoor College [1980], MIH [1988]) have confirmed these conclusions.

Historical Basis

The myth that sexual intercourse hinders use of The Talent seems to have been present in ancient times. For this reason, priests and priestesses were often forbidden to marry. Many mages engaged in scholarship and philosophy eschewed partners, and others limited their marital and domestic lives severely. Eventually, this became a tradition, reinforced by culture. Christian mages in the Middle Ages pointed to the importance of celibacy, for instance, and noted that monks, nuns, and eventually priests were required to be celibate as part of their dedication to God. Scholars in medieval universities where magic was studied by the Talented and the mundane alike were also forbidden to marry.

Variations & Mutation

Occasionally, the belief is that sexual intercourse decreases the magical power of males only.