magic

Art and power attribution

Record the deliberate practice and the supernatural power it is described as invoking, preserving whose description this is.

1. What art or prescribed practice invokes which attributed supernatural power? definition
2. Who supplies this account, and where can it be checked? provenance

Magic label and neighbours

Record the convention distinguishing this practice from religion, illusion, fiction or metaphor, including disagreement.

1. Do participants call this magic, use another term or reject the designation? definition
2. Under the stated convention, what separates or connects this practice and religious ritual, stage illusion or fictional magic? boundary

Invoked agency

Describe whether the account involves petitioning, commanding, channelling or otherwise engaging a named power, using source terminology.

1. What beings, forces or powers are invoked, and how is engagement with them described? definition
2. Which source supports this operative account, and does another account disagree? provenance

Claimed path to effect

Document what the art seeks to affect and why its words, objects or actions are considered relevant within the account.

1. What change or knowledge is sought, and who or what is its target? definition
2. What source explains any claimed connection between the ritual elements and the intended effect? provenance

Required ritual elements

Identify formulas, gestures, inscriptions, objects or preparations treated as required, optional or substitutable.

1. Which words, actions, materials and sequence define the prescription in this version? definition
2. Which omissions or substitutions are said to alter or invalidate it? boundary

Performance eligibility

Preserve stated requirements concerning initiation, preparation, timing, location and prohibitions without assuming they apply across traditions.

1. What practitioner qualifications, preparations, times or places are prescribed? definition
2. Which source or recognised authority establishes these conditions for this version? provenance

Traceable prescription history

Link a prescription to identifiable attestations and record claimed lineage separately from supported transmission.

1. What identifiable text, teacher, testimony or observation supplies this version? provenance
2. Which claims about antiquity, lineage or authenticity remain unsupported by the available record? provenance

Disclosure and teaching conditions

Identify any initiation, permission or custodial conditions attached to sharing magical formulas and instructions.

1. Who asserts authority to permit disclosure or teaching, and what is the basis of that authority? provenance
2. What may an agent quote, summarise or teach under the documented access conditions? action

Efficacy assessment

Distinguish intended results, participant interpretations, observations and causal conclusions, including how failures are handled.

1. What counts as success or failure, over what period, and according to whom? measurement
2. What observations or comparisons support the claimed result, and do they distinguish supernatural causation from other explanations? measurement

Prescription and attribution risks

Assess concrete concerns arising from the particular prescription or attribution, such as hazardous materials, non-consenting targets or accusations against people.

1. Does the documented prescription involve hazardous substances, bodily intervention, non-consenting targets or replacement of necessary care? action
2. Could presenting this attribution as fact expose a person or group to harm, and how should the agent preserve its source and uncertainty? action

Check these first

Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.

1. Which of these check these first hold for the sense of magic this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance

Kinds and varieties

Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.

1. Which of these kinds and varieties hold for the sense of magic this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance

Real-world use

Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.

1. Which of these real-world use hold for the sense of magic this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance

Failure modes and hazards

Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.

1. Which of these failure modes and hazards hold for the sense of magic this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance

Regional variation

Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.

1. Which of these regional variation hold for the sense of magic this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance

Neighbouring kinds and how to tell them apart

Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.

1. Which of these neighbouring kinds and how to tell them apart hold for the sense of magic this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance