Talk:Semblance/@comment-25346378-20140825084338/@comment-226878-20140827085128

"Magic" has always been a catch-all term to explain phenomena people didn't understand. It fantasies, it's a catch-all phrase to describe the supernatural but also infinite plot-hole device for which all issues in a given story can be resolved. "I thought that guy was dead." "Hey... magic."

That being said, magic has taken many forms and gone by many names. Alchemy tried to cause shifts in nature using periodic elements... in fact, most "magic" in any given story usually draws on something physical rather than a person's own spiritual powers. Whether these physical objects are trinkets, talismans, totems, or magic dust (heh), usually they have some form of limited capacity.

My favorite aspect of magic has always been its role in the hunt for witches. Our well water dried up. Witches. I found in a toad in my kitchen. Witches. My son is sick with pneumonia. Witches.

During the witch trials, they would then say such ridiculous things as "if she survives the stoning/drowning/hanging, she is a witch and will burned at the stake. If she dies, she was innocent... oh, well..."

My point being that the only thing magical about the witch hunts was the miraculous way in which the people were shepherded by some brazen idiot into killing someone without any proof and without considering the possibility that maybe, I don't know, this guy hurling all the accusations just might be the guilty party...